Hair Loss Guide

What's Men's Hair Loss?

It’s normal to lose around 50 to 100 hairs every day. Usually, this loss isn’t noticeable because new hair grows to replace the ones lost.

Hair loss and baldness occur when hair falls out too quickly or new hairs stop growing.

Depending on the cause of hair loss, you may notice slow thinning or a sudden appearance of a bald patch. Additionally, it can impact just the hair on your scalp or the entire body.

What Causes Hair Loss in Men?

A mix of genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors contribute to male pattern hair loss. The genes from both parents determine the tolerance to hormones called androgens, particularly dihydrotestosterone (DHT).

Each hair strand starts in a hair follicle and develops for two to six years before entering a resting period and falling out. The cycle begins anew as the follicle begins to generate a new hair.

Increased androgen levels in hair follicles may result in shorter hair growth cycles that last just a few weeks or months. DHT accelerates the shrinking process, causing new hairs to grow shorter and thinner than previously. Hair follicles eventually grow too tiny to create new hairs. This issue might appear throughout adolescence, in your twenties, thirties, or later in life.

Other frequent causes of male hair loss are:

• Hormonal shifts
• Scalp infections skin disorders
• Alopecia areata (hair loss) (patchy hair loss)
• Medication
• Severe procedures or forms of stress radiation therapy

A expert may be able to tell you if your thinning is related to a genetic problem or a different issue.

Norwood Scale Stages of Male Hair Loss

After examining over 300 men with hair loss, James Hamilton pioneered a scale to evaluate the stages of male pattern baldness in 1951 Dr. O'Tar Norwood considerably enhanced this measure after researching patterned hair loss in 1,000 men in 1975. He saw that thinning starts in the temples as well as the crown/vertex and gradually spreads to the whole top of the scalp, thus, he based his categorisation on this pattern.

Dr. O'Tar Norwood is still the most often used categorisation for male hair loss. They can effectively detect hair loss using basic images as a Norwood stages chart, inform patients about possible treatments, and assess how successful such treatments are.

While every case of hair loss is unique (and cases may vary greatly), men suffering from Male Pattern Hair Loss tend to lose their hair in one of a few typical patterns throughout the course of their lives. It is similar to a visual categorisation guide in that it includes seven images, each of which represents a particular level of hair loss and is graded on a scale of 1 to 7.
Stage 1: There is no substantial hair loss or hairline recession.

Stage 2: The hairline around the temples is receding somewhat. An adult or mature hairline is another name for this.

Stage 3: The appearance of clinically severe baldness. At both temples, the hairline becomes significantly depressed, suggesting an M, U, or V shape. The recessed areas are either entirely bare or sparsely haired.

Vertex at stage three. The hairline remains at stage 2, but there is severe hair loss on the scalp's top (the vertex).

Stage 4: The hairline recession is more significant than in stage 2, and the vertex has scant or no hair. A ring of hair joins the two sites of hair loss and links to the hair remaining on the sides of the scalp.

Stage 5: The two regions of hair loss in stage 5 are greater than in stage 4. They're still separated, but the hair band between them is smaller and sparser.

Stage 6: The balding patches at the temples merge with the balding patches at the vertex. The hair band over the top of the head is missing or scant.

Stage 7: Hair loss is the most severe, with just a strip of hair around the sides of the head remaining. This hair is generally fine and not thick.

Norwood A class. The Norwood scale class A variant is a somewhat distinct and less typical development of hair loss. The key distinctions are that the hairline recedes consistently without leaving an island of hair in the centre, and there is no bald spot at the vertex. Instead, the hairline runs straight from front to back.

Everyone begins at the first stage. If you are destined to be a Stage 7, you will go from Stage 1 through Stages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and finally to Stage 7. However, not everyone is born to be a Stage 7. This is established by both sides of your family's DNA and will develop through time. Genetics and age work together to create your unique hair-loss pattern. You will eventually reach your predetermined hair-loss stage and your hair-loss will completely stop.

How is Male Pattern Hair Loss Diagnosed?

A physical exam and medical history might be used to identify hair loss. Male pattern baldness is the most common cause of hair loss, but if you're young, female, or having atypical hair loss, your doctor may want to screen out other potential reasons.

A dermatologist or hair loss expert may check your scalp to determine the kind and extent of your hair loss. Your doctor may also check your hair follicles and pull on a few hairs.

Men’s Hair Loss Treatments

To encourage fresh hair growth, medications, surgery, and non-invasive cosmetic procedures are offered. We will investigate each possibility.

Please with your doctor or an expert before attempting any of these solutions.

Medications

Several over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are available to treat hair loss and regenerate hair. Finasteride and minoxidil, the two most often used therapies, are available as topical or oral treatments.

Finasteride

Finasteride is a prescription medication used to treat androgenic alopecia as well as prostate cancer. This ailment typically affects the top and the centre of the scalp (otherwise known as the vertex).

DHT hormone levels in the scalp are reduced with finasteride. This hormone causes follicles to constrict, making hair growth more difficult. DHT reduction may reduce hair loss and promote growth.

The medication can only cure male pattern hair loss; it cannot treat female type hair loss. While the medicine has been shown to encourage regrowth, it also has a number of negative effects.

As the medicine affects androgens, one of the side effects is diminished libido or, in certain circumstances, erectile dysfunction. Taking Finasteride without having prostate cancer makes it more difficult for your doctor to screen you for the illness, since it reduces PSA test results by 50% on average. Finally, it is not a long-term cure; the effects will fade as soon as you stop taking the medicine.

Minoxidil

Minoxidil was created to treat high blood pressure patients, but researchers quickly realised that one of its possible adverse effects was undesired hair growth.

Like a result, minoxidil (as Rogaine) is now widely accessible as a male pattern baldness therapy.
According to experts, minoxidil stimulates follicles to enlarge, which adds to increased hair density.
It is also thought to extend the development stage of the hair growth cycle, resulting in longer strands that grow in greater amounts.
To sustain any growth that develops, minoxidil must be administered directly to the scalp on a daily basis.

Because the medicine was designed to treat high blood pressure, it has the unintended side effect of reducing your blood pressure. Furthermore, like Finasteride, the advantages of Minoxidil will gradually diminish away after you stop using it on a regular basis.