Hair Restoration and Replacement

All you have to do is do a search on line for the term hair loss and you will find hundreds if not thousands of products that claim to be able to restore your hair to its former fullness. The question is, why are there so many products available if they all grow hair. And the answer is most of them are completely worthless. The medical community knows what causes hair loss in men and if the hair restoration product does not treat this condition then you can not treat the balding effect.

The US FDA has only approved two drugs for the treatment of hair loss in men and one for hair loss in women. If a product doesn’t have one of these ingredients then it probably is not very effective. There are some natural products which mimic these drugs to a certain extent but they do not seem to be as effective as the original approved drugs themselves.

The first pharmaceutical is known as Finasteride. This is taken in a tablet form each day and actually slows down the cause of the baldness. The vast majority of men who experience hair loss do so because of a condition known as Male Pattern Baldness. This is caused by a hormonal factor called DHT which actually bonds with the individual hair follicles and causes them to slowly stop producing hair shaft material. Finasteride works to limit the amount of DHT in the blood supply and thus allow the hair to continue to grow.

The second approved treatment for hair loss is called Minoxidil. This is applied in a topical solution which means it is rubbed into the scalp. This drugs works to counteract the affects of the DHT as opposed to limiting its production. Originally Minoxidil was developed to treat high blood pressure but it was quickly determine that it also had a positive effect on Male Pattern Baldness.

Women can also be affected with pattern baldness although in this case it is referred to as female pattern baldness. Of these two approved drugs the only one suitable as hair restoration for women is Minoxidil. Finasteride has the nasty side effect of causing birth defects.

If the hair restoration product you are using does not contain one of these two ingredients then it probably will not be very effective.