Seeing More Scalp or a Widening Part? Excess DHT Is a Common Cause
It usually starts small. A few extra strands in the shower. More hair on the brush than there used to be. A ponytail that feels thinner when you tie it back. At first it is easy to explain away, but over time the pattern becomes harder to ignore, especially along the part, the temples, and the crown.
Most pattern thinning traces back to a hormone called DHT, short for dihydrotestosterone. DHT is produced when an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase converts testosterone at the scalp. When DHT levels build up around the follicle, the follicle gradually shrinks. Each new hair that grows from it comes in a little thinner and a little shorter than the last, until the follicle eventually slows down or stops producing a visible hair at all. This shrinking process is known as follicle miniaturization.
Two other factors make the problem worse. Low-grade scalp inflammation shortens the active growth phase, and reduced blood flow limits the oxygen and nutrients reaching the root. Together they tip the balance so that more hairs are resting or shedding than actively growing. The visible result is steady daily shedding and see-through areas where the scalp shows through more than it used to.
Thinning can begin in your thirties and is common alongside postpartum changes, PCOS, and perimenopause. Without scalp-level support, it often continues gradually rather than resolving on its own.
Androgenetic alopecia, the medical name for pattern hair loss, is extremely common. Roughly half of men show signs by age 50, and prevalence in women rises sharply after menopause.
In women, pattern thinning is around twice as likely among those with PCOS, which is one reason hormonal shifts and hair loss are so closely linked.
