In this day and age when faced with hair loss you have a number of choices.  Long gone are the days when you hid your thinning hair underneath an obviously fake wig ignored the jokes or just accepted hair loss as fait accompli. But today if you are not happy with the status quo you have the option of hair re-growth lotions, medicines, hair replacement systems and hair transplantation.

Lotions and Medications

A number of pharmaceutical products are available that affect the structure and working of the hair follicle itself enabling it to support the growth of healthy hair again.  These medications come in the form of lotions or as tablets to be taken with water.  There are prescription as well as over the counter drugs available to counter hair loss.  The prescription drugs are stronger, show a more remarkable difference than the over the counter types that are less effective but also carry less chances of side effects.

Minoxidil or Rogaine (Brand Name) is a hair growth stimulant that is applied topically to stimulate the follicles to grow hair.  Minoxidil or Rogaine is available as a lotion, hair spray, gel or foam and has shown to regrow hair in hereditary pattern baldness in men as well as in women. Minoxidil is dose dependent, meaning that to maintain the benefits to the hair the application of Minoxidil should be continued. Minoxidil 2% takes about at least 4 months of regular usage to show results whereas Minoxidil 5% may show positive results as soon as in 45 days.  Minoxidil 5% should not be used by women.

Retin-A by Ortho Pharmaceutical is a less familiar product that is used alone and in combination with minoxidil to treat male pattern baldness.  Retin-A increases the amount of minoxidil reaching the hair follicle cells thus some believe it works better.

Another solution known as Xandrox, used as an alternative to Rogaine, is manufactured with different percentages of Retin-A, minoxidil and azelaic acid. A doctor or pharmacist should be consulted to advise the suitable formula for you.

Finasteride or Propecia is the only ‘take-one-a-day’ tablet that is taken as a treatment for hair loss in men due to Male Pattern Baldness.  Finasteride stops the male hormone Testosterone from converting into DHT (dihydrotestosterone).  Dihydrotestosterone has been linked to hair fall in men genetically predisposed to Male Pattern Baldness. It is a prescription drug and is only prescribed for men with no liver complications.  It is not recommended for women or children.

Hair Replacement Systems

Hair replacement systems are hair additions or any external hair-bearings attached to the scalp or existing hair to cover bald spots or thinning hair. This category covers toupees, hairpieces, hair weaves, hair extensions and partial hair prostheses. These systems may consist of human hair, synthetic fiber or a combination of both.  More popular nowadays are partial hair additions which are secured in a number of ways to the existing hair.  Some of the techniques used are fusion, cabling, bonding and weaving.

The last and usually the most expensive treatment would be:

Hair Transplantation

Hair transplantation is the surgical procedure of removing small plugs or hair bearing pieces of scalp from the thick hair on the sides and back of the head called the donor site.  These plugs are then inserted into punched holes on the bald or thinned out area of the head. There are several other types of hair transplant surgeries like scalp expansion, reduction and flaps etc. Hair transplants are done by cosmetic surgeons and great care should be taken while choosing a surgeon and a procedure.

It may start with a few extra hairs in your comb and end up making you look decades older than your years. Hair loss is a fact most men learn to live with but not anymore.  With PROPECIA an FDA approved drug on the market men with male pattern baldness MPB do not have to come to terms with baldness because now they have a choice.

What Is Male Pattern Baldness?

Male pattern baldness is the predominant type of hair loss in men and accounts for 95% of all male hair loss.  It advances in a predictable progression starting with the receding hair line and thinning of hair at the crown and ending up with a fringe of hair around the back of the head.  PROPECIA specifically targets the cause of Male Pattern Baldness stops hair loss and even promotes re-growth!

PROPECIA Pro-Hair

After a five year clinical study PROPECIA is the only ‘take-one-a-day’ tablet that has been approved by the FDA as a treatment for hair loss in men due to Male Pattern Baldness.

PROPECIA (finasteride) checks the male hormone Testosterone from converting into DHT (dihydrotestosterone).  Dihydrotestosterone has been linked to hair fall in men genetically predisposed to Male Pattern Baldness.

Each hair grows from a hair follicle which is a sac like structure embedded in the skin and contains the live part of the hair.  DHT reduces the size of the hair follicle until it is unable to support healthy visible hair.  PROPECIA inhibits the enzyme 5-alpha reductase from converting testosterone into DHT thus treating hair loss at the very basic level of hormones.

The 5 years clinical study of PROPECIA showed the efficacy and safety of the drug on 1,553 men aged between 18-41 years with mild to moderate hair loss.  9 out of 10 men who took PROPECIA showed visible result assessed by an independent panel of dermatologists.  Out of those taking PROPECIA 48% showed visible re-growth measured by hair count and 42% showed no further hair loss.  As compared to the men taking PROPECIA all men on the placebo (sugar pill) exhibited hair loss.  Majority of men on PROPECIA reported slowing down of hair loss, improvement in the appearance of hair and reduction in the size of the bald spot. A large majority of men taking PROPECIA were pronounced improved by doctors.  PROPECIA showed significant improvement in both the crown area and the hairline.

Another positive result of PROPECIA is that it grows healthy natural hair and not light fuzz.

