How to read your severity level honestly

Use the part-line test

Part your hair in the same place under the same light each month. Mild means the part is visibly the same width as a year ago. Moderate means it has clearly widened. Advanced means the scalp is visible across broad areas without parting.

Duration is half the score

Six weeks of heavy shedding after an illness is a different problem than three years of slow thinning, even if the mirror looks similar today.

Your regimen level scales with both: intensity of change and the length of time it has been running.