Hair Loss Treatments? Which Hair Loss Products Work?
When I first started losing my hair in my mid twenties, I really became concerned. The year was 1995. I was finishing up my last year of college and I noticed from a group picture that I had taken with one of my marketing classes that my hair line was receding. Yikes. I really had to start thinking about some type of hair loss treatments since my dad was bald. It was in my genes. There was no avoiding it.
Anyway, it took me a while to overcome the denial, and I really had to address the fact that my genetic code was not going to allow me to escape from losing my hair. On the positive side, I was actually one of the fortunate ones. Some of my males friends had lost a lot hair – to the point that they were crowning and it was very obvious they would be completely bald by the time they were in their mid to late thirties. It was really time for me to think about some type of hair loss treatments. Remember, this was 1995, and Rogaine and Propecia were not quite as ‘accepted’ as they are right now. Actually, even today, most men don’t advertise that they use these products. We just know that they are common due to increased market share over the years for these products. So I had to ask myself at the time – which hair loss products work? And, which hair loss treatments are best for just a slightly receding hairline?
The first thing that I discovered was that these hair loss products were not cheap. Back then, it cost a few hundred bucks a month. Here are a few hair loss products I researched back then:
(1) External products applied to the balding areas of the scalp
From the late 1970′s through January of 1996, lotions or creams that were applied to the balding areas were only available by prescription only. Aside from surgery, these lotions were really the only type of hair loss product available. In the 1970′s, these topical lotions were being used as an internal medication for high blood pressure. One of the bizarre side of effects of this internal drug was that it had the ability to reverse or slow down the balding process. If applied externally to the balding areas which still had ‘peach fuzz’ on it, a 2% solution of minoxidil was shown to be able to start the hairs growing longer and becoming thicker again. The results were only prevalent in a small number of men. In other words, it just didn’t work for everybody. It was only known to have cured or stifled hair loss in the ‘crown’ area. The worst part of all of this it that all of the hair loss reversal or hair loss prevention that these lotions produced would be all reversed within 60-90 days if you stopped using the product. At the end of the day, I realized that I would have to use this hair loss product for the rest of my life. Another yikes.
(2) Oral medications
An oral drug was first introduced in the 1980′s as a treatment for an enlarged prostate. It was not until the mid 1990′s that this drug was first considered a hair loss product or a remedy to hair loss. It came in pill form, which made it very simple to take and allowed you to avoid taking or applying medication to the scalp on a daily basis. It seemed like the best hair loss treatment on the market. After further research, I discovered that the drawback or major side effect to taking this oral medication was that it was shown to decreased libido in men. It is not generally prescribed to women because it is known to cause birth defects in unborn male infants. As a person who doesn’t like to take medications, I was not interested in experimenting with this kind of hair loss treatment.
(3) Shampoos, mousses, and vitamins, toupees and wigs
Before topical lotions and oral medications, there were shampoos, mousses, and vitamins that people took to slow down hair loss or grow new hair. As a pragmatic person, I was pretty sure these products were not valid and my hair loss treatment options beyond that would be toupee or even a wig. These two hair loss products or carpets on my head were not an option.
In the end, I decided not to do anything about my hair loss until eleven years later. My decision was to have a hair transplant in 2006. Now my first thought about a hair transplant was ‘bad hair plugs’. But the reality was that hair transplant surgery had come a long way.
If you want to know more about my hair transplant surgery, the costs of hair transplantation, how to choose a surgeon, and some celebrity hair transplants, visit my blog at Hair Transplant Facts. I even posted some before and after photos. If you are going to move forward with a transplant, my site will provide you some very good insight. Gone are the days of ‘hair plugs’. Hair loss treatments are not permanent unless you actually have surgery. Once you have the surgery, there is no more need for hair loss products.
Andrew Parsons is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton. He is contributing writer on many subjects.
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