Anyone got any experience of thinning hair on the face?

Neo is shedding loads of fine hair in general just now but his face is looking quite patchy and thin in places. It seems worse around his eyes and i'm not sure what's causing it. No change to his diet or overall behaviour although he does seem a bit lazier than usual. Only thing i've noticed is he seems to be scratching his ears a bit and i wondered if he could have ear mites as i know they can also live on the dog's fur and maybe that could be causing an irritation on his face (sorry if that sounds stupid but i'm just guessing anything now!!)

I'm rubbing aloe vera gel into the thinning bits, it might not be doing much good but it worked on his baldy bum so i figured it's worth a try

Any info or tips would be appreciated..