If there is one critical point that I stress with all of my hair replacement patients it is that Androgenetic Alopecia (Male or Female Pattern Baldness) is absolutely progressive. All of the most wonderful hair transplantation procedures that I perform today on my patients do not stop this progressive condition.
Consider the fact that after half of your hair has already fallen is when you even BEGIN to notice your hair thinning and seek hair loss treatment. The horse is long gone from the barn before you notice it is missing. In other words, hair loss is an insidious process that often goes unnoticed for a long, long time.
This is why I feel very strongly that hair loss treatment such as medical therapy is extremely important -- and the earlier you begin, the better chances you will have for hair replacement.
If you are experiencing male or female pattern baldness, it makes the best sense to use medical treatment in conjunction with your hair replacement surgery because the transplants will grow beautifully, but the non-transplanted hairs will continue to fall. Hair loss treatment to KEEP these surrounding hairs on your head while the transplants grow, will allow you to have even MORE hair -- without always having to continue to aggressively catch up with the progression. There are a variety of hair loss treatment options available at our Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire offices.
PROPECIA® (finasteride 1mg)
PROPECIA® (finasteride 1mg)
Propecia® is the first and only FDA-approved hair replacement oral medication to treat Male Pattern Hair Loss. Its mechanism of action is to decrease the amount of Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) that is both in your bloodstream as well as in the skin near your hair follicles.
Propecia® works 83 percent of the time to stop further progression of hair loss and it works 66 percent of the time as a hair replacement mechanism. This hair loss treatment stops progression in the crown and forward along the central part of your head. It regrows the hair in the crown. It is not particularly effective, though, in the frontal receded areas.
Recent study data show that there are 277 hairs per 1-inch circle more on the heads of people taking Propecia as compared to those taking a placebo at the end of five years. That is A LOT more hair, making this hair loss treatment very effective!
It takes about three months of usage before you will notice less hair falling and approximately six months before I shall notice hair replacement.
I want my patients to use the hair loss treatment Propecia® for at least 18 months because I feel that it truly takes this long to determine its effectiveness. If you stop it sooner, I don't think you will have given it adequate time to see how well it could be working for you.
The pill is taken once a day -- with or without food. There are no known drug interactions.
Everybody is worried about the supposed side effects of this medication. Well, here are the facts. There are only three known side effects that have been observed during the study of thousands of men. They occur in 1/2 of 1 percent of people: decreased hardness of an erection, decreased libido, and decreased volume of ejaculate. That's it. And, again, they occur in only 1/2 of 1 percent of individuals taking this hair loss treatment. The recently released 5-year data show these to occur even less than this small percentage.
More good news about potential side effects of this hair loss treatment is that if a man were to be among the unlucky one half percent, and he kept on taking the medication for another couple of weeks, then 58 percent of the time he would revert back to normal (because the body adjusts to the drug). A full one hundred percent will go back to normal if they stop the medication. So, there are no long-term side effects to worry about. Don't let inaccurate scare tactics dissuade you from using this great medication. This is a long-term therapy that should not be stopped. The hair replacement medication Propecia is available at our Massachusetts and Rhode Island facilities.
Rogaine (minoxidil 2% and 5%)
Rogaine Topical Solution was available for many years as a prescription medication. Today, however, this hair loss treatment can be purchased without a doctor's prescription.
It is a drug that is applied to your scalp twice a day. I have my hair replacement patients shampoo their hair, towel dry it, and then apply the Rogaine Solution using the dropper applicator. I suggest this applicator because it gets the medication onto the skin where it needs to be, rather than in the hair itself. The hair loss treatment should then be spread over the entire top of the scalp.
It takes at least four months to notice less hair falling out and at least seven months for me to begin to observe hair replacement. The regrowth is usually vellus (fine, short hairs). Rogaine must be used two times per day in order for it to be an effective form of hair loss treatment.
The main side effects of Rogaine are dermatological and they occur approximately 2 percent of the time. This is a long-term hair loss treatment that should not be stopped, and is available at our Rhode Island and Massachusetts locations.
