What Do We Treat?

Hair Loss

Partial or complete loss of the hair is called alopecia. Hair loss usually develops gradually and may be patchy or diffuse (all over). Roughly 100 hairs are lost from your head every day. The average scalp contains about 100,000 hairs.

Each individual hair survives for an average of 4 1/2 years, during which time it grows about half an inch a month. Usually in its 5th year, the hair falls out and is replaced within 6 months by a new one. genetic baldness is caused by the body’s failure to produce new hairs and not by excessive hair loss.

Both men and women tend to lose hair thickness and amount as they age. Inherited or “pattern baldness” affects many more men than women. About 25% of men begin to bald by the time they are 30 years old, and about two-thirds are either bald or have a balding pattern by age 60.

Typical male pattern baldness involves a receding hair line and thinning around the crown with eventual bald spots. Ultimately, you may have only a horseshoe ring of hair around the sides. In addition to genes, male pattern baldness seems to require the presence of the male hormone testosterone. Men who do not produce testosterone (because of genetic abnormalities or castration) do not develop this pattern of baldness.

Some women also develop a particular pattern of hair loss due to genetics, age and male hormones that tend to increase in women after menopause. The pattern is different from that of men. Female pattern baldness involves a thinning throughout the scalp while the frontal hairline generally remains intact.

We may recommend topical medication Rogaine (minoxidil) for both male and female pattern baldness. Expect to wait 6 months before you see results. For men, we may recommend Propecia (finasteride). When either medication is stopped, the former baldness pattern returns.

We can also offer surgical hair transplantation, the transfer of growing hair from one part of the head to another. The solution is usually permanent.