Registered with
The Institute of Trichogists
Founded 1902
Head Steaming
Hi-Frequency Therapy
Genetic Male Hair Loss
ALSO KNOWN AS:
MALE PATTERN BALDNESS SYNDROME or ANDROGENETIC ALOPECIA.
This is visually the most variable complaint. It features as diffuse or thinning hair loss to baldness as far as the lower sides and back of the head. The hair can fall rapidly, showing signs of thinning over a short period of time, or it can fall gradually, almost unnoticeably, over a prolonged period, until a thinning is noted.
Male pattern baldness is the most common hair loss complaint. It is mostly, as the name suggests, a genetically determined condition affecting over 50% of the male population. It can begin as early as 16 years of age or, more due to the natural ageing process, as late as 60 or 70 onwards. Very few men get past this age with a full head of hair. Luck and genetical predisposition plays the part in this instance.
WHY ME?
Put as simply as possible, hair grows from an indentation in the skin called a follicle. It would appear that the follicles on the top areas of the scalp are more receptive to the male androgen hormone. The more androgens allowed to circulate in the blood, the weaker these particular follicles become until eventually, they completely dissolve.
When follicles die, regrowth is impossible, as the follicle no longer exists.
Genetics will predetermine not so much the levels of testosterone produced by the body, but the levels of production of a certain protein that helps to contain and control the level of testosterone in the blood. More rapid hair fall can occur when a certain enzyme produced by the body will cause a more potent male hormone to metabolise, namely Dihydrotestosterone (DHT).
A consultation with a fully qualified trichologist backed by the institute of trichologists would certainly be a better way to understand this rather complicated condition more fully.
This is not a curable complaint. Depending on its aggressiveness will determine how much can be done. Stimulative treatments (allowing excessive blood flow by vaso-dilation) can help to contain, control and minimise the progression of male pattern baldness. The speed of hair fall can be greatly reduced and abundant regrowth can take place. Remember, dead follicles do not replace themselves naturally, so the sooner a condition is treated, the greater the help can be given.
Trichology treats the condition but not the cause, even though it is important to understand the cause.
CAUTION
Apart from hair transplants and hair restoration, be careful of some adverts by "hair therapy experts" showing "before" and "after" photos. They are not always to be believed and can be very misleading.