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Male Hair Loss

Male Hair Loss

Hair loss is a challenging and stressful condition that almost all men will face at some point in their life.

Hair loss can have a substantial negative impact on your self-image and confidence. You don’t have to avoid photographs or wear a ball cap for the rest of your life.
So, you think you are losing your hair. Is there any good news?

When it comes to male hair loss there is, in fact, some good news. 95% of male hair loss is related to one condition, Androgenetic Alopecia, otherwise known as Male Pattern Baldness.

Now the good news. While there is a complex number of variables that regulate the pattern and aggressiveness of this condition, it is relatively straight forward to diagnose. This means that early assertive treatment can have a huge impact on the regrowth and overall health of your hair.

What is Androgenetic Alopecia?
Male Androgenetic Alopecia (MAA) is a polygenic disorder characterized by a sensitivity to certain androgens, specifically dihydrotestosterone (DHT). This condition affects 30-50% of men by the age of 50 but can start as early as teens.

Male Pattern Baldness (MPB) typically begins near and above the temples at the hairline causing the hairline to gradually recede back into an “M” shape. This also coincides with thinning of the hair at the crown. These two events (bitemporal recession and thinning crown) continue to enlarge until the entire top of the head from the crown to the front are completely hairless.

The specific pattern of MPB thinning can vary according to genetics, ethnicity, and other factors, but generally falls into one of several categories. These categories are detailed in the Norwood Scale of Male Pattern Alopecia which details the typical patterns of thinning hair associated with MPB

What kind of tests do I need?
Testing for male hair loss can be a relatively straightforward endeavor. It generally involves a questionnaire to help your trichologist understand any health and lifestyle considerations that may be impacting your hair loss along with a trichoscopy to examine the scalp.

Further testing at your request may be required for the detection of nutrient deficiency, hormonal imbalance, or some other underlying condition that is causing or amplifying hair loss.

Is my hair loss permanent or will it grow back?

Regrowth of thinning hair depends on a number of factors, the two biggest being:

  • How much hair have you lost?
  • How aggressive is your hair loss?

There are a variety of treatment options that can be employed alone or in a multi-therapeutic program to combat hair loss. Unfortunately, once a hair follicle has thinned past a certain point, no treatment will bring it back. For this reason, early intervention is essential.

How can I know how bad my hair loss is?
Sadly, there is no way to know for sure how aggressive your hair loss is or how far and fast it will progress.

Certain indicators like age and family history can help your hair restoration professional make an educated guess. Again, this is why it is so imperative that a treatment program be started as early as possible.

How long will it take?
The first order of business for a hair loss program is to stop any further thinning. The second is regrowth. Pictures from a trichoscope taken at the beginning of your treatment will help your hair loss professional gauge the effectiveness of the program before it becomes visible to the eye. It’s imperative to follow instructions closely and understand the different stages of program progression so you don’t become impatient waiting for results.

All people respond differently to different treatments. However, a positive response should become visible within 9 months of starting your program.

How long will it take?
The first order of business for a hair loss program is to stop any further thinning. The second is regrowth. Pictures from a trichoscope taken at the beginning of your treatment will help your hair loss professional gauge the effectiveness of the program before it becomes visible to the eye. It’s imperative to follow instructions closely and understand the different stages of program progression so you don’t become impatient waiting for results.

All people respond differently to different treatments. However, a positive response should become visible within 9 months of starting your program.

Should I change my hair care products?
Talk to your hair loss professional about your hair care routine. In most cases they will recommend different products for your treatment. This is NOT because your current products are causing your hair loss, but because other products may be more beneficial to your treatment.
What are some treatment options for hair loss?
  • A topical minoxidil program is one of the more common treatment options used by men with MAA. It’s a once daily topical scalp treatment aimed at stopping and reversing hair loss. 
  • Low-level-laser-therapy (LLLT) is another method used by men and women to stimulate hair growth. Used by the medical industry for years to aid in tissue repair, LLLT has shown remarkable effects for hair growth via the same mechanisms that support the healing of joints and tissue.
  • Micro needling and PRP have gain a lot of recognition in recent years. Though there is not a conclusive study stating that one is superior to the other, there is strong evidence for the stimulatory effects of harnessing your own immune response to repair hair follicles.
  • Hair transplants are the most invasive way of treating hair loss, but also one of the most immediate. Cost prohibitive for some, hair transplants are a popular go to for men who want results immediately. Make sure to discuss the long-term outlook for transplants before jumping into a treatment. Some forms of transplants can cause scarring that will show later in life as the hair thins. Not even transplants last forever. 
  • Non-surgical Hair Restoration is the most immediate, and in some cases the only, option available. NSHR offers men and women who are not candidates for conventional treatment the option of having a full head of hair within weeks or even days. NSHR has some of the highest customer approval ratings of any form of hair restoration program and can be maintained indefinitely. 
What are other conditions that cause hair loss?

Although most of the hair loss in men is androgenetic alopecia, there are other conditions that can lead to hair loss or have an amplifying effect.

Telogen Effluvium is the second most common cause of hair loss in men. Telogen effluvium is a condition that forces a larger than normal amount of hair to enter the resting and shedding phase of the growth cycle prematurely. A person with this condition may lose up to 4 times the normal amount of hair daily, though hair loss is usually diffuse (all over the scalp). Telogen effluvium is generally a temporary condition brought on by severe psychological stress or physiological change. Causes include but are not limited to:

  • Severe stress (divorce or death of a family member)
  • Surgery
  • Rapid weight loss
  • Thyroid problems
  • Certain medications

Though less common, there are other hair loss conditions that can have a severe and sometimes permanent impact on hair follicles and scalp health.

