"I'm only 34 and I'm losing my hair - what can I do?" This the kind of question you sometimes see in magazine problem pages, and when you read further you can sense the genuine distress of the individual, more commonly male, who feels that he is ageing prematurely, so strong is the psychological importance of our hair to our importance.
If this problem should affect you then don't immediately panic at the discovery and go into a downward spiral of depression, as there is a wealth of options available. First of all, realise that you are not alone in this situation. In fact, by age 50, almost half of men have lost some hair. Loss of hair is not a social stigma in a man, and does not make him necessarily less attractive in the eyes of women. Indeed some women (mistakenly) associate male baldness [http://hairlosslimited.com/stop-balding.html] with heightened virility. There is too, a certain dignity in a chap who accepts the situation and is not so preoccupied with his own appearance.
Having said all that, it is true that to many men, particularly younger men, the progressive loss of hair is a psychological blow and they would rather delay baldness for as long as possible. That's fair enough, and, if you are in that category then you will want to consider all the options for hair restoration or cosmetic devices to hide baldness. Taking the latter first there are of course available very good toupes or hairpieces, and wigs A chap though, may have worries that such devices could become dislodged at inappropriate times, and for that reason would dismiss them.
A more appealing option for many would be treatment geared towards stopping further hair loss and encouraging new growth. There are two main medications that are widely used. The first is finasteride (Propecia) which is a drug that helps to block the production of DHT, the hormone responsible for upsetting the function of hair follicles. Usually you only need to take one tablet a day and can expect to see some results within a few months. The treatment is usually successful in halting hair loss, but is more variable in its ability to establish new hair growth. This is however, a very straightforward treatment that you should consider.
The second medication is minoxidil (Rogaine or Regaine), which is available as a solution, gel or foam for topical use. You apply to the scalp and roots of the hair and leave it on for a while, once or twice a day. Experts are not sure quite how it works but it seems to stimulate scalp blood flow and help nutrients get to the follicles. Again it takes some months to see results, and it does not always work, but does have a fairly good success rate.
The other major approach to hair loss is the surgical one. There are ways of surgically excising bald areas of scalp or one can have hair follicles transplanted into the bald areas, where they should take and grow like your other natural hair. The transplants are normally small clumps of follicles taken from healthy regions at the back of the head. The process is delicate and time consuming so can be expensive. Often though the results are remarkable - your own head of hair re-established!
If you don't want to go bald, you don't have to. It pays however, to get the best advice you can, particularly before embarking on lengthy or expensive treatments.
If this problem should affect you then don't immediately panic at the discovery and go into a downward spiral of depression, as there is a wealth of options available. First of all, realise that you are not alone in this situation. In fact, by age 50, almost half of men have lost some hair. Loss of hair is not a social stigma in a man, and does not make him necessarily less attractive in the eyes of women. Indeed some women (mistakenly) associate male baldness [http://hairlosslimited.com/stop-balding.html] with heightened virility. There is too, a certain dignity in a chap who accepts the situation and is not so preoccupied with his own appearance.
Having said all that, it is true that to many men, particularly younger men, the progressive loss of hair is a psychological blow and they would rather delay baldness for as long as possible. That's fair enough, and, if you are in that category then you will want to consider all the options for hair restoration or cosmetic devices to hide baldness. Taking the latter first there are of course available very good toupes or hairpieces, and wigs A chap though, may have worries that such devices could become dislodged at inappropriate times, and for that reason would dismiss them.
A more appealing option for many would be treatment geared towards stopping further hair loss and encouraging new growth. There are two main medications that are widely used. The first is finasteride (Propecia) which is a drug that helps to block the production of DHT, the hormone responsible for upsetting the function of hair follicles. Usually you only need to take one tablet a day and can expect to see some results within a few months. The treatment is usually successful in halting hair loss, but is more variable in its ability to establish new hair growth. This is however, a very straightforward treatment that you should consider.
The second medication is minoxidil (Rogaine or Regaine), which is available as a solution, gel or foam for topical use. You apply to the scalp and roots of the hair and leave it on for a while, once or twice a day. Experts are not sure quite how it works but it seems to stimulate scalp blood flow and help nutrients get to the follicles. Again it takes some months to see results, and it does not always work, but does have a fairly good success rate.
The other major approach to hair loss is the surgical one. There are ways of surgically excising bald areas of scalp or one can have hair follicles transplanted into the bald areas, where they should take and grow like your other natural hair. The transplants are normally small clumps of follicles taken from healthy regions at the back of the head. The process is delicate and time consuming so can be expensive. Often though the results are remarkable - your own head of hair re-established!
If you don't want to go bald, you don't have to. It pays however, to get the best advice you can, particularly before embarking on lengthy or expensive treatments.
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