Hair Loss Treatments

Losing ones hair is not an easy thing to accept. In this culture, as in many others, a person’s hair is a big part of how he or she is viewed by others. This has always been the case because when approaching someone we naturally look at their face and head and the hair they have makes a big impact. We even use the hair to describe a person as if that said everything there is to say about their personality. “He has red hair,” means the boy will be fiery, and “She’s a blond,” has all kinds of connotations. If you are losing your hair then you need to determine the best hair loss treatments available to you.

It seems like every day there is a new hair loss treatment that is supposed to do wonders for you. There are creams and shampoos and conditioners that all claim to help in the battle against hair loss. Some of them work but the majority have really never shown any hair growth effect in a clinical trial. The best hair loss treatment is going to be one that now only stops the hair loss but also help the missing hair to re-grow. This is a hard bill to fill because once a hair follicle has died it will not start producing hair shaft material again.

The majority of hair loss problems in both men and women is caused by pattern baldness or androgenic alopecia. This is a genetic condition that results in the hair falling out in certain areas of the scalp. In men, this baldness is usually found above the forehead and on the crown of the head. Very rarely do men have patching baldness along the side of the head near the ears or at the back of the head. Any hair loss treatment for men will attack this problem by trying to get hair back into these bald spots. The severity of the balding can vary widely with some men only experience thinning at the crown area and others experiencing complete hair loss over their entire upper scalp by the time they reach thirty.

With women, the patchy baldness can actually occur in any area of the scalp. The majority of women do not see a hair loss only at the top of the head but instead they will experience it on the sides and back of the skull also. Because of this, a female hair loss treatment will need to attack the problem in different areas than a male hair loss treatment will. Another difference between men and women is the amount of hair left in the areas that do not experience the pattern baldness. Men usually continue to have very good hair growth at the back of the head but women will tend to have a thinning hair problem also.

When looking for a treatment for hair loss there are only a few methods that have been approved by the FDA to treat this pattern baldness condition. One drug is known as Finasteride. It works by limiting the amount of DHT in the blood stream. DHT is a metabolite of the male hormone testosterone which means it comes from the metabolism of the hormone. This metabolite tends to bond onto the hair follicles and cause a disruption to the blood supply. This lack of oxygen and nutrients will then cause the hair follicle to stop producing hair material and eventually die. Finasteride is taken in tablet form and is not recommended for women who are of child bearing years because of the possibility of birth defects.

The second drug is called Minoxidil. This drug acts as a vascular enlarger which means it makes the blood vessels larger which in turn allows more blood supply to the hair follicles. Often times this can actually reawaken the production of hair shaft material in hair roots that are not completely dead. This drug is applied topically in either a lotion or a foam and should be used daily.

Another procedure that works wonders for getting hair to re-grow in the bald spot is a hair loss treatment know as implantation. With this method a cosmetic surgeon will actually remove growing hair follicles from one area of the scalp and implant them into the bald area. This works very well at getting a full head of hair but it does not stop resulting hair loss around the transplanted area.

A person’s hair is a very important part of their self esteem. Young men in particular who experience hair loss have been know to develop an inferiority complex that may never go away until they can treat the baldness. If you are experiencing a loss of hair then you owe it to yourself to find the best hair loss treatment and apply it to the problem.