Hair Restoration and Replacement

Have you been looking for information on which male hair loss treatment is right for you, but it just seems like your are going around in circles because there is so much conflicting information? That is exactly how I felt so I took it upon myself to find out what the truth is. I spent weeks searching the internet and looking at all kinds of claims for different hair loss products, remedies, and procedures. What I am about to share with you is the truth as I have found it.

Causes of Male Pattern Hair Loss

There is one cause of hair loss in about 95% of the men who show thinning or balding problems early in life. This condition is called Androgenetic Alopecia which is also referred to as Male Pattern Baldness (MPB). MPB is a genetic condition which means it is passed down from your parents. For years it was thought that only the mother’s side of the family had an effect on whether or not a man would be bald. This is where the old wives tale, “If your Mother’s brother is bald then you will be bald,” comes from. In reality the genes for this can be passed from either the mother’s side of the family or the father’s with equal regularity.

If you want to stop your hair loss or balding then you will have to deal with this form of alopecia or hair loss. If a product does not deal with the cause of male pattern baldness then you will never get any more hair to grow in the balding area.

Male Hair Loss Treatments

When a man is suffering from male pattern baldness he is seeing the results of excess DHT bonding with hair follicles in the loss area. DHT is a metabolite of testosterone. The enzyme 5alpha-reductase changes the testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The DHT then bonds with receptors on the follicles in the area of hair loss. As more and more DHT attacks the hair roots the hair shaft becomes thinner and thinner eventually just falling out. At this time the hair unit will no be functioning.

There are two ways to treat this problem and both of them are an effective male pattern hair loss treatment. You can either stop the production of the DHT or you can inhibit the ability of it to bond with the follicles. There is a FDA approved drug for each of these problems.

The first drug is called Finasteride and is usually sold as Propecia. This drug is only offered with a prescription from a medical doctor. Finasteride actual stops the production of the enzyme which in turn limits production of the metabolite that causes the problems. This drug is very effective if the treatment is started early on in the hair loss process. This is not a female hair loss treatment though because of the possibility of birth defects.

The second drug is known as Minoxidil. This is a good treatment for hair loss on the top of the head and the crown but it is not a treatment for men with frontal male pattern baldness. This is also called a receding hair line and Minoxidil does not seem to be effective for this area. Minoxidil actually stops the DHT from bonding with the receptors on the hair follicles thus allowing them to continue to produce keratin the hair shaft material. Again, this drug is most effective when taken early. Also, this is a good female hair loss treatment as it is effective and safe for most people.

If you are serious about a male hair loss treatment then you really need to use one of these two drugs. If you are already bald, though, you will need to look at a hair implantation procedure because you will not get the hair growing from the follicles that have already been attacked.