Some people choose to treat hairloss with medicines or surgery, such as hair transplantation. Others choose to wear hairpieces (wigs or toupees) or use different methods of hair styling (dyeing or combing). The approach you use depends on the cause of your hairloss. Some people feel they need treatment, while others are not as concerned about thinning hair or baldness.

If a disease, medicine, or stress is the cause, then treating the disease, changing medicines, or eliminating or learning to manage the stress may stop the hairloss.

Treatment for hairloss may boost self-esteem and overall well-being, although the trade-off might be that it affects your health. Some medicines may have harmful side effects, and surgery may carry certain risks.

Inherited HairLoss

Treatment for inherited hairloss (androgenetic alopecia) aims to prevent hairloss, promote hair growth, and cover bald areas of the scalp. But treatment is not successful for everyone, and you should not expect to regrow a full head of hair.

Key points in making your decision

Everyone has some hairloss every day. But for some, hairloss becomes excessive, and treatment with medicines may slow hairloss and help to regrow hair. Consider the following when making your decision:

You may not get as much hair growth as you expect.
You must take the medicines over the long term or any regrown hair will fall out.
Your insurance probably will not cover the medicine, and the medicines can be expensive.
You may have side effects not yet known from taking these medicines long-term. It may be very dangerous to take these medicines if you are pregnant or if you have certain health conditions, such as heart problems.
You may feel that the possibility of regrowing hair and feeling better about your appearance is more important than the limitations of hairloss treatment.

Medicines include:

Minoxidil . Minoxidil (Rogaine) is available without a prescription and is sprayed on and/or rubbed into the scalp twice a day.
Finasteride . Finasteride (Propecia) is available by prescription and is taken once daily in pill form. Finasteride has not been proved effective in women and is not approved for women by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Women who are or may become pregnant should not take or handle crushed or broken tablets, because finasteride can cause birth defects.

How effective are these medicines in treating inherited HairLoss?

The effectiveness of finasteride or minoxidil depends on your age and the location of the hairloss. These medicines do not work for everyone, and you should not expect to regrow a full head of hair.

These medicines slow thinning of the hair and increase coverage of the scalp by growing new hair and enlarging existing hairs. They need to be taken every day, and if you stop taking them, any hair that has grown in will gradually be lost. Within 6 to 12 months, your scalp will most likely appear the same as it did before treatment.

Both medicines must be taken daily. It may take 6 months of treatment before you see results.

Minoxidil

Minoxidil slows hairloss and grows new hair. In men, the 5% solution appears to be more effective than the 2% solution, but it costs more and may have more side effects.

Minoxidil seems to work best on people younger than 30 years of age who have been losing hair for fewer than 5 years.

Finasteride

Finasteride is recognized as a successful therapy for inherited hairloss for men. Research reports that it slows hairloss on the scalp and helps regrow hair. But bald spots may not be completely covered, and visible results may take from a few months to a year.

Finasteride has not been proved effective in women and is not approved for women by the FDA.

What are the side effects of these medicines?

Side effects of minoxidil include skin irritation, dandruff, and an itchy scalp. In women, minoxidil may cause facial hair growth, especially on the forehead and cheeks. If you have heart problems, ask your doctor about using this medicine.

Finasteride should not be taken or handled by women who are or may become pregnant, because it can cause birth defects. Possible side effects in men include sexual problems, such as difficulty getting an erection.

What are the disadvantages of taking these medicines?

The disadvantages of taking these medicines for hairloss include:

The medicines may not work. You should not expect to regrow a full head of hair. Visible results may take from a few months to a year.
You must take the medicine every day. If you stop, any regrown hair will fall out, and you may actually end up with less hair than when you started treatment.
The medicines are expensive and usually are not covered by insurance.

What are the risks of not taking these medicines?

There are no risks to your health if you decide not to take medicine for hairloss. But for some people, there may be a risk to their well-being and self-esteem if they feel that hairloss has affected their appearance.

The risk of not taking medicine is that your hairloss will probably continue. But medicine is not always effective, and hairloss may continue despite treatment with medicine.

