Doctor am I going bald?
Doctor am I going bald? I have tried medications but nothing is helping. Can i go in for a hair transplant? so many questions arise in the brain, which is losing hair on the scalp above.
The simple answer lies in understanding the reason why the hair fall happens, the types of hair fall, and the expected result outcomes with the hair treatments available.
Male pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia is a condition, nowadays in every second person, you come across. It can show up in teenagers, people in their twenties and thirties start with receding of the hairline from the front and the crown area of the scalp.
The quality of hair starts to get thinner, lacks a healthy color and feels weak , this continues either aggressively or slowly leading to this condition.
Factors Affecting Hair Health:
- Hereditary in the family, but more so if the mother or mother’s part of family is affected.
- The androgen receptor in the hair follicle makes the hair go through some changes
- Dihydrotestosterone causes the thicker hair to change into thinner hair. This triggers a series of reversible changes on the hair like growing phase of hair is shortened.
- The nutritional deficiencies and stress levels also play a role.
To reverse these changes on scalp and control hair fall understanding the above contributing factors is important and how far these factors can be addressed.
- Medications for hair fall control need to be applied for life , the case of hair fall always returns back once the treatments have stopped.
- Oral medications stopping the local androgen receptor induces hormonal change, that needs to be added as it is effective in actively controlling the hair fall, side effects of medicines and the clinical studies can be discussed and accordingly decided.
- Various therapies like light and energy based devices to stimulate hair growth, platelet rich plasma therapy, for scalp etc have shown some results.
- Hair transplant is a technique which still requires applications on scalp for maintaining the hair. The real outcome of the hair transplant and whether the person is the right candidate for the procedure is something which has to be discussed and judged with a good session of counselling.
- Hair cosmetic fibres which give the hair a look of fullness or hair weaving and wigs are options for people who do not have healthy hair from donor site or prefer a non invasive method for hair growth.
Hair is a matter of great pride and self esteem so when one goes through hair loss and balding this can lead to many psychological issues which have to be addressed or it leads to the person and everyone around suffering.
At the end of the day understanding the type of hair fall, cause of it, and practical aspects of expected outcome , finances involved and commitment towards applications on most of the days would more or less help retain “hair” the crowning glory.
Dr.Tina Ramachander is one of the best dermatologist in Bangalore and Medical Director at Dr.Tina’s Skin Solutionz, a skin care clinic in Bangalore. She completed her master’s in dermatology from the well acclaimed JJM Medical college in Karnataka and is now a practicising dermatosurgeon and Medical Cosmetologist in Bangalore.