What is the Best Treatment for Male Pattern Baldness?
While no treatment for male pattern baldness is 100% effective, there are some treatments out there being advertised today that border on being 0% effective. Yet these treatments can be marketed as natural or homeopathic therapies that “have been shown to reduce hair loss and regrow hair” by providing disclaimers that the claims have not been vetted by the FDA or any medical authority whatsoever.
The best case scenario for treatments such as these is that they may or may not work, but medical science has been somehow oblivious to this or just hasn’t caught up with the remarkable individual who is providing the treatment at a bargain online. This, of course, is doubtful, and at least for doctors, there are still only 3 treatments that make sense to prescribe.
#1. Minoxidil / Rogaine
Minoxidil was the first treatment that was patented for hair loss. Like many drugs before it, it was not originally prescribed for the purpose of hair loss treatment. It was originally a prescribed to patients with high blood pressure. But then researchers started noticing an interesting side effect of the drug. Patients were beginning to regrow their hair. While minoxidil based medications have been shown to reduce hair loss in some men, most researchers consider it to be one of the least effective treatments. Results are often disappointing and this is especially true for those that use it as a topical lotion. Another major issue is that because it’s a blood pressure medication, some individuals are not going to be able to take it for health reasons.
#2. Finasteride / Propecia
Like rogaine, propecia was developed for other reasons than hair loss, in this case, to reduce the size of prostate glands. Finasteride showed much better results than minoxidil based medications and was the first drug in history that restored hair growth in the majority of men. It works by inhibiting the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone. This prevents the shrinkage of the individual follicles that cause male pattern baldness. The reduction of DHT was proven to slow hair loss and regrow hair in the majority of patients. However, because propecia is a hormonal inhibitor, it can produce certain sexual side effects in some men, including impotence and difficulty with orgasm.
#3. Follicular Unit Extraction
Follicular unit extraction is a kind of hair transplant surgery. Since the majority of men lose hair on the tops of their heads as opposed to the sides and the back, the follicles can be extracted from the other areas of the body and then surgically reimplanted in the scalp where hair loss is most prominent.
“Hair transplant surgery is largely becoming the most popular treatment for the majority of men since it’s a non pharmaceutical solution to the problem,” said one doctor from Palo Alto.
Disclaimer: We are unable to guarantee any result, even though most of our patients do see success. The results of our services will vary greatly to each patient’s level of commitment and compliance with the program.
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