Male Pattern Hair Loss And What You Can Do
Male pattern hair loss treatments may be your solution to family-acquired male baldness. Hair restoration medication, shampoo, and nutrition or even hair transplant surgery are options.
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40 Million American Men Have Male Pattern Hair Loss
Like being born right or left handed, male pattern hair loss is "acquired" from your family's combined gene pool. Both your Dad and your Mom's ancestry can "transfer" this hereditary characteristic to you.
For some men, teen age years of thick robust hair rapidly lead to dramatically thinning hair in their early 20's... and virtually bald by 30.
* Considering Medications. Merck pharmaceuticals has made news with the development of its Propecia males hair loss medication. You take a pill once a day...your hormones get re-mastered..and presto for many men you get a pleasant rekindling of your hair. Not to be left out of this vast market, Pfizer has its male pattern hair loss solution in the form of Rogaine, available without prescription.
These meds are not recommended for women. Side effects can include itchy scalp, redness. Due to these meds' relationship with male hormones, they secondarily arise from research on male prostate enlargement. The "science" is unclear, however these meds appear to stimulate blood flow into the scalp and hair follicle areas, thus stimulating growth.
* Shampoos And Topical Treatments. Using shampoos as a meaningful treatment for male pattern hair loss is getting you into the "snake oil" end of the hair restoration spectrum. Shampoos basically keep your hair and scalp clean, while stimulating additional blood delivery into your hair follicles. However, any other claim about a "direct link" to hair re-growth should be treated with a high order of skepticism.
* Getting To The Core Solution - Hair Transplants. If you're serious about getting your hair back, then you need to literally take hair from the back of your head and surgically transplant it into your bald zone.
Hair transplant surgery is well established and involves the carefull harvesting of "donar" hair from the back of your head.. and then carefully re-planting it in microscopic furrows or incisions.
No longer clumsy and weird looking "hair plugs" of 50 hair follicles, modern hair transplant surgery handled by the best clinics involves the transfer of discreet units of hair follicles, in 1 to 3 hair clusters. Success rates can be as high as 90% or more.
Less proven but heavily promoted is laser hair transplant surgery, involving laser incisions.
* A Short Clinical Overview - What Is The Ultimate Cause? Male hair loss in most men involves androgenetic alopecia, which is also referred to as male pattern hair loss. Both hormones (androgen) and genes play a role in causing androgenetic alopecia.
During puberty testosterone and its derivative, dihydrotestosterone (commonly called DHT) are the hormones responsible for hair growth of the beard and underarm hair through the process of hair follicle development and enlargement.
Eventually, in early adulthood, the scalp becomes overly sensitive to testosterone through an enzyme process whereby testosterone in the hair follicles combines with the enzyme 5 alpha reductase to form DHT. The hair follicles on the scalp reduce in size and, as a result, hair loss begins. The growth phase of the hair shortens, the hair becomes thinner and shorter as the hair follicles reduce in size. This scalp or follicle sensitivity is genetically passed from generation to generation.
Even after the hair follicle has stopped growing hair, it may not be technically dead. If the hair follicle is still getting a good supply of blood, it may be able to accept a hair transplant, which will be immune to DHT
* Symptom - Uneven Patchy Hair Loss. A condition known as alopecia areata results in an uneven patchy loss of hair over the entire scalp. While medical research is divided, some specialists believe that the cause of alopecia areata is the result of the immune system attacking the hair follicles in reaction to DHT shutting down the hair follicle. Alternatively, the cause may be high fever or surgery. Usually, the hair falls out suddenly.
* Symptom - Excess Hair Pulling. The repeated pulling of the hair, such as braided hairstyles, causes traction alopecia. In many cases, hair loss in man, involving alopecia areata and traction alopecia, are reversible.
* Symptoms - Stress, Illness, Nutrition. Male hair loss may also be caused, less frequently, by nutritional deficiencies, illness, severe stress, fever, seborrhea (the build-up of sebaceous secretions mixed with dirt on the scalp) and scalp infections.
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