The scientific way to assess your degree of baldness is to compare your pattern with the standard patterns described by Dr. Norwood.

They depict the most common configurations of male pattern baldness. There are seven grades of hair loss in the main series and five grades of a variation called the "A" series.

Dr. Norwood's "main" series begins with hair loss in two different areas (at the temples and in the crown) that gradually merge into one. The "A" series is characterized by front to back hair loss, which advances further back as the numbering of the series advances. In addition and not included in the Norwood series is the pattern of hair loss that starts at the “crown” (back of the head where the king’s crown would rest) that slowly enlarges centrifugally. This type of hair loss is what England’s Prince Charles has experienced and may be a desirable solution for extensively bald individuals with a limited donor supply of hair. Hair loss that is not genetic in origin usually follows a different pattern.