With over 40% of men suffering from male pattern baldness during their 20’s and an estimated 90% being affected by their fiftieth birthday it is little wonder that such a huge industry has sprung up around hair restoration and replacement. Hair replacement options include toupees, wigs and extensions. Hair restoration includes all those medications and treatments that are designed to get your own hair growing again as it once did.
Propecia
Finasteride is supplied in 1% dosages under the brand name Propecia. It can also be found under a variety of other names such as Proscar, Fincar, Finpecia, Finara, Finast, Finax, and Prosteride. It is currently the only oral medication approved by the FDA for the treatment of male pattern baldness. Nine out of ten subjects experienced improved hair growth after 3 to 12 months use of Propecia in a recent independent study. Propecia will bind with the enzyme 5 alpha reductase which converts regular male testosterone to the baldness causing hormone dihydrotestosterone.
Unfortunately there are several drawbacks to using propecia. Firstly it is expensive and to work long term the patient must take the drug indefinitely. It also has known side effects including impotence and gynaecomastia(growing man breasts). These side effects are experienced in between 1 and 3% of users, and in most cases stopping use of the medication will stop the side effects. As the drug was only FDA approved in 1998 there is little research on the long term effects of it’s use.
Minoxidil
Minxidil is a topical lotion which works best in younger men. As with Finasteride once treatment commences with Minoxidil the drug must be used indefinitely to maintain results. The foam based version of minoxidil was found to produce the same results without the side effect of shedding hair on discontinuation of use.
There are two main side effects of Minoxidil. The first is that it can create an itchiness or dryness in the scalp. The second is that if use of the drug stops, the hair will eventually shed over 12-36 months. Other than this the patient may also experience lightheaded-ness, blood pressure fluctuation, increased heart rate and headaches. Minoxidil is generally marketed over the counter in a 5% dosage. Women should take a lower dosage of 2% and pregnant women should not use the drug at all.
Laser Therapy
Laser therapy works to stimulate the blood flow in the scalp and heal damaged hair follicles. After a single laser session the blood flow in the scalp has been shown to increase by 54%. Treatment by laser has been shown to correct multiple issues of the scalp and hair, including baldness, fine hair, split ends and dandruff.
The main concern with laser therapy is that it requires specialized equipment and can be very expensive. Specialized laser clinics can charge thousands of dollars for a short course of laser therapy, which is fair enough when you consider the pricetag of the machine is tens of thousands.
Herbal Lotions
Herbal Treatments have been around for hair loss for centuries, and have varying degrees of success. In some cases the effectiveness of a herbal remedy is not so much due to the contents of the tonic as the act of massaging it in which will naturally increase the bloodflow. In other cases the herbal hair remedy has dramatic effects and hair regrowth is close to 100%. This is fantastic for the self esteem of hair loss sufferers, as ultimately everyone would prefer regrow their own hair than resort to toupee’s, brushovers and shaving heads.
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