Hair Loss Treatment Regimen

There are hundreds of treatments that you can incorporate in your hair loss treatment regimen. Unfortunately, less than a handful of these treatments have any scientific basis for preventing hair loss or regrowing lost hair. The treatments that do have a clinical basis are safe and effective and should be included in your hair loss treatment regimen.

Causes

The Foundation of Hair Restoration reports that androgenic alopecia causes 95 percent of hair loss cases. Androgenic alopecia is a progressive hormonal condition. Excess levels of dihydrotestosterone, or DHT, inhibit hair follicles that are not genetically able to resist the hormone. Hair falls out early in its growth cycle and becomes thin as this process repeats itself multiple times.

Effective Treatments

The FDA recommends 5 percent minoxidil for males and 2 percent minoxidil for ladies. Minoxidil has been clinically studied for hair loss for over 15 years, according to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery. Minoxidil is topically applied on a daily basis.

Finasteride is an FDA-approved for men's hair loss treatment. The American Hair Loss Association regards finasteride as "the first line of attack" for males building a hair loss treatment regimen. Finasteride is taken once a day and reduces DHT levels, allowing hair to grow and not fall out prematurely.

Ketoconazole shampoo can be used by men and women in their hair loss treatment regimen. In the Belgian peer-reviewed study "Ketoconazole: effect of long-term use in androgenic alopecia" published in the 1998 edition of the "Journal of Dermatology," scientists concluded that ketoconazole shampoo could be useful in the long-term treatment of androgenic alopecia. The scientists reported that the shampoo helped to thicken hair density just as well as 2 percent strength minoxidil.

Expert Insight

Dr. Robert Bernstein, senior member of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery and a hair restoration surgeon, says that finasteride and minoxidil will be valuable on the hair line and not just the top of the scalp. Bernstein recommends on BernsteinMedical.com that even though finasteride and minoxidil were studied to prevent hair loss and regrow follicles on the the crown, minoxidil or finasteride probably will regrow hair follicles on temples if there is some hair remaining in the areas. He recommends that males use both treatments for at least one year before having a hair transplant.

Misconceptions

Dr. Robert Bernstein has insights on the most widely held hair loss misconceptions. Bernstein states that it is a mistaken belief that bald men have high levels testosterone. He says that hair being sensitive to DHT causes progressive hair thinning. If a man had high testosterone levels and hairs resistant to DHT, he would not have noticeable thinning.

The doctor says that it is a fallacy that a substantial quantity of hair loss is a warning symptom of androgenic alopecia. The doctor says that detectable hair loss is the result of hair follicles becoming smaller or "a process called miniaturization," when hairs are attacked by DHT. Hair thinning appears visible when hairs regrow smaller and finer, not when they fall out.

Dr. Bernstein says it is a mistaken belief that only males suffer from pattern baldness. According to Dr. Bernstein, 40 percent of women have a significant amount of hair loss and thinning.

Permanent Solution

Hair loss treatments may help to decrease additional hair falling out and restore hair growth. But only a hair restoration procedure is a lasting solution. The Foundation for Hair Restoration documents how a surgical hair restoration procedure works. Hair is taken from the "donor area" on the back of the head, where hair has not been thinned by DHT. These hairs are placed in areas that have become thin and grow for a lifetime. A good hair transplant looks natural and can not be detected.