PROPECIA like any other prescription drug should be taken with your doctor’s consent.  PROPECIA comes in 1mg tablets which should be taken daily with a glass of water with or without food.  The PROPECIA tablet should be only taken by men with no liver complications.

PROPECIA only treats hair loss in men and does not treat female hair loss.  PROPECIA should NOT be taken by women or children.  It is only advised for men over 18 and should be prescribed by a medical practitioner.

Finally after long and hard searches by mankind for a cure for hair loss Merck has come up with PROPECIA a true cure for men facing hair loss and baldness handed over to them through hereditary.  Now with PROPECIA men have a choice, they can keep their hair on!

Hair loss can be depressing for men and devastating for women.  The major cause of hair loss both in men and women is Androgenetic Alopecia.  Minoxidil or Rogaine is the safest known Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved topical solution that can stop hair loss and even promote new hair growth.

Androgenetic Alopecia or Male Pattern Baldness affects roughly 50% of men (this is the main cause of the usual pattern of balding seen as men age) and just as many women over the age of 40.

Minoxidil is an antihypertensive vasodilatory medication and was prescribed to high blood pressure patients. When it was observed that excessive hair growth was a side effect the prayers of many a bald men were answered.  Minoxidil 2% under the brand name of Rogaine was approved by FDA and made available to the public in 1988 as a prescription drug.  After eight years the status of Rogaine was changed from prescription to over the counter drug as no doubt the side effects presented were none more that a skin irritation in some users.

In one clinical study on men aged between 18 and 50 years of age with Male Pattern Baldness half the men applied minoxidil 5% solution while the other half were given a placebo.  After 32 weeks the men using minoxidil 5% had an increase of 39 hair/cm² as compared to 5 hair/cm² in men who used a placebo.

It is not fully understood how minoxidil works but it is believed that it widens blood vessels and allows more blood, oxygen and nutrients into the hair follicle thus reversing their shrinkage and allowing for healthier and thicker hair.

Minoxidil or Rogaine is available in 5% solution for men and in 2% solution for women.  It is available as a scalp lotion, foam, a gel and even in the form of a shampoo.

Rogaine is to be applied twice a day onto dry hair and scalp.  Initially there may even be more hair loss before improvement is seen.  It seems to work best on men who had been experiencing hair loss for less than 10 years with a balding patch under 4 inches across with some hairs in the middle of the balding patch.

Rogain is a dose dependent drug i.e its effects only last as long as the drug (in form of topical application in this case) is used.  Rogaine loses its effect and the hair loss starts again once the application has stopped for around 30 days.

What was once thought to be an impossible feat—growing new hair against Androgenetic alopecia has now been a reality for more than 3 decades now.  What is more reassuring is that no serious side effects have ever been reported during this time for the topical hair loss treatment Rogaine.

Surgery is an expensive but long-term solution to hair loss (Alopecia).  Along with the price tag and the risks involved there is the added burden of finding the right surgeon with the right experience.  Though hair transplants are available for most types of hair loss but most of the men and women who opt for hair transplants suffer from Androgenic Alopecia or Male Pattern Baldness.  Hair transplantation being a relatively complicated and invasive procedure should be explored after exhausting the less expensive and less complicated treatments such as ointments or hormonal suppressant drugs.  The success of hair transplant depends mostly on the experience and skill of the cosmetic surgeon.

The Procedure

After your first consultation with the cosmetic surgeon and deciding on the number of sessions, blood work is usually done.  On the day of the transplant under local anesthetic a portion of scalp measuring about 1 cm x 30 – 35 cm from an area with dense hair is removed.  The donor areas are usually the back of the head or the sides.  The donor portion is then divided into single hair or sometimes tiny groups of hair.  These are now called plugs or grafts.  Tiny holes are then punched in the thinned out or bald areas of the scalp.  These plugs are then inserted into the punched holes where they bond with clotting.  Thinner hair is inserted at the front of the scalp while the thicker at the back mimicking the grading of nature.  2000 to 3,500 hair can be inserted in a one to two hour procedure.  The hair can take five to six months to settle.  This procedure can produce a noticeable difference in the re-growth and density of hair permanently in a relatively short time.  With the help of the right surgeon with the right experience, no one can detect you had a hair transplant.

Hair transplantation is also done with artificial hair and is marketed for Male Pattern Baldness.  In this technique synthetic fibres are implanted in to the scalp under local anesthetic.  This method however is not recommended by most experts as it carries with it a high risk of infection and scarring.

Another exciting and new advancement in hair transplant is cloning or multiplication. In this technique a small number of patient’s hair cells are taken and multiplied in the lab.  These hair cells are then injected into the scalp in the thinning and bald areas.  This is still a very new technique and is still undergoing clinical trials.  In one of the initial trials 58% of patients undergoing this procedure grew new hair six months after the treatment.  This technique has a long time before it is introduced to general public.

There are other surgical techniques also available that reduce the area of the scalp thus reducing the bald spot.  In another procedure known as the Flap a whole flap of dense hair bearing skin from the back of the head is attached to the front of the head giving a sudden growth of dense hair at the front hair line.  This method like others has its benefits and drawbacks.