Hair Loss in Men: Conquering Hair Loss by Understanding Male Pattern Baldness
Losing your hair can be worrying at any age, but more so when it is premature or serious. It will blow to your self-esteem for a large number of people and make them spend money on something to try to save their hair.
The truth is that everybody develops some hair loss as they age. Hair loss happens to everyone over the course of their lifetime,” said Rod Sinclair from Melbourne University.
It is just a question of how quickly and in what age.
When your hair start falling out, what do you do? Can hair loss be prevented? (Or slowed down at least)
Let’s talk in details about hair…
Hairs are thin protein shafts called keratin. They are anchored into the group of hair follicles which supply the root (or bulb) of a hair with oxygen and nutrients and grain the hair with an oily substance known as sebum.
Except in the palms of the hands, feet, and lips, the human body is entirely coated with hair follicles. In most cases, hair follicles are tiny, and their hair does not grow long enough to emerge from pores.
The hair areas (which can be seen on the skin) are the armpits, ears, around the genitals, head of the chest, back, and most abundantly the scalp of the head. Usually, a scalp comprises 100,000 hair follicles.
Hair is a constant cycle of growth, relaxing, and renewing. Hair grows and then shed, but not all of them shed at once because they grow at different speeds.
The development of hair follicles takes approximately three years and develops rests and then falls and then grows, meaning the skin loses between 50 and 200 hairs a day.
How do Men Experience Baldness?
In some cases, it has been observed that some males have slowed down the hair growth process.
Each hair growth period is gradually shortened and the rest phase is longer. Eventually, the hairs that develop become so short that the hair follicles scarcely appear.
The phase starts on the sides of the head (above the temples), and extends on the crown. The patch gets bigger as the hairline goes backwards.
This is called “male pattern baldness” or androgenic alopecia. This is the most common form of baldness, affecting between 50% and over 80% of all men by age 70.
Do women experience the same?
Women often experience hair loss patterns, although it is less common than men (Still it has been observed that women also experience the most common cause of hair loss).
However, the pattern of hair loss is varies from person to person: The loss tends to be gradual around the crown rather than a patch of baldness.
More than 60 to 70 percent of women’s hair will turn white, despite of going truly bald. However, around 50 percent of women will experience some mild hair loss as they age.
It’s nature and not Nurture
Although you may say that hair loss occurs due to hair washing and hat-wearing, it is believed that patterned hair loss is due to hormonal and genetic factors.
It is the androgen hormones of the body that we think make hair follicles shrink and stop growing in people with genetic sensitivity (produced in different quantities by men and women).
In a particular individual, at what age it begins and how extensive it will purely depend on the genes of a person. Several genes decide how vulnerable you are to hair loss and these may be from the side of your mother and father.
Professor Sinclair says, “It’s how these genes interact that decides what takes place in the offspring.
“It’s not an all or nothing phenomena — it’s not like brown eyes or blue eyes. It’s a quantitative trait… so the question is not will you go bald, but how much baldness will you get.”
Other Causes of Hair Loss
- Hair loss doesn’t just come down to biology (genetics) — people can lose their hair for a variety of reasons.
2. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease that attacks the hair follicles of a person’s own immune system. It sometimes appears like a patch or a number of patches, but can also affect the whole body in extreme cases.
3. Medicines, medical therapies, and diseases may also cause side effects on the loss of hair. It may also occur after major surgery, stress cycles, and sudden shock, including deafness. Hair loss is typically temporary in these cases but may become permanent.
4. Excessive hair styling or treatment (such as dying and bleaching) can also cause hair loss.
5. Hormone fluctuations or imbalances may also result in hair loss (which can happen during pregnancy or certain medications).
To be honest: NO. Hereditary hair loss associated with age is hard to reverse.
“When you treat people with hair loss, you can stimulate partial regrowth, but you’re generally unlikely to get complete regrowth” says Professor Sinclair.
While there is no strong evidence that the use of vitamins or herbal remedies can help counter hair loss.
Some treatments, however, can minimize or delay the loss of hair or promote partial regeneration.
“Either you try and block the (androgen) hormone action in the scalp, or you try and stimulate the hair” said Professor Freeman.
A doctor or dermatologist can prescribe finasteride, a prescription-only medication to be taken once a day, in order to block hormonal action and help slow the progression of hair loss in men. Lower sex driving and sexual dysfunction are rare side effects of the treatment.
A doctor or dermatologist could recommend minoxidil, also in tablet form, used since the 1970s and available without a prescription to stimulating hair growth (and suitable for both men and women).
Wrapping it up!
Hair Loss Treatment
For individuals who experience severe hair loss, hair transplantation may be recommended.
Hair transplant is a process where a surgeon takes hair strips or plugs of hairs from the back and/or sides of the head and places them where there is no hair or between hair in thinning areas. The procedure may take several hours, and several therapy sessions may be required to get good results.
It can be expensive and complications are at risk, so it’s best to talk to a dermatologist or hair transplant surgeon as with all hair loss treatments.