Other Treatment

Cosmetic approaches to HairLoss include:

Hairpieces or weaves. Hairpieces are made from human or synthetic hair that is implanted into a nylon netting. Hairpieces may be attached to the scalp with glue, metal clips, or tape. Hair weaving involves sewing or braiding pieces of long hair into existing hair.
Hair care products and styling techniques. Hair care products or perms may make hair appear thicker. Dyes may be used to color the scalp.
Behavior modification, if hairloss is caused by compulsive pulling of your hair ( trichotillomania ).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns consumers that other than FDA-approved minoxidil (Rogaine), there are no over-the-counter creams, lotions, or other products that can induce new hair to grow or cause hair to become thicker. Also, shampoos that claim to promote hair growth by unclogging follicles have not been proved to work. But there are some products that may make hair appear thicker and others that may cover bald spots.

Limited research on the dietary supplements saw palmetto and beta-sitosterol shows they may help men with inherited hairloss ( androgenetic alopecia ) regrow hair.

Treatment for other causes of HairLoss

Hairloss can be caused by diseases , medicines or medical treatments , recent surgery, high fevers, emotional stress, lack of protein or iron , and hair care , such as using dyes. Often, treating the cause stops the hairloss, and hair grows back. In some cases, other treatment is necessary.

Hairloss caused by cancer treatment requires special care: use mild shampoos and do not use a hair dryer.

Alopecia areata occurs when the immune system attacks hair follicles, where hair growth begins. Because hair usually grows back within a year, you may decide not to have treatment. Understanding the come-and-go nature of hairloss with this condition can help you make the best treatment decision. Children and teens may need counseling to help them adjust to the hairloss.

Medicine used for alopecia areata includes:

Corticosteroids injected into the scalp. The corticosteroid is injected many times about 1 cm (0.4 in.) apart every 4 to 6 weeks. This is the most common treatment in adults and is best used for treating patchy hairloss. Limited research reports that hair grows back at the site of injection in some people.
Corticosteroid ointments or creams you put on the scalp. There is little evidence that they cause hair growth when used alone. Corticosteroids may be used along with injected steroids or with other medicines such as minoxidil (Rogaine).
Corticosteroids you take by mouth (oral). Although this results in hair growth, it is rarely used because of the side effects of oral corticosteroids.
Contact immunotherapy , which may be the most effective treatment for severe alopecia areata. A common medicine used is diphenylcyclopropenone (DPCP), which is "painted" on the scalp once a week at increasing strengths. The DPCP irritates the skin, making it itchy and scaly. This treatment is not widely available.
Psoralen with ultraviolet A light (PUVA) therapy . For PUVA, a medicine, called a psoralen, is used to make the skin more sensitive to ultraviolet A (UVA) light. Then the skin is exposed to UVA light.

What To Think About

How successful your treatment is depends on your expectations and the cause of hairloss. Treatment for hairloss caused by an illness, medicine, or damage to the hair usually is more successful than treatment for inherited hairloss.

Considerations about inherited hairloss include:

The cost. Medicine or surgery to treat hairloss can be expensive and often is not covered by insurance.
Length of treatment. Medicines must be taken continuously, or the regrown or thickened hair will fall out. Surgery can be lengthy, and in most cases you will need several surgeries to achieve the coverage you want.
Side effects. Long-term effects of some hairloss medicines are not known.
Type of treatment. Medicines that must be taken continuously can be expensive and can increase the chance of side effects. Surgery, which may be a more permanent solution, is also expensive. In addition, surgery involves risks and the chance that not all hair follicles will remain healthy.

Women with inherited hairloss who wish to take birth control pills should use a pill type that does not add to hairloss, such as a norgestimate or ethynodiol diacetate.

Last Updated: June 17, 2008
Author: Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS
Medical Review: Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine
Alexander H. Murray, MD, FRCPC - Dermatology

Click Here To Get : Provillus

Natural Cures - Hair Loss Treatment

How Is HairLoss Treated?

Treatment Overview