Information on Thinning Hair and Hair Restoration

Perhaps more than any other single feature, your hairstyle contributes to the image you project to others. When a person experiences significant hair loss, it can be damaging to his or her self-esteem. There are several types of hair loss that can occur, and there may be a variety of factors involved, including genetics, medications, disease, and cancer treatments. Fortunately, there are a number of hair loss restoration and prevention treatment options currently available for individuals with thinning hair.

Normal Hair Growth

It is completely normal to experience some hair loss. Throughout your lifetime, your hair is in a continuous growth cycle, and all hairs shed sooner or later. At any given time, approximately 85 to 90 percent of your hair is in the anagen phase, constantly growing for anywhere from two to eight years. A small percentage of hair follicles are in the catagen phase, a transitional period that lasts several weeks. The other 10 to 15 percent of your hair is in its resting or telogen phase, which lasts two to three months. Hair is shed at the end of the resting phase, and new hair takes its place to begin the growing phase once again. Hair grows at a rate of one-half inch per month, but this growth slows as we age.

The human scalp sheds about 50 to 100 hairs each day, so normal hair loss should not cause alarm. If your hair appears to be thinning appreciably, however, you may want to consult a hair restoration specialist to discuss hair loss prevention and other treatment options.

Hair Loss Prevention

Hair loss is a circumstance that literally affects millions of men and women in the United States, as well as across the globe. While female hair loss may not be as apparent as male pattern baldness, there are a number of different hair loss causes and corresponding hair restoration remedies available to women. In some cases, the conditions that cause female hair loss can be treated with a doctor-prescribed medication, preventing further hair loss. For males, hair loss treatment options include hair restoration products and medical hair restoration.

Hair Loss Treatment Products

While there are a multitude of products purporting to be the next "hair loss cure," there are only two FDA-approved, non-surgical hair restoration treatments available: Rogaine® (minoxidil) and Propecia® (finasteride). These two products can be effective in hair loss prevention, and may even help to regrow hair for some men. However, once you start using Rogaine® or Propecia®, you must continue to use these products indefinitely, otherwise any new hair will fall out. Fortunately, there are other, more permanent treatments available to improve the appearance of thinning hair.

Medical Hair Restoration

Medical hair restoration is the name given to a group of surgical hair loss treatments designed to reduce baldness in men. There are several hair replacement procedures used to accomplish this, including hair transplant grafting, flap surgery, scalp reduction, and scalp expansion.

Locate a Hair Loss Specialist through DocShop

The information presented above is intended to describe the basics of hair loss and hair loss prevention and restoration treatment options. If you are experiencing thinning hair or hair loss, DocShop can locate a skilled hair loss treatment specialist near you.