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Hair loss guide · Temples

Receding temples: normal maturing or the start of hair loss?

GlowUp Face · AI-assisted educational guide · Not a diagnosis · Sources checked 23 October 2026

The short answer

Some recession at the temples is normal. In a study of Japanese adults, about eight in ten men and half of the women had a small hairless notch at the temples, and the corners often deepen a little as a hairline matures, then hold. Temples that keep moving back, with finer and shorter hairs in the corners, are often the first sign of male-pattern hair loss. The difference is the trend over months, not the depth on any one day.

Norwood

I
II
III
III vertex
IV
V
VI
VII
Temple recession runs from shallow triangles at stage II to deep, bare corners at stage III. A settled notch often stays at stage I or II for years. Simplified drawings seen from above, with the front of the head at the top. Real heads vary, and many sit between two drawings.

Why the temples go first

In male-pattern hair loss, the follicles in the corners where the front hairline meets the temples are usually the first to shrink. Norwood's scale starts there: stage II is triangular, usually symmetrical recession at the temples while the middle of the hairline moves back much less, and stage III is deep recession with the corners bare or only thinly covered. Because the middle tends to hold for longer, the early outline is the familiar M. The American Academy of Dermatology names a receding hairline, or a bald spot on top of the head, as the first sign many men notice.

Based on: Norwood 1975; American Academy of Dermatology

A temple notch on its own is normal

Hairlines change shape from childhood to adulthood, and the corners are where the change shows most. In a study of 456 healthy Japanese adults, a hairless region at the temples was found in about 83 percent of men and 48 percent of women, and a notch shaped like an upside-down triangle was the most common temple outline in men. Many adults therefore have corners that look receded next to their childhood photos without having pattern hair loss. What matters is whether the notch has settled. A corner that deepened a little in the late teens or twenties, evenly on both sides, and has looked the same for years is usually maturation.

Based on: Kashiyama et al. 2021; Rassman et al. 2013

Signs a temple is still moving

Progression has a few tell-tale features. The corners keep deepening across photos taken months apart in the same conditions. The hairs in the corner become finer, shorter and lighter than the hairs just behind them, because shrinking follicles produce thinner hair before they stop. Both sides usually move, even if one leads. The crown may start to show more scalp at the same time, and close relatives with pattern hair loss make it more likely, since the tendency is inherited. The American Academy of Dermatology notes that these signs can be subtle enough to go unnoticed for months or years, which is why dated photos beat memory.

Based on: American Academy of Dermatology

Receding temples in women

Women with female-pattern hair loss usually keep their front hairline and thin across the top instead, though the American Academy of Dermatology notes that hair near the temples may recede a little, and that a woman's hairline starts to recede slightly with age. Two other causes are worth knowing. Tight ponytails, buns, braids, extensions or head coverings that pull at the hairline can cause traction alopecia, which often shows first as broken hairs and recession at the front and temples, and can become permanent if the pulling continues. Frontal fibrosing alopecia recedes as a band along the front and sides, often with eyebrow loss, mostly after menopause.

Based on: American Academy of Dermatology

How to keep an eye on your temples

Take a front photo about once a month with your hair dry and pushed back, a headband if needed, the camera at eye level and the same light each time. Keep your hair length similar between photos, since a fresh short cut exposes corners that longer hair covers. Look at each corner separately, compare it with the first photo of the series rather than last month's, and judge the trend over three to six months. The free GlowUp Face check measures how far each temple corner sits behind the middle of the hairline, left and right, in your own facial thirds, and its private tracker charts temple recession month by month.

Based on: Canfield 1996

When to see a dermatologist

Slow, even recession at the temples is common and not urgent; a dermatologist can confirm the cause and explain the options whenever you are ready, and results tend to be better when treatment starts early. Book sooner if the corners recede quickly, if the recession forms a band with thinning eyebrows, if there are patches, broken hairs or a sore, itchy or scaly scalp, or if the change started after a new medicine or an illness. In those cases the cause may not be pattern hair loss at all, and some of those causes do best when they are treated early.

Based on: American Academy of Dermatology

Questions to ask your photos

  • Are both corners deeper than in photos from two or three years ago?
  • Are the hairs in the corners finer and shorter than the hairs behind them?
  • Has the change continued across photos taken months apart in the same light?
  • Is more scalp showing at the crown than before?
  • Do your usual hairstyles pull at the temples?

Check yours

Measure both temple corners

The free check measures how far each temple corner sits behind the middle of your hairline, against your own facial proportions. Save it to a private tracker to see whether the corners move.

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Questions

Is it normal for temples to recede?

A little, yes. Many men, and many women too, have some notch at the temples, and the corners often deepen slightly as a hairline matures before they settle. Recession that keeps going over months is different: it is often the first sign of male-pattern hair loss.

Can receding temples grow back?

Sometimes, partly. In pattern hair loss, treatment mainly slows further loss, and some people regrow a little hair, more often when they start early. Hair lost to tight hairstyles can recover if the pulling stops in time, but long-standing loss can be permanent. A dermatologist can tell which applies to you.

Why is one temple receding more than the other?

Small differences between the sides are common, and a cowlick or a habitual parting can make one corner look higher. Pattern recession is usually roughly symmetrical, so a clearly one-sided change, especially where a hairstyle pulls or the skin is sore, is worth showing to a dermatologist.

Do women get receding temples?

Yes, though less often than men. Hair near the temples may recede a little with female-pattern hair loss and with age. Recession from tight hairstyles, or a band along the front and sides with eyebrow loss, has other causes and needs a dermatologist.

Sources

  1. Norwood OT (1975), Southern Medical Journal: Male pattern baldness: classification and incidence
  2. American Academy of Dermatology: Hair loss: who gets and causes
  3. Kashiyama K et al. (2021), Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open: Study of frontal and temporal hairline patterns in Japanese subjects
  4. Rassman WR, Pak JP, Kim J (2013), Facial Plastic Surgery Clinics of North America: Phenotype of normal hairline maturation
  5. American Academy of Dermatology: Hair loss: signs and symptoms
  6. American Academy of Dermatology: Thinning hair and hair loss: could it be female pattern hair loss?
  7. American Academy of Dermatology: Hairstyles that pull can lead to hair loss
  8. American Academy of Dermatology: Frontal fibrosing alopecia overview
  9. Canfield D (1996), Dermatologic Clinics: Photographic documentation of hair growth in androgenetic alopecia
  10. American Academy of Dermatology: What is male pattern hair loss, and can it be treated?