Estimate your Ludwig stage
The Ludwig scale describes female pattern hair loss in three broad stages. Unlike the Norwood scale used for men, it is not built around a receding hairline. In female pattern hair loss the frontal hairline usually stays where it is, and the visible change is a widening part line and thinning density across the top and crown.
This quiz asks six questions about your part, your scalp, your hair volume, and how the change started, then maps your answers onto the stage that usually matches that description.
Treat the result as a label for the pattern you just described, not as a diagnosis. Female hair loss has more common non-pattern causes than male hair loss does, and several of them need a clinician rather than a staging chart. The quiz flags the ones worth acting on.
Six questions
Answer from what you see in a mirror or a recent photo, in bright, even light, with your hair dry and parted the way you normally wear it. Nothing you select leaves your browser.
Worth raising with a clinician
What to do next
This estimate describes a pattern, not a cause. It is not a diagnosis and it is not medical advice. Female hair loss can involve thyroid disease, iron deficiency, hormonal conditions, medication effects, postpartum changes, or inflammatory scalp conditions, and telling those apart needs a clinician. Tracking supports that conversation, it does not replace it.
What the three Ludwig stages describe
The scale grades density loss over the top of the scalp. The frontal hairline is expected to stay put in all three stages, which is what separates this pattern from the male one.
- Type I is perceptible thinning over the crown, with the part only slightly widened. It is often visible to the person before anyone else notices.
- Type II is pronounced thinning across the same area. The part is clearly widened and scalp shows through along it.
- Type III is extensive loss of density over the top, with scalp visible across most of the crown, while a fringe of hair usually remains at the front.
A common variant, sometimes called the Christmas tree or Olsen pattern, widens the part more toward the front than the back so the parted hair takes a triangular shape. It is still female pattern hair loss, and the quiz notes it separately when your answers describe it.
Why a receding hairline is a different question
For men, a receding hairline is the ordinary first sign of pattern hair loss. For women it is not, and it can point to a scarring condition such as frontal fibrosing alopecia, which often thins the eyebrows at the same time. Scarring conditions damage the follicle permanently, so the window for treatment matters.
That is why the quiz asks about your hairline separately and flags it rather than folding it into a stage. A widening part is a tracking problem. A genuinely receding hairline in a woman is a reason to book an appointment.
Why the photo baseline matters more than the stage
A stage estimate is a snapshot. It cannot tell you whether you are stable or actively losing, which is usually the more useful question, and diffuse thinning is harder to judge by eye than a receding hairline is.
The part line is the most reliable thing to photograph. Part your hair in exactly the same place, in the same light, at the same distance, and the width of that line becomes a measurement you can compare month to month instead of an impression that changes with your mood and the bathroom mirror. Add a top-down crown shot and a ponytail thickness photo and you have a record that is genuinely useful in a consultation.
Track Hair is built around that routine: scheduled treatments including minoxidil and spironolactone, prompts to recapture the same angles, and a timeline you can scroll back through.