How to Treat Male Pattern Hair Loss

Many men, as they get older, start to lose hair above the temples. The hair loss continues over time around the top of the head and sometimes claims the hair on the sides and rear of the head as well, leading to complete baldness. This is called androgenic alopecia because it's linked with the presence of androgens (hormones that control masculine characteristics). This article will help you understand how it works, and how you can stop

Steps

 

1

Understand how male pattern baldness works. This particular kind of hair loss is related to levels of free (unbound, circulating) testosterone, which gets converted into dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Some men, because of their genetics, have hair follicles that respond to DHT by shrinking. In order to combat male hair loss on a biological level, you can:

• lower the level of free testosterone in your body (which is not the same as the level of total testosterone)
• prevent free testosterone from being converted into DHT

2

Drugs tend to work by inhibiting any further hair loss, although sometimes they stimulate new hair growth. When you stop taking them, the hair loss tends to pick up wherever it left off when you started the medication.

• Minoxidil (Rogaine, Regaine) is applied directly on your scalp. Approved by the FDA. The way it works is unclear.
• Finasteride (Propecia, Proscar) is taken orally in the form of a prescription pill. It is somewhat more effective than minoxidil.^[1] Approved by the FDA. It works by binding to the enzyme that would otherwise convert free testosterone to DHT.

3

Get a hair transplant. Tiny patches of hair are moved from one part of your scalp to the balding area in several sessions. There's a small risk of skin infection and it can be expensive, but the results are effective and permanent.^[1] The reason it works is because hair is moved from parts of your head where the follicles aren't sensitive to

4

Stimulate hair growth by M.Gardson's method or similar. When hair follicles go dormant, you begin to lose your hair. The dormant follicles no longer create hair, so when enough of the follicles in a specific area shut down, your hair will appear thinner. You're not bald - you just have a lot of dormant hair follicles that haven't been awakened

5

Prevent insulin resistance. Excess levels of insulin circulating in your blood (hyperinsulinemia) are associated with the presence of male pattern baldness (among other unpleasantries, like nearsightedness and the formation of skin tags). Hyperinsulinemia is a common symptom of insulin resistance, which is linked with a high-carbohydrate diet, and remedied by exercise and weight loss.^[3] This suggests that avoiding excess carbs and being fit will help you keep a full head of hair, and even though no study has proven that conclusively yet, at the very least it'll make you look and feel better in other ways.

source:wikihow.com