Reasons for Hair Loss and Ways to Cope with It
There are different reasons for losing hair and different ways to cope.Hairs on your head tend to grow in a two to five year cycle, falling out and being replaced. You would normally lose 100 hairs per day. A genetic sensitivity to androgens can cause hair to fall out sooner and reduce the diameter of replacement hairs, leading to baldness.
Two of the most common reasons for baldness in men are alopecia and "pattern baldness". They affect one in three men by age 30, and half of men by age 50.
If you are only seeing early signs of hair loss, there are a couple of options which can stop or reverse the loss.
1. Finasteride (Propecia) is a prescription drug. 2% of its users report decreased libido as a side effect.
2. Minoxidil (Rogaine) is an over the counter lotion.
3. Both must be used between four months and a year, and if you stop the treatment, effects are reversed.
4. Neither is helpful if your scalp has hardly any hair left on it.
Another option is hair transplant surgery. Skin plugs containing hair are transferred from the back of the head to the top, and will grow unaffected by the androgens that cause hair loss. This option can cost tens of thousands of dollars and may take sessions over several years to work.
There are two ways to avoid unnecessary additional factors that can increase hair loss. Washing your hair every day will keep the scalp in better condition. You can also avoid using hair dryers, which can damage the scalp.
There are ways you can minimize the visual impact of hair loss.
1. Some shampoos and conditioners can plump up thinning hair, making it look thicker.
2. Short hair reduces the contrast between hair and balding areas. Trimming is a more widely accepted solution than a "combover".
3. Human or synthetic hair pieces can be implanted on a thin porous piece of plastic attached to the scalp. Better than its predecessors, these hairpieces can even stay on while you are swimming.
4. Some keratin fibers affix themselves to individual hairs, making hair look thicker. They are easily washed out with shampoo.
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