Although there are a number of hair loss conditions that can affect men, the most common is Male Pattern Baldness (MPB). Other names for this condition are androgenetic alopecia and genetic hair loss. This page will concentrate primarily on this condition but will also make reference to the less widespread male hair loss conditions.
Male Pattern Baldness – What is it?
Male Pattern Baldness is a genetic condition that can be passed down from either side of the family tree. So if your Father has a perfectly thick head of hair, don’t think you are definitely safe (although you could be!). It is a condition caused by a by-product of testosterone named Dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. DHT attaches to the hair follicles and causes them to shrink over time, which causes the hair to become thinner and thinner until some men become totally bald on the top of the head.
How do I know if I’m losing my hair?
This is a very good question, and although the answer might seem obvious, many men do not identify their hair loss until it has become fairly advanced, which could be too late to achieve a full recovery. The reasons men do not identify their own hair loss are usually down to simple denial, or because the process is very slow and it is something that they simply might not notice. At the opposite end of the scale, many men worry about hair loss when they have no reason to worry.
The best ways to know if you are losing your hair are:
- noticing the appearance of thinning hair or a receding hairline yourself
- other people informing you that you are losing your hair (you may not notice yourself)
- excessive hair on your pillow, the shower bed or in the bath plug, or on your hands when styling your hair in the morning.
How can I identify Male Pattern Baldness?
MPB is in fact easy to identify even for somebody with no clinical experience as it only affects hair on the top of the scalp and not the sides, causing a horseshoe-shaped pattern of hair loss. There are a number of different common patterns of hair loss – a receding hairline, a thinning crown, or general thinning spread over the top area of the head. You can read more about these below. MPB never affects the sides or back of the hair.
Treating Male Pattern Baldness
There are a number of options available for treating Male Pattern Baldness. This includes clinically proven medications, laser devices and hair restoration surgery.
There are also numerous products out there that have no clinical efficacy. So it is easy to waste time and money whilst your hair continues to shed. It is therefore very important that you carry out the necessary research before deciding about treatment for hair loss.
Unless you have lost all or most of your hair, there is a solution out there for you. It can be a either a medical solution or a surgical one or a combination of the two.
When is the best time to seek a solution for my hair loss?
The simple answer to this is as early as possible. Once you begin to notice increased amounts of hair shedding, you should seek advice from a specialist. Male Pattern Hair Loss is a chronic condition that will progress if no action is taken. The more hair that is lost, the less chance your hair will have of making a full recovery. Thar is why HairGro Therapy always advise using a course of treatment before the condition progresses.