Hair Restoration and Replacement

You would think that women hair loss treatments would be as easy to find as the ones that work for men but that isn’t really the case. This is an interesting fact because about 40% of the hair loss cases reported to hair restoration physicians involve female hair loss as opposed to men. That means two out of five people with thinning or balding hair problems are female. You would think this would mean there would be a lot of hair loss treatments for women available but there are actually only a few as described below.

First off lets look at some male hair growth treatments that are not applicable as a hair loss treatment of women. One of the most famous is a drug called Finasteride. This drug, which is approved by the US FDA for the treatment of hair loss in men is not recommended for women because of the possibility of birth defects. Originally, this drug was developed to treat enlarged prostate in men by limiting the amount of DHT in the body. DHT, dihydrotestosterone, is the substance that has been found to be the cause of hair follicles damage when a man or woman suffers from androgenic alopecia which is commonly referred to as male pattern baldness and female pattern hair loss. It is really quite effective at decreasing the levels of DHT which is a metabolite of the male hormone testosterone. And other than a few side effects such as decreased libido in males it seems to be fairly safe for men.

Finasteride has a completely different risk factor when used as a women hair loss treatment. It appears as though Finasteride affects the testosterone levels in women which has its biggest effect when the women is pregnant with a male child. Testosterone is important for the proper development of male sex organs in fetuses and if the levels are not correct horrific birth defects can occur. For this reason, a pregnant woman or one who is of child bearing age is not even allowed to touch the Finasteride tablets for fear the active ingredient may be absorbed through the skin. This is not a drug to use for female hair loss treatments.

Another male treatment for Hair Loss that is not effective for women is hair implants use withed the standard hair implantation surgery. When men lose their hair they tend to have localized bald spots on the top of the head at the hairline and the crown areas. This means, the hair at the back or posterior section of the scalp is still thick. This thick growth allows for the easy removal of growing hair follicles to be transplanted into the balding area. This is not the case as a women hair loss treatment though.

Women will tend to have thinning hair over their entire head instead of localized patches of hair loss. This means there is no thick hair growth anywhere on the head to be used as a donation site. Thus the standard hair implantation method of hair restoration can not be utilized. But don’t give up hope there are hair implantation procedures that can be used for women hair loss treatments.

The follicular unit extraction method of hair restoration is effective as a way to transplant hair into a women’s thin hair areas. This method allows for the individual manipulation of hair follicles which means now body hairs can be transplanted. These body hairs are not of the same texture as the scalp hair but they do work well as filler hair. In particular, it is very effective for a surgeon to implant these follicles interspersed with the natural hairs to give a fuller look. This is one women’s hair loss treatment that does seem to give good results.

Another method of female hair growth is the FDA approved drug Minoxidil. Unlike Finasteride, Minoxidil is approved for use by both men and women. The concentrations of the solutions are different with women using a 2% solution while men use a 5% solution. Many women have applied the 5% solution with good results but the FDA has only approved the solution at the lesser concentration.

Minoxidil was originally developed as a high blood pressure medication but during trials it was found that men who were suffering from male pattern baldness also found hair growth increasing. Further studies proved the fact that Minoxidil can help stop or slow down hair loss and can even help some hair to regrow.

If you are looking for women hair loss treatments then you need to know there are not a lot to choose from but these seem to be effective.