leg hair loss , both legs same place, area also sensitive

redundant post

Had a friend who sent me a link to this forum... he knows I have had this condition for years. Started with a small "oval" patch on outer "shin" area of lower legs when I was in my late teens (18..19). I was concerned about it at the time, but my father showed me his legs and said he and his brothers (and his father) all had the same thing (though their legs basically were hairless from the upper shin down to the feet. (In my late teens and until recently (mid 40's) the tops of my feet & tops of toes were quite hairy... almost "hobbitlike").

Checked with MY brother (3 years older) and he also had the same thing... though his "bald spots" were somewhat larger than mine, he had always attributed it to wearing long socks.

Over time, we found out that cousins and others had the same condition -- we started calling it "Mailor-Pattern Baldness" -- and joked that while none of us went bald on top of our heads (indeed, everyone has very healthy head-full of hair -- even into age 80's and beyond) -- instead we get bald shins! (Other compensation is very healthy, fast growing beard & mustache! 8) )

One of my cousins had NOT been aware of this and had gone the whole dermatology, cream, diabetes check, etc. route... he never found anything that worked, and nothing was physically wrong with him otherwise; the doctors were just mystified and puzzled (especially by the "symmetrical" aspect of it... fungal, sock-wear, or posture problems are VERY unlikely to be perfectly identical on both legs, I am told that even diabetes problems with extremities tend to be NON equal, and present with stronger symptoms in one leg prior to the other). This cousin was GREATLY relieved when he found out (at a family reunion where I was barefoot and in shorts... hey I'm shameless about MY bald spots!) and alternately felt somewhat foolish but also angry at his doctors.

So long and short of it is that while there *may* be some validity to many of the "causes" that people online here cite, if the hair loss is symmetrical, it is your ONLY symptom (i.e. no major itching, cold feet, or any other problems), and ESPECIALLY if you find out that other men in your family have a similar problem... then don't worry about it! Just do what we do... wear shorts and tell people that you just go bald on your legs instead of your head... what do they want you to do? Wear shin toupees? :P

BTW, in the decades since I have run across other individuals with the same problem -- in fact they are pretty easy to identify, they're the OTHER guys who DON'T go swimming, and who are ALWAYS wearing long pants when just about everyone else is wearing shorts! When they see MY legs... they sometimes comment on it (and end up saying they have a similar "problem" and explaining THAT is why THEY don't wear shorts!)

I tell them they need to STOP being ashamed little wallflowers about this... I think we may actually be in the majority (at least in certain populations) and we should just go ahead wear the shorts... and go barefoot too! If enough of us do it, it will be understood as NOT so unusual. Why miss out on life? (Oh, and going barefoot is healthy, and feels GRRREEEAAATTT!!! )

Last note -- as far as the fairer sex goes -- they like the confidence! And if anything I have had girlfriends who were JEALOUS... saying they can't get THEIR legs as smooth as my shins even after shaving, waxing or anything else they've tried!

Best of luck to y'all!

It's a sign of aging. Face it. If we 25 or old, we are slowly dying.

One of the things that happens as we age is that our blood circulation is stressed in our lower extremities.

The loss of hair is one of the first casualities. It would be unusual if one was over 40 and not seeing some hair loss below the knee. By 60, all hair will likely be gone.

One can delay but there is no way to reverse the slow but the ever certain death process as our bodies shutdown.

One can catalog changes that typically occur with age. For people of developed countries age changes include: A loss of hearing ability, particularly for higher frequencies. There is a decline in the ability to taste salt&bitter (sweet&sour are much less affected). There is a reduction of the thymus gland to 5−10% of its original mass by age 50. Levels of antibodies increase with aging. One third of men and half of women over 65 report some form of arthritis. About half of those aged 65 have lost all teeth.

The elderly require twice as much insulin to achieve the glucose uptake of the young. There is reduced sensitivity to growth factors & hormones due to fewer receptors and dysfunctional post-receptor pathways. The temperature needed to separate DNA strands increases with age. Weight declines after age 55 due to loss of lean tissue, water and bone (cell mass at age 70 is 36% of what it is at age 25).

Body fat increases to age 60. Muscle strength for men declines 30−40% from age 30 to age 80. Reaction time declines 20% from age 20 to 60. Elderly people tend to sleep more lightly, more frequently and for shorter periods -- with a reduction in rapid eye-movement (REM) sleep. Degree of saturation of fats drops by 26% in the brains of old animals. Presbyopia (reduced ability to focus on close-up objects) occurs in 42% of people aged 52−64, 73% of those 65−74 and 92% of those over age 75. Most people over age 75 have cataracts.

About half of those over 85 are disabled (defined as the inability to use public transportation). Over 75% of people over 85 have 3−9 pathological conditions, and the cause of death for these people is frequently unknown.

The penalty for sin is death. Satan told Eve she would not die. Did he lie? She did not drop over dead immediately but that day she began dying. By the time we reach 21, the body transitions from "growth" to a slow decline in the ability to renew itself. One might be in better health and condition than one's neighbor but the difference between now and when we were 21 is stark, and whether it is the death of our peers and contemporaries, it should soon dawn on us that we are mortal and we are going to face our maker.

