» Hair Loss

Hair loss. It sucks but we all have to deal with it in some way. Some shave their heads and some get hair transplants while others wear hair systems but most do nothing at all. But why does this have to happen in the first place?

It’s pretty simple really. First, it is time to dispel some of the myths about hair loss. Hair loss associated with male pattern baldness is not caused by wearing ball caps every day, stress, sunburn, diet change or dirty scalp.

Hair loss is caused by genetics, pure and simple and there is not a tendency for the specific traits to come from one side of the family or the other. Either dear old Mom or Dad can be to blame. More specifically from the formation of dihydrotestosterone which is a derivative of testosterone and is formed primarily in the testes, prostate gland, hair follicles and adrenal glands. DHT causes enlarged prostate (BPH or benign prostate hyerplasia) and hair loss primarily. DHT is thought to have a key role in male specific sexual characteristics during fetal development and also contributes to male facial hair and other aspects of puberty among other things.

So, you may be interested in addressing the hair that you lost but what are you going to do to stop losing MORE hair? You have a few options. Nothing at all is one such option but if you take this route you should be careful if you are considering surgery as well. To me it makes NO sense to add more hair without saving what you have first. You can also try products like Rogaine or Propecia.

Rogaine in The US and Canada (Regaine in Europe) is the original hair loss medication and was the first to be approved by FDA. Okay, to say it worked is a bit of a stretch but it did provide results for a lot of people but not very much when it did. It was first released to market in the 1980′s with 2% minoxidil (the active ingredient). It is now available without a prescription in the 2% form but still requires a prescription for the 5% variant. It is available for men and women (2% only). In 2007 a new version was released as a foam.

Propecia is the first tablet approved by the FDA for hair loss. It is a 1mg tablet with the active ingredient being finasteride. It originally came out as a prostate medication to help prevent benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and was known as Proscar (5mg) but was released as Propecia for hair loss in 1996.

Avodart (Dutasteride) is another prostate medication much like Proscar but is far stronger. Some men with hair loss take this instead of Propecia or Proscar to combat hair loss but because it is not approved by the FDA for hair loss specifically you should consult your doctor before asking for a prescription.

Hair loss scams are just as rampant today as they always have been. Many “clinics”, and I use that term loosely, will offer shampoos or lotions to combat hair loss and can be very expensive. Because the patent on minoxidil (active ingredient in Rogaine) is no longer valid many of these offerings utilize minoxidil as the active ingredient (which may or may not be disclosed. In the past none of these concoctions would help stop hair loss much less offer any regrowth but now with the release of the patent on minoxidil one may see some gains with any of these offerings however they come at a much greater expense than is necessary. One can simply walk into their local drugstore and buy Rogaine off the shelf for very little money. Do NOT be fooled by these false solutions.

Lasers. Oh boy, what a joke. Lasers have long been offered as a technique to regrow hair. Let me tell you all straight up, THEY DON’T WORK! There is one company that actually got FDA clearance for their laser device a couple of years ago and the news was all over the media about this great new revolution in hair restoration. It must be good because the FDA cleared it, right? Well, not really. While it is true that this particular product was cleared it does not mean it was approved. What is the difference? “Cleared” also known as a 510K clearance with the FDA compares the product in question to products already on the market. If there are not significant changes to the engineering of the product then it can be cleared for SAFETY. In other words, FDA clearance simply means that your liver will not turn to mush by using it. Approval means that the product is not only safe but delivers on it’s promise of performance. The two distinctions are completely different even though the media mistakenly reported that this particular laser product was “FDA approved”. It was not.

In fact, most laser devices use light emitting diodes that operate in the 635nm to 650nm wavelength. Do you want to know what else operates in this wavelength? Pen based laser pointers just like you can buy in any office supply store. They are actually in the same category rated as “class three” laser devices. If anyone wants to buy a laser comb, go to Office Depot and build your own for twenty bucks!