Did you know that men and women who suffer hair loss generally both suffer from the same genetic condition? Androgenic alopecia is the medical term for the genetic problem that is usually responsible for thinning and balding hair. Of course there are other potential causes such as diet, hormone imbalance, rarer forms of alopecia, and certain medical treatments; but usually androgenic alopecia is the cause. In fact, 95% of men who experience premature hair loss do so because of the effects of this genetically derived condition. Also, 40% of all baldness cases involve women so you can see it is a big problem. The question, then, is are there any female hair loss treatments that can actually help a woman to treat hair thinning and balding.

It historically has been hard to find a female hair loss treatment for two reasons. First, there has not been very much medical research directed to the hair loss problem for women. Men and their balding issues have been in the spot light for years, and several methods have been developed to treat their hair loss, but for women the answer has usually been to buy a wig. Part of this was societal pressure. Women were not supposed to share with anyone that they were developing a thinning hair problem because the hair is directly tied to a women’s sexuality. Even when it was not Kosher to talk about female sexuality there was still an unspoken rule that women did not discuss problems like this. They were supposed to buy a wig and pretend that everything was OK.

The second reason is actually because of how the medical condition is manifested in women versus men. When men have androgenic alopecia the problem is referred to as male pattern baldness. Men will tend to lose their hair in set patterns on the head. Usually there is balding at the crown or vertex of the scalp and you see a receding hair line. There is hardly ever substantial hair loss at the back of the scalp or on the sides. Women, on the other hand, will see hair thinning over the entire scalp. Certain other problems may result in bald spots but, in general, the female patient will experience an overall loss of hair. This means that, unlike men, women do not have areas where there is still good hair growth.

This fact makes female hair restoration very difficult because hair transplantation surgery requires an area of hair growth to be used as a donation site. Hair implants work well for men because the thick hair growth at the back of the head allows for several hundred or a few thousand follicles to be removed with no noticeable effect. These implant units can then be transplanted to the bald spot. Without thick hair growth on a women’s head, the hair implantation surgery has not be successful as a treatment for female hair loss.

This has now changed some as a new technique known as follicular unit extraction makes it possible to transplant body hairs into the bald spot. These hairs are not of the exact texture as scalp hair but they work well as a filler. By strategically placing these hairs the hair restoration surgeon can fill in the most noticeable thin areas. This method has become one of the treatments for female hair loss which offer some hope.

The other female hair loss treatment that seems to help is the FDA approved drug Minoxidil. This is a topical solution that is applied to the scalp twice a day. It literally goes to the route of the problem and rejuvenates the hair follicles by protecting them from attack. Most female hair loss remedies with this drug have a 2% Minoxidil solution but many women have used the 5% solution designed for men with good results.

Female hair loss treatments are not very well researched as of yet but that is changing. Hopefully, as more and more women stand up and require help there will be even more hair loss treatments for women made available.

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.

Women, on the other hand, almost always develop thinning hair over there entire head. So, even though the cause is the same as men who develop a pattern, for women there is no pattern and instead the hair falls out evenly. This means just swapping male treatments for female hair loss treatments won’t always be effective. In particular, hair implants are very effective for men because there is a good donor area at the back of the head which hair follicles can be removed from and then transplanted to the bald area. There is usually enough hair that the removal of a portion from the back is unnoticeable.

General hair implants are not a good treatment for female hair loss though as there is no area on the scalp to act as a donation area. Since the entire head has thinning, if you take follicles from one area and transplant them to another then the donation site will be more noticeable. This makes standards implants not a good choice as hair restoration for women.

There is a hair transplant for women procedure that can help to fill in the scalp with body hair. Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) is a method by which individual hair follicles can be removed from other areas of the body and then inserted into the scalp. These hairs tend to be more course than scalp hairs but they work well as fillers. Since a women rarely has a receding hair line like a man does, FUE can be one of the effective treatments for female hair loss.

Female Hair Loss Treatment

There are two drugs that have been approved by the FDA as to their effectiveness for treating andorgenetic alopecia. These are Finasteride and Minoxidil. Finasteride works well for men because it limits DHT which is what causes the hair follicles to stop production of hair. Unfortunately, it also has the tendency to cause birth defects so it is not prescribed to women of childbearing age. In fact, women are warned to not even touch the tablets for fear the active ingredient will be absorbed through the skin.

The second drug, Minoxidil, is approved as a female hair restoration product because it is safe for both men and women. This drug is usually sold under the brand name Rogaine For Women. It is applied topically which means it is rubbed onto the scalp twice a day. Rogaine is effective at limiting the effects of high levels of DHT which will allow the hair follicles to continue to produce keratin the building blocks of hair.

If you are suffering from thinning or balding hair then this is the best hair loss remedy for women on the market today. The product can now be purchased in a generic form so for about $20 for a three month supply you can try it out and see what happens. I think you will be happy with the results but I recommend you continue to look into other possibilities. The scientific community is finally taking female hair loss treatments serious and new ideas are being explored each day.

The first of these usually gets the majority of the attention when people look for a way to get hair growing in a bald spot again but in reality the most effective use of these is while there is still some hair growth. It is much easier to keep the hair you have than it is to try to re-grow hair once it has fallen out. In fact, none of these drugs or remedies are very effective at all for restarting hair growth.

Male Hair Loss Treatment

The number one oral drug prescribed for men suffering from male pattern baldness is Finasteride. This drug, originally developed to treat male urinary problems, is a DHT blocker. DHT is the hormone that bonds to receptors on the hair follicles causing them to shorten their growth phases and eventually stop hair shaft material production all together. Another FDA approved drug that is topically applied is Minoxidil. This is usually sold under the brand name Rogaine. It is a vasodilator which means it causes the small blood vessels in the body to increase in size which reduces blood pressure and provides more blood flow to all areas of the body including the hair follicles.

Natural Hair Loss Treatment

There are some natural substances that have been used to treat high levels of DHT in the blood stream. Saw Palmetto Extract is produced from a short palm found along the southern coast of the US. This plant has been used for years to treat male urinary problems and has recently been shown to help with hair loss. Stingy nettle root is also used as a treatment for hair loss that is not based on some manmade drug.

Female Hair Loss Treatment

Unfortunately, women are limited in what treatments for hair loss then can use. Finasteride is not recommended for women as it can cause birth defects. In particular, it can cause problems with the development of the sex organs in male fetuses. There is also a concern with women using natural DHT inhibiting compounds. The main hair loss treatment for women is Minoxidil. Women seem to receive good results from a 2% solution although a 5% solution is recommended for men.

Women also have not had as good a results with hair treatment surgery. The standard hair transplantation surgery is predicated on there being a healthy growth of hair at some point on the head to be used as a donation area. With men this is the back of the scalp. Women though tend to have thinning hair over the entire scalp so the standard hair implant method may not work well for them. They may need the follicular unit extraction method which targets individual hair follicle units instead of strips of scalp. In general though, hair implants surgery is one of the best hair loss treatments especially if the person is experiencing baldness as opposed to just thinning hair.

The last treatment involves using low level laser light to stimulate the growth of hair. The idea is the hair seems to grow faster in the summer than the winter so the suns rays may have an affect. The laser comb and laser brush are in clinical trials now and everyone is awaiting the results. Early anecdotal evidence indicates hair growth by people who use this method.

Choosing the best hair loss treatment is really a matter of finding out what works best for your situation. There are many options to choose from. The best thing to do is try them out until you find the one that is right for you.

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