Hair Loss Treatments
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SURGICAL TREATMENTS
MEDICAL TREATMENTS
COSMETIC TREATMENTS
GIMMICK TREATMENTS
Treatment Options
The medical community’s knowledge of the cause of hair loss and hair loss treatments available has evolved exponentially over the last 20 years. Unfortunately, there is not a present “Magic Bullet” to cure hair loss, but there are some very legitimate and good hair loss treatments, be it surgical, medical, or cosmetic.
Surgical Treatments
There are many different surgical techniques to correct androgenetic alopecia:
- Hair Transplants – both the strip FUT and punch FUE techniques have their strengths and weaknesses. The main difference is how we excise the tissue of the donor area. FUT uses the benefit of the stereoscopic microscope (gives us 100% visualization of natural hair groupings) vs the FUE (motorized tool to surgically punch excise the donor tissue). It is very important to use the appropriate surgical technique depending on each unique patient and their circumstances. More importantly, if your doctor is allowing an unlicensed technician to use a FUE device, you should report the doctor to the state medical board and local authorities.
- Scalp Reductions – Dr. McAndrews does not perform scalp reductions because he believes that there is no discernable benefit when compared to current hair transplant techniques.
- Scalp Flaps – Dr. McAndrews does not perform scalp flaps because they are fraught with complications and produce an unnatural look.
Medical Treatments
There are presently 2 medications that are FDA-approved for male pattern hair loss:
- Finasteride – aka Propecia, it’s the only oral medication that is FDA-approved for the treatment of male pattern hair loss in men only. It is only available by prescription, comes in 1-mg tables, and is taken once a day.
- Minoxidil – it has shown efficacy in patients who had hair loss in the vertex. Both 2% and 5% solutions are available over the counter.
There are no other medications on the market that can claim that their product causes clinically significant hair growth. There are products from Glaxo-Welcome and Upjohn that are presently in clinical trials that are showing significant promise, but they are not currently available.
Cosmetic Treatments
There are a variety of cosmetic treatments, such as:
- Hair Pieces – the natural look has greatly improved over the years to the point where it is hard to tell normal hair from a hairpiece. The biggest downside is the continual maintenance that is involved in keeping it looking natural. I recommend hairpieces for my patients that will not be satisfied with anything less than a dense, full head of hair (like they were when they were 18 years old).
- Cosmetic Concealers – there are many sprays and powders that give the illusion that there is less baldness, some are much more cosmetically elegant than others, but none look like natural hair. All of these products need to be applied daily.
Gimmick Treatments
One needs to be aware that there are many companies and doctors that play on the vulnerability of people with hair loss. There are numerous unethical companies that make claims that their products “may cause fuller and thicker looking hair” and hope that you interpret that as “causing clinically significant hair growth”.
A partial list of unsubstantiated and/or false claims are:
- Balding men have poor vascular supply to the balding area. Truth: Numerous studies have shown that the vascular supply to the balding scalp is just as good as the non-balding scalp.
- Balding men have plugged follicles. Truth: A plugged follicle will not stop a hair from growing.
- Balding men have diseased scalps. Truth: There are a few rare diseases that can cause hair loss, but hair loss caused by disease is not the same as male patterned baldness.
- Lack of vitamins causes hair loss. Truth: Hair loss due a vitamin deficiency is rare in the United States. It is more common to see vitamin toxicity as a cause of hair loss.
- Some companies use electrical stimulation or massage therapy to the scalp. Truth: No medical studies have been shown that this causes clinically significant hair growth.
- The Demodex mite (a normal human mite) causes hair loss. Truth: The Demodex mite is found in most hair follicles in adults, not in just the hair follicles of balding men. If the Demodex mite truly did cause hair loss, why doesn’t it cause hair loss of the eyebrows, of the beard region, or the sides of the head where it is also found?
Be Aware & Become Educated
FUE Hair Transplant Clinics are springing up as quickly as 24-hour mini-marts and fast food restaurants. Most of these FUE clinics have physicians with no formal training in hair transplants and have minimal knowledge of the androgenetic alopecia. Be very wary of plastic surgeons/facial plastic surgeons offering FUE hair transplants with an automated device (I.e.- neograft, smartgraft, artas robot or other FUE device). Many of these doctors are allowing the unlicensed technician to perform the surgery. This is illegal in the state of California (and almost all states and countries) and the doctor and the technician are involved in a criminal act and could go to jail. Furthermore, the doctor’s malpractice carrier would not cover a lawsuit when the doctor allowed the unlicensed practice of medicine to occur in their office. These doctors seem to be okay with breaking the law in order to bring in some extra revenue to their office. Unfortunately, the patient is left to determine if a particular procedure is the right match or if a doctor has adequate training to perform that procedure.
The McAndrews Method:
Informed Decision, Artful Precision, Unparalleled Results.
Dr. McAndrews' sole focus on his patients enables him to artistically and precisely create the best natural-looking results.
Get In Touch
If you have any further questions or would like to schedule a consultation, please do not hesitate to call or email us. You may also fill out the form provided to request more information.
877-HAIR-DOC