Many Different Hair Loss Treatments Available Today

These days the list of hair loss treatments is ever growing and more extensive, including hair transplants, drugs,prescription and otherwise, creams and lotions. Not everyone bothers with hair loss remedies, some people are just happy to let their hair fall out and be done with it, some take drastic steps and others may just wear a hat more often or change there hairstyle. Different people react to hair loss differently.

Hair loss is a much debated and researched subject and it affects men and women thought mainly men.The first step for those concerned about hair loss is a chat with your local doctor. He will probably put you in contact with a specialist or he may have some of his own recommendations.

The medical name for hair loss is alopecia and it come mainly in two forms  The first one is Androgenetic Alopecia commonly referred to as male pattern baldness that appears in more than half of all men on reaching a certain age. It sometimes starts as early as a man's late teens but this is rare with most cases happening after the age of 30. It appears very slowly normally and starts at the temples or on the top of the scalp. The end result may be complete baldness but it also may stop after a certain time. The other form of Alopecia is Alopecia Areata that is soemtimes temporary and is cause by the immune system overeacting.You tend to get tiny bald patches with this type of alopecia and may appear not only on the head but all over the body. Often the hair will grow back after a while as the immune system settles and stops overreacting.

The hair on your head grows in two different phases. Most of the time your scalp is in a growth phase medically called anagen and the rest of the time it will be a non growing period called telogen. Just following the telogen period hair is shed. This is completely natural and people should lose around fifty to one hundred and fifty hairs each day. The scalp is constantly growing and shedding hair. The average growth of hair is around half an inch each month.

To put it simply balding happens when shedding rate of hair is larger than the regrowing of hair or when new hair follicles are not as think as the previous ones. Androgenetic alopecia is determined by your genes and runs in families.

Temporary hair loss or just thinning of the hair may be causes by other factors, like bad diet and nutrition, diabetes, thyroid disorders. gout and arthiritis medicines, depression and stress and even birth control pills. Hair bleaching and perming can aggravate hair loss also as can scalp infection such as ringworm. Women also sometime experience hair loss after childbirth and chemotherapy for cancer brings on rapid hair loss.

Balding can not be cured outright normally but can be checked and prevented. Different treatments are specifically formulated for different types of hair loss and more severe cases of hair loss are less likely to respond to the medicine.

The United States FDA has approved some hair loss medications such as minoxidil or Rogaine which is a prescription free drug that is applied straight on to the scalp to stimulate hair gowth and prevent hair loss. It can be good for those who have androgenetic alopecia or alopecia areata.  With minoxidil the new hair is likely to be thinner and will grow very slowly compared to the previous hair and you must continue to apply it for best results.

Finasteride or Propecia is another FDA approves drug that can stop male pattern baldness.  People using finasteride say that their hair loss slows and sometimes new hair grows. Propecia functions by blocking the testosterone from converting to dihydrotestosterone ot DHT, which is a hormone that shrivels hair follicles. There are some side effects with the use of Propecia such as a lower sex drive. Women may not use Propecia as it can cause defects to an unborn child.

Cortisone injections directly into the top of the head can help with alopecia areata and are normally a monthly treatment. The last commonly known treatment is Anthralin or Drithocreme which is an ointment that must be applied to the head daily and is then washed out after.  It can treat psoriasis and can encourage new hair growth for those with alopecia areata.

A more drastic method of regaining hair is to have surgery, however this can be costly and more painful and should be seen as a point of last resort for those with androgenetic alopecia.  It works by cutting strips of skin with good hair follicles and surgically implanting them into the top of the scalp where their is no hair. It may require a number of surgical sessions.

Another method of hair loss surgery is scalp reduction, where the surgeon reduces the bald patch by folding skin with hair on top of a bald patch on the scalp. Both scalp reduction and a hair transplant can be done together for a good result. A good surgeon is essential for these procedures and he or she must be certified to practise this type of surgery.

The last option to consider if medication fails and surgery is not what you want, is a wig or hairpiece. There are many providers of natural, real hair wigs which are very realistic.