Norwood–Hamilton · Stage V
Norwood 5 (V)
The band between front and crown is still there, but sparse. The horseshoe is starting to read as one shape.
No account needed, and nothing is stored.
What it looks like
From above, the remaining hair on top is a narrow or see-through band. The front and the crown are both well receded; they have not quite joined. The sides and back are still a full horseshoe. A photo taken in overhead light makes V look like VI because the remnant band disappears; a photo in flat daylight still shows it.
Typical measurements
Face-normalised units: H is glabella to chin, so the numbers do not depend on the phone or the distance. These are the anchors the pipeline uses; they are not a diagnosis.
- Mid-frontal height
- ≈ 0.96 H and up
- Temple bald-column share
- high
- Vertex vs occipital
- ≈ 0.28 – 0.40
- Scalp loss-area
- ≈ 0.40
Norwood V is the awkward neighbour. It exists because the jump from “two patches and a band” (IV) to “one confluent bare area” (VI) is a real geometric event, and some heads sit on the event for years. The remnant band can be a centimetre of fuzz or a thin but honest strip. Either way, the engine’s bridge class is thinning rather than intact or gone.
Loss-area at V is about 0.40 in Xi et al. 2025, only a step above IV (0.34) and a long way from VI (0.66). That gap is the point: VI is not “a bit more V”. VI is the band disappearing and the two zones becoming one, which almost doubles the bare fraction. If a measurement is bouncing between 0.40 and 0.50, look at the bridge, not the area.
Va, the anterior variant at this depth, is a front that has marched back so far the remaining top-hair is only posterior, without ever having been a separate crown patch. The report will still talk about a bridge if mid-scalp density says so.
How it gets mixed up
V is a thinning bridge. VI is no bridge. If you can still point to a strip of hair that is not the sides-and-back wreath, it is V. If front and vertex have become one bare area, it is VI.
How to get your number
Five photos (front, left, right, crown, back), a sixty-second history, about three minutes. The report costs $7, needs no account, and stores nothing. You get the roman stage, a continuous index, a genetic vs. environmental split, levers ranked by evidence, 5- and 10-year paths, and a signed link. Look at a sample report first. Details of the geometry and the papers behind the anchors: Method & sources. The rest of the scale: Norwood I–VII.
FAQ
Is Norwood 5 the horseshoe?
The horseshoe is becoming readable, but a remnant of hair still sits on top. The true horseshoe with nothing joining front and crown is VI. VII is that horseshoe made narrow and sparse.
Why do IV and V look so similar in photos?
Because loss-area only moves from about 0.34 to 0.40, and a camera above the head blows out the remnant band. The distinguishing measurement is mid-scalp density relative to the back of the head, which a single selfie does not give you.
norwood.fyi is an informational tool, not a medical device, and not a substitute for a dermatologist. Staging between adjacent Norwood grades has about 65–78% agreement even among experts; the report shows its confidence and the measurements behind it.