Male Pattern Baldness

What is Male Pattern Baldness?

Male Pattern Baldness or androgenetic alopecia is the main reason men experience their hair falling out. It is an inherited condition that gradually affects most of the male population by the age of fifty. More specifically, a small percentage of men have thinning hair by the age of 21 and by 35, 75% of all men develop hair loss to some extent.

Male Pattern Baldness is an inherited condition related to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a product of testosterone, which is a male sex hormone. As men grow older, the hair follicles on certain parts of their head, which are more sensitive to DHT, begin to shrink. The result is thinner hair or the disappearance of hair in those areas.

Despite the fact that male pattern baldness is a condition that naturally occurs to most men and does not affect in any other way men’s bodies physically, it may negatively affect their self-esteem and therefore cause stress and depression.

Treatments Available

Thankfully, in the past decade science has found ways to treat the condition or at least delay it. Hair restoration can be achieved with varying success with the use of drugs (Finasteride, Minoxidil) and with Ηair Implants. These treatments deal with male pattern baldness in completely different ways. Therefore, if you are seeking treatment, you should be fully aware of what each of them can do for you and what the benefits and drawbacks for each are.

Finasteride, is a pill that lowers the amount of DHT on the scalp, if taken every day. The extent to which it affects men varies. In the majority of men, it stops hair loss and about 60% experience increase of hair growth. However, it causes sexual dysfunction in a large percentage of the men tacking it, but that tends to disappear when they stop using the drug. This also means a relapse in hair loss however, so it is not a permanent solution.

A less aggressive hair loss treatment for men is Minoxidil. It is a solution applied directly to the scalp which slows the progression of hair falling out. Minoxidil does not affect DHT, which is responsible for hair loss and therefore its results are not permanent.

It does however have some unpleasant side-effects. These include can be as mild as scalp itching, flaking and irritation to more severe such as weight gain, rapid heartbeat, chest pain and light-headedness.

Hair Transplant Methods

A more drastic way to achieve hair restoration is with the use of hair implants. These implants are usually plugs of hair from areas where hair continues to grow (usually called the “donor area” found round the side of the head), transplanted to areas affected by male pattern baldness. This treatment is more expensive than the aforementioned drugs.

Negative side effects depend on the type of treatment, (FUT, FUE, DHI) however we recommend the FUE procedure because it is the most successful and the results are found to be both permanent and aesthetically pleasing.

Another type of hair implants are those made of artificial fibers, but doctors don’t recommend them as much as transplants because the rate of infection is higher. Nevertheless, some men prefer them because they are cheaper.

Finally, suturing hair pieces to balding areas is not recommended by doctors, because it offers no real solution to the problem and, furthermore, irritates the skin and in severe cases causes scars and infections.

We generally advise that a consultation with a doctor is best if you are looking at going down the path of taking hair loss drugs that are mentioned above. If you would like a FREE consultation with a specialist in the hair transplant procedure, simply click on the button and fill out the form provided.