After putting up a good fight, HRH Prince William has given up on his male pattern baldness and opted for the Mitchell-brother buzz-cut. While he put up an admirable struggle, was he missing a trick? MH dives into a problem worth losing your hair over: the supposed "miracle cure" for MPB.
Hair loss: a miracle cure?
Over the years, a lot of questionable characters have made a lot of dirty money peddling the ‘cure’ for hair loss. Let there be no doubt: there isn’t one. Male pattern baldness is etched in your genes, and there’s no simple fix – just proven ongoing treatments. Here’s a complete rundown of the empirically proven options available for every stage of male pattern baldness.
Full head of hair
It’s not only your innocence that puberty heralds the end of. As soon as that first pimple erupts forth from porcelain skin, the days of guaranteed follicle abundance are over. “It’s unlikely for male pattern baldness to set in before the age of 18, but as soon as you notice an increase in the amount of hair shedding, or some thinning, you should act,” says Leonora Doclis, senior hair loss specialist at the Belgravia Centre. “The earlier the better as the more hair that’s lost, the more difficult it is to restore the original density.” Check your hairline and crown frequently for signs of thinning using your digital camera.
Every strand present and correct? Do your best to keep things that way: everyone – even those with a flawlessly dense thatch – should adhere to some basic follicle-friendly tenets, says Dr Raghu Reddy, hair loss specialist at The Private Clinic, Harley Street. “First, don’t wash your hair in hot water, use lukewarm. And don’t traumatise wet hair – just dab it dry.” Also, get at least seven hours sleep every night: “Growth hormone levels shoot up at night,” explains Reddy. And there’s a fair few other benefits to additional shuteye, too.
Mild thinning
There are just two clinically proven drug treatments which can prevent further hair loss and promote regrowth. Finasteride (most famously marketed as Propecia) and minoxidil (most famously marketed as Regaine). “A combination of both is the best basis for any course of treatment,” advises Doclis.
Propecia
How does it work? Propecia inhibits the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is responsible for miniaturising follicles, eventually leading to fallout. Take a 1mg pill every day and, provided you’re not one of the around 15% of men who are propecia non-respondent, your hair loss should soon stall – and in time you might well see some regrowth as well. A two-year study of 1553 men with mild to moderate thinning found 83% maintained or increased their hair count. Want to save a bit of cash? “Propecia lasts for about 16 hours so even if you take it every other day it should still work,” says Reddy. Just stick to a regular programme to avoid messing with your hormone levels unduly.
Where to buy Propecia is now available online at Lloyds Pharmacy. A six-month supply costs £285. Side effects are very rare and always stop when you cease taking the drug, but if concerned see your GP to discuss a prescription.
Minoxidil
How does it work? This antihypertensive, widely available in 4% and 5% formulations, is marketed under a variety of brand names (Regaine, who have just released a new foam format, is the most well-known). Applied directly to the scalp, minoxidil prevents further hair loss and encourages regrowth, but it’s not known precisely how. “Research is ongoing,” says Marilyn Sherlock, chairman of the Institute of Trichologists. “It appears to be connected with activating potassium pathways, but we don’t know any more than that at the moment.” What’s certain is the stuff works: clinical tests found 85% of men who applied 5% minoxidil twice a day had improved their hair count after four months. Don’t be surprised if new hair is downy at first – and be prepared for some extra shedding in the first few weeks of use.
Where to buy Boots and Sainsbury’s are your best bet. A six-month supply of 5% solution will currently set you back around £125.
Moderate thinning
Once an area of your scalp is completely bald, it becomes impossible to regrow hair there. But provided a little fuzz remains, even if it’s very thin (vellus hair), there’s a chance of winning back some decent coverage. The Belgravia Centre produces a special, extra-strength Minoxidil solution (12.5%), designed to target areas that are starting to seriously thin. And this may also be the time to bring on the lasers...
The HairMax LaserComb sounds like exactly the kind of dubious gadget gullible men might fruitlessly trail over their head for years. But, in fact, clinical studies have proven it is effective in encouraging regrowth. A 26-week trial involving 110 patients with male pattern baldness found those who used the HairMax LaserComb rather than an identical sham device showed a significantly greater increase in hair density.
How does it work? “Every cell in your body needs adenosine triphosphate (ATP),” explains Reddy. “It’s the body fuel for cells. The evidence suggests lasers can increase the ATP available for hair growth – basically increasing blood supply to the scalp.” Unfortunately, playing Star Wars with your boncedoesn’t come cheap – the latest 12-laser comb is £420.
Heavy thinning
If you have left things too late for pharmacological intervention to be satisfactory, a transplant might be your best bet. As always with hair loss, the earlier you tackle things, the better. An average man starts with around 100,000 hairs, explains Reddy, and you need at least 25,000 skilfully grafted about your dome in order to achieve a decent look. The fewer hairs still hanging around up top, therefore, the less likely it is even the most skilful hair surgeon will be able to get you back something resembling those flowing locks of yore. “You can’t take 25,000 just from the back because the back will look too thin. So catching it early is always better,” says Reddy.
What’s the process? Hairs are extracted one by one from the back of the head and then grafted into your scalp. A six or seven hour session will see around 8000 hairs relocated in this way, so you may require more than one visit. It’s not particularly painful: you should, says Reddy, be able to head back into work the next day. Transplanted hairs aren’t subject to the follicle-thinning effects of male pattern baldness, but those old hairs still clinging on are, so you’ll need to continue a prevention programme involving propecia and/or minoxidil. Which, after splashing out at least £3,000 on surgery, may smart a little.
Completely bald
Once short back and sides is the only hairstyle that remains an option, it’s too late for a transplant. But you’re not necessarily condemned to a sunburnt scalp every holiday from here on in. As well as the promising news about astressin-B, Dr Reddy is confident that the incipient science of gene manipulation will soon banish baldness for good. “We can clone hair at the moment, but the problem is rejection,” he explains. Today, a single hair can be removed, cloned 10,000 times, and all of them transplanted into the head. The problem is they’ll only stay there for around two weeks. “After that, for some unknown reason, there’s a reaction and the hair sheds,” says Reddy. The cureis coming, but until then it’s all about stalling.
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