Hair loss in men can happen for a wide number of different reasons and when it comes to figuring out why, there isn’t a definitive answer that will tell you why you may be experiencing any form of hair loss. Depending on who you ask, you can be given a number of different reasons to be experiencing hair loss from excessive smoking having an effect on your hair follicles through to sleep deprivation and stress causing your hair to fall out, however male pattern baldness is a bit different to explain the reason for your hair loss.
Male pattern baldness is a hereditary condition that affects millions of men every year, and if you are between the ages of 20 to 45 and experiencing the loss of scalp hair, there is an approximately 95% chance that you are beginning to experience male pattern baldness. As suggested by the name, male pattern baldness tends to follow a typical pattern with the hair loss usually beginning in the temples and/or crown of the head. This initial thinning can progress over a number of years and can eventually lead to complete baldness, but more typically it is simply a loss of hair over the top surface of the head.
The majority of men are genetically predisposed to be affected by male pattern baldness at some point in their life. It is simply the effect of hormones on the hair follicles that causes male pattern baldness to happen, testosterone to be more specific. Testosterone is a hormone found in males at quite a high level following puberty and this is converted to dihydrotestosterone (more easily referred to as DHT) by an enzyme known as 5-alpha reductase. The DHT has a negative effect on your hair follicles by suppressing and shrinking them down, which slows the your natural hair production and begins to produce weaker and shorter hair and in some cases can stop hair growth from the affected follicle completely. If this process is allowed to continue, it will gradually deplete your stock of hair and you will experience hair loss.
There are ways to stop the effects of male pattern baldness and potentially reverse it, but there is really only one way to completely negate the effects and that is hair transplantation. Before even reaching the stage of transplantation, your first option will be medication known as Minoxidil or Finasteride. This medication works to negate the effects of the DHT on the hair follicles, however it isn’t some form of miracle cure and in a lot of cases where the person has already begun to experience male pattern baldness, they will only stop any further hair loss which can potentially leave the recipient with a bald/thinning area. Using hair transplantation as a method of stopping male pattern baldness is the best way to completely stop and hide any signs of balding or thinning on the scalp by simply transplanting hair follicles that are from an area that is naturally less likely to be affected by DHT into the affected area, giving you a full and natural looking head of hair once again.
If you are experiencing any form of male pattern baldness, please don’t hesitate to contact us today to see how we can help you.