Hair Restoration and Replacement

If you have relatives who are bald or going bald and you worry about the same thing happening to you then preventing hair loss is really what you should be focusing on. The longer you wait after you start to lose your hair the less chance you have of actually saving your hair or re-growing the hair you have lost. It is much easier and cheaper to keep your natural hair than it is to try to re-energize hair follicles that have stopped producing or to replace those follicles with healthy ones.

If you are wondering how to prevent hair loss then you first must understand what causes the loss of hair. For about 95% of the men who are losing their hair it is caused by a condition known as Androgenetic Alopecia or Male Pattern Baldness (MPB). In a nut shell what happens is a metabolite of the male hormone testosterone, known as dihydrotestosterone or DHT, builds up on receptors that are located on the hair follicles. Once enough of the DHT is present on the follicle the production of hair shaft material is interrupted. The follicle slowly starts producing less and less hair material until the hair shaft turns whispy and eventually falls out. In order to prevent hair loss you either have to limit the amount of DHT in the body or you have to shield the hair follicles from the hormone.

It doesn’t matter which hair loss prevention tact you take it will be more effective the earlier you start. Once the hair follicle has been rendered ineffective by the DHT buildup there is nothing you can do to get it producing hair again. The only option is to replace the hair unit with one from an area of the head or body that still has good hair growth.

Hair Loss Prevention Product

There are only two drugs for treating hair loss that have been approved by the FDA. This approval means they are effective at treating the loss of hair either by stopping or slowing the loss or by re-growing some of the hair that has stopped being produced. The first drug, Finasteride, is taken in tablet form and is designed to limit the production of DHT. This drug also is used to treat enlarged prostate in men as that has been tied to DHT production also. Finasteride is not recommended for women because of the possibility it will cause birth defects.

The second drug is called Minoxidil. Minoxidil is applied to the scalp in the area of hair loss. It actually works to limit the DHT from bonding to the receptors on the hair follicles. This drug is effective and safe for both men and women and shows results in over 50% of the patients who use it. This is usually found in the product Rogaine which comes in a 5% solution for men and a 2% solution for women.

Natural Hair Loss Prevention

If you are looking for a natural hair loss remedy then one very popular product is Saw Palmetto extract. The Saw Palmetto is a short palm that is found on the South East coast of the US. It has the same action as Finasteride in that it limits the production of DHT. It has been used for years to treat male urinary tract problems and now is used to prevent hair loss.

Whatever method you choose, the key is to start today to treat your hair loss before it gets too bad. Even if you don’t see loss now, if you have uncles and a father who is bald the chances are good that you will be too. You can never start a preventive hair loss prevention program too early.