Norwood Scale
The Norwood scale is the standard seven-stage description of male pattern hair loss, from an intact juvenile hairline to the horseshoe of donor hair alone.
Where you'll meet it
In every quote and consultation, and on every forum. Clinics use it to describe cases and to organise their before-and-after galleries.
What the stages mean
Stages one and two are a mature hairline rather than loss. Stage three is the first genuine recession. Stage four adds a thinning crown with a band between. Stages five and six see that band narrow and go. Stage seven leaves the horseshoe.
Its real limitation
It describes today. What matters for planning is the stage you will finish at, and the scale says nothing about that.
Family history on both sides and the age your loss started are better guides. A surgeon planning your hairline against your current stage rather than your likely final one is planning an island.
Related pages
Thinking about a transplant?
The Start Here guide explains why medical treatment comes first, how much donor hair you actually have, and what a transplant can and cannot move.
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