Hair loss is a fact of life for many men - in fact there's a 50 / 50 chance that if you are a man you will experience excessive hair loss as you grow older. And it's not only men that are affected by hair loss, women and even some children can lose hair in abnormal amounts as well. There can be many causes for hair loss but the most typical is simply the aging of your body.
While some people are not bothered by losing their hair, many others do not like the way it looks and would like to improve their appearance. Luckily, there are many ways to deal with thinning hair or hair loss. The variety of hair loss products on the market today make it possible to find the hair loss product that will work best for you.
One popular hair loss medication is Minoxidil, or Rogaine. This topical treatment, is applied to your head on a schedule set by your doctor. This medication slows hair loss and even promotes growth in some people. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for everyone, plus it takes 2 to 4 months for results to show. It cannot treat a receding hairline, but is used for treating balding on the crown of the head. Minoxidil or Rogaine is approved for use by men or women.
Another hair loss medication is Propecia. This medicine is very similar to Rogaine, except that it is a pill which can take 12 months to show results. Propecia does not work for every one. With both Rogaine and Propecia, the results only last for as long as you take the medication. Once you stop taking it, our hair loss continues, so if you decide on either of these medications be aware you are making a long term commitment.
If you don't want to take medicines for your hair loss there are other products that are much less expensive but provide a temporary solution. Hair volumizers are are aerosol products that thicken and cover bald spots. You may have seen them on TV, but the new ones today are much better than they used to be, and are much more durable and longer lasting.
Another product is hair-thickening fiber, which is a natural substance that binds to your hair to make it look thicker and bald spots much less noticeable. These have also improved over the years, and don't stain, are considered safe and must be washed out.
Still another hair loss product is alopecia masking lotion. This product works by eliminating the contrast between your hair and your scalp. It is basically camouflage for your hair.
Last, but not least, there are a number of vitamins such as Shen Min, which is a Chinese herb made from the eastern wild rose, which is said to help with baldness, and a whole range of other vitamins that make similar claims.
No matter which solution you choose, hair loss experts agree that it is important to act upon hair loss when you first see it. We are born with a finite amount of hair follicles, and when they die out from male or female pattern baldness, it is impossible to get them back. So acting fast can ensure that the dormant or damaged hair follicles are treated properly.
The figure of a man wearing an ill fitting toupee has dominated popular comic culture for centuries. There is something about the seeming vanity and denial of the process of aging being uncovered that makes us chortle. There are however very serious undertones to this image and one might agree with Hobbesian philosophy that laughing at this is a way of subordinating other members of society.
Toupees, wigs and hair extensions are worn by people to cover up the way that their hair looks due to a medical condition. Baldness in men especially has been a source of ridicule however many people do not understand that this condition is a serious medical condition. Baldness in women is treated with much less disdain as female hair is a much more potent symbol of their gender but in males it has survived as a source of great amusement.
The reality behind the laughs is much more serious and it affects different people in different ways. People who choose to use toupees are doing so because they are self-conscious about the way that they look however some people are happy to let nature run its course. Other people opt for more permanent and costly solutions to their medical condition such as hair transplant surgery. This procedure is more expensive however combined with medication can offer a permanent solution to baldness.
The condition Androgenetic Alopecia is better known as male pattern baldness in men and it does occur in women however with less obvious symptoms. In men it can take the form of a receding hair line and loss of hair in the crown area of the scalp. In women the hair loss takes the form of a general thinning of the hair so is less noticeable. This condition is genetic in origin and not a great deal is known about the causes.
It is believed that it is caused by a deficiency in DHT a particular androgen hormone that affects pre-birth and infant sexual development. Recent studies from 2007 show that it is a genetic deficiency on the maternal side in these early stages of sexual development that cause the condition which can then start developing as early as late teens. The genetic coding of certain areas of the scalp cause the hair to stop growing, whilst other areas remain fertile.
Hair transplant surgery is a procedure which is performed under local anaesthetic which involves the transplanting of hair from one area of the scalp to the other. The areas of the scalp known as donor areas have the genetic coding not to be recessive and are usually located around the back of the head are surgically removed ensuring that follicles are intact, then implanted into the recipient area. The genetic code of the donor area is transferred into the recessive recipient area causing hair to grow.
As the donor area is an exact genetic match there is a very low risk of rejection, as is usually incurred by transplants from other people. The process must be coupled with medication otherwise the hair will not re-grow after being shed however the results with the most recent medication have been extremely promising. Hair transplant surgery is now one of the most popular cosmetic procedures and is a permanent solution for male pattern baldness.
Both Lee Dobbins & Dominic Donaldson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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