The good news is that mankind is an immortal being like his creator. Our mortal shell may die but we will live on. Either in heaven ... life with our creator or in hell which is described as the second death, a place of torment for all eternity. Each of us must decide what we will do with the man Jesus. Either we believe God or we don't. Our destiny will depend on the choice we make.

Next time you look down and notice you have less (or no hair) below your knees, think on that.

Hi all, Have justdiscovered the same condition with almost 50% hair loss to both outer shins. I am 42 and cycle about 250km's a week and weigh about 78Kg's. I have justgone to the doc and he has taken some blood test for liver and kidney function as well as for thryod and diabetes. I will get results soon and will let you know. I am Scottish and i true form have given the old liver a bit of a work out over the years and still do occationally, so hope thatI haven't done too much damage.

I am 42 and have noticed for the last couple of years that the hair is gone on both my ankles in the same place. I did lots of research and then one night it came to me...i was looking at my legs and realized that I ALWAYS sit with my legs crossed at my ankles. I even do this at night in the bed. I am trying my best to break myself of this habit to see if the hair comes back. I will keep you posted.

G'day,

I too have lost the hair on my outer shins and it is pleasing to hear that I am not alone (not that I wish hairless shins upon any of you :-)). Looking back on when this happened...as I remember it, it begain when I was in the midst of a very stressful job. My shins became sensitive to touch, itchy and then hairless. After that they were longer sensitive to touch but the hair loss continues. I also noticed a patchy tongue develop at this time. I reckon it may be an stress-induced auto-immune reaction that I unfortunately will have to live with BUT I must attest to this...my father lost his hair in a similar fashion so there is good reason that the stress and this may be totally unrelated - perhaps its just a genetic pattern of hairloss that occurs with ageing. I'm consider myself pretty lucky really - it's not really all that much of an issue and I wear shorts proudly ;-) - who said I was going to be perfect anyway...I'm not and I'm not ashamed of it.

Best wishes to you all!

I am joining the club too. Yesterday i noticed the stuble on the insides of my quad(s). Today i noticed new patches on the front of my quad(s), both legs have stuble patches in the exact same spots. I thought it was maybe the new pants ive been wearing but not anymore!! I will attempt to contact a dermatologist.

45yo in good health. This problem started 3-4 years ago of losing hair on the shins and calves. Still some left but not much. I also experience non itchy, dry skin in this area. My legs look just like my dad's, so I think this is hereditary.

I developed bilateral hair loss just above both ankles in a symmetrical pattern in my twenties. No itching, no infection. Just the smoothest shiniest skin you've ever seen. Gradually increased in size over the past 20 years. Good hair below, above and even on the other side of each leg. No other hair loss either. Great head of hair! I read in a newsletter that it was genetically inherited but NOT related to male pattern balding. It just looks a little weird in the summer, lol.

same here, all my leg hair is gone....doctor stated that is was due to the way i was sitting at work. patches everywhere, applied cream and no results. also my eye brows are gone and i have lost 4/10 toe nails.....not sure what the deal is but i need some help......any suggestions???

Adrenal Steroids

The adrenals have a close connection with the sex glands, the ovaries and testes. The adrenal cortex produces about 25% of the estrogenic hormones in women and 65% of the androgenic hormones in the man. The inability of the adrenals to produce the additional sex hormones may result in the flat chested female or the sparse chest-haired male. In patients in their thirties or older may also have an absence of hair on the lower two-thirds of the legs, which is not due to being worn off by the trousers as is supposed.

I too have this, my doctor said it could be linked to diabetes. My sugar levels were tested and they were high but not alarming, so my diet has changed to accommodate and I go back in 3 months for retest. Ask your doc's for a sugar test!! My dad's legs are hairless too around the shins and he developed type 2 diabetes 5 years ago and is now on tablets the rest of his life. So again the hereditary link is there. Good luck all.....

I woke up one morning to find one side of each of my legs to be nearly shaven off! One side of each leg you could obviously tell had longer hair than the other side & it looked extremely ridiculous.

I freaked out at my cousin Melanie, accusing her of using some sort of hair-loss cream while I slept. Of course she came up with a million excuses but until I'm proven wrong about this accusation then it still stands & I will continue to plot a Counter Strike. The reason I blamed her was because she had made jokes before that she would do this.

Anyways... I fixed the other side, having to use a certain length on an electric shaver that I have & trimming it to make it look the same. That didn't make me happy because I had no problem with my legs being hairy.

A month later (today) I noticed it's happening... AGAIN. The same sides are both shorter, & the first one to laugh was my cousin Melanie... surprise surprise. Why wouldn't I blame her right off the bat?



If this is due to something medical then I'd realllllllly love to know :-(
I'm going to continue to read the rest of the posts to see if someone found the real problem & not just theories.

I also have 99% of the hair on the outside of both my legs gone from the ankle to the knee ..i have been told that this is down to two things.
1..i have just had a hiatus hernia operation after suffering for 2 years so STRESS INTERNALLY is one cause..

2..I have bad Psoriasis so this is possibly the second reason and i am 39 years old ..

They do say that stress..skin disorder and there are so many out there you may not notice you have one ..