  • Alopecia Areata
  • Trichotillomania
  • Alopecia Totalis
  • Alopecia Universalis
  • Cicatrical Alopecia (Scarring Alopecia)
  • Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia

If your hair loss is atypical of the patterns laid out in the Norwood Scale you may be experiencing something other than conventional MAA. Talk to a hair loss specialist to lean more

Female Hair Loss

Female Hair Loss

Your hair is a window to your personality. Hair loss can be one of the most devastating cosmetic challenges a woman can undertake. It’s a confusing and complex issue, so let’s detangle fact from fiction.

So, you think you are losing your hair. Is there any good news?
Female hair loss can be a complex issue, and at times, difficult to diagnose. Female hair loss often relates to a hormonal imbalance or micronutrient deficiency that disrupts the normal hair growth cycle and causes the hair to break or thin. Complicating this issue, the root cause of individual female hair loss may have multiple underlying triggers.

Now the good news. A multi-therapeutic approach to the cause(s) of female hair loss can have huge impact on the regeneration of healthy hair. Some conditions are temporary, others are reversable, but many can be aided with simple treatment.

What is the main reason for female hair loss?
Just as in men, the main reason for female hair loss is Androgenic Alopecia, also referred to as Female-Pattern Hair Loss.
As many as 50% of women under 30 and 60% of women over 70 are affected by this condition, which left untreated, will result in the progressive decline of scalp hair.
Female androgenetic alopecia, just as the name implies, is a polygenetic condition characterized by a sensitivity to certain androgens. Female Androgenetic Alopecia (FAA) can have several underlying factors that magnify the aggressiveness of the condition.
Because of this, lab testing may be needed to discover the root causes of the condition, and a multitherapeutic approach is often needed to treat correctly.
Genetic female hair loss differs from men in the pattern of thinning. Where men thin in a discernable pattern progressing from the hair line or crown, FAA thinning tends to happen in a diffuse pattern over the entire scalp. Because you can lose as much as 50% of your scalp hair before it becomes noticeable, women with FAA often discover their thinning hair after it has already undergone significant decline.
What are some of the underlying factors that cause or aggravate hair loss?

As stated at the outset, female hair loss is a complicated issue with genetic, hormonal, dietary, and environmental factors potentially all playing a part. In addition, there are behavioral and autoimmune disorders that can have a damaging and permanent impact on your hair’s growth and appearance.

With all of these forces at play, understanding the root cause of your hair loss can be a daunting task. Let us take a quick look at some of these considerations and a few of the underlying causes.

Hormonal

  • Thyroid imbalance
  • Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
  • High testosterone 

These are just a few of the hormonal factors that can impact hair loss. 

With hormone associated hair loss it is important to work with your hair loss practitioner in conjunction with your doctor to understand treatment options and effectiveness. 

Dietary

  • Mineral deficiency
  • Inflammatory foods
  • Protein deficiency 

These are common causes for female hair loss related to diet. Understanding the components of a well-rounded diet and how it improves hair production and density can be a simple way of enhancing your self-image through lifestyle maintenance.

Diet is the one factor involved in hair loss over which we have total control.

Environmental

  • Heavy metal toxicity from contaminated food or water
  • Damaging chemicals from salon treatments
  • Certain medications 

All of these and more can play a large role in hair loss. In some of these cases hair loss can be a precursor to larger health issues. The damaging effect of chemical related toxicity can have far reaching consequences and do lasting harm to not only hair, but vital organs and maintenance systems that regulate core body functions.

Behavioral and Autoimmune

Behavioral disorders like trichotillomania (an impulse to pull hair out by the root) or autoimmune disorders like alopecia areata, while rare, can have a shattering impact on self-image. Understanding these conditions is the first step in learning how to manage them.

My hair is thinning, what should I do?
The first order of business when you notice thinning hair is to understand the difference between hair loss and hair shedding. In a nutshell, hair shedding is often temporary and reversible, hair loss is permanent without intervention.

Hair can shed in excess amounts for a variety of reasons and at any age. A hair restoration practitioner can help you identify and understand the potential trigger and treatment to aid in regrowth. Sometimes the right course of action is to do nothing at all.

Are my hair care products causing my thinning hair?
In general, no. Hair care products like shampoo and conditioner do not cause hair loss unless you have inflammation due to an allergic response. Chemical treatments, heat treatments, over washing, and color treatments all take a toll on the quality of your hair. Hair that is brittle and stressed from over processing is prone to tangle and breakage. This type of thinning, however, is due to poor hair quality, not quantity.

People with thinning hair should be aware of the best products and practices to maintain maximum quality as this can help mask hair that is thinning for other reasons.

Should I take vitamins for my hair loss?
The hair loss marketing machine is a multi-billion-dollar juggernaut spewing out thousands of slick ads that promote everything from gummy vitamins to exotic herbs. For someone just looking to boost their hair growth it can be a daunting task to separate the truth from the hype.

In general, vitamins do not promote healthier hair growth unless you are deficient in that particular vitamin. And even then, supplementation may not be enough if you are experiencing absorption issues from a medical condition or medication.
Herbs are another commodity feeding the machine, but not all are bogus.

Herbs like saw palmetto and sariva have been used to strengthen hair can combat hair loss for generations. Using them can be a major part of any hair restoration treatment program when used correctly.

Are my medications affecting my hair loss?
Medications can have a major impact on hair quality and quantity. Certain medications block the ability of your digestive system from absorbing vital hair nutrients like iron, magnesium, and vitamin B. Other medication can directly affect hormone levels that are part of the regulation system for hair growth.

Some of these things impact the quality of your hair, affecting the structure of the hair shaft itself. This can lead to dull porous hair that is prone to breakage. More severe effects can impact the hair follicle itself leading to an overall decline in hair quantity.