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Suffering From Hair Loss. Taking Anti Hair Loss Medications. Noticing Hair Thinning. Cure? Hair Transplant?

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Posted on Thu, 18 Jul 2013
Question: I am twenty five year old man suffering from hereditary hairloss ,i have been taking anti hair loss medications for last three months but they were of no effect(or little help)as i continue to experience hair thining especially in my crown ,i recently was told by a new dermatologist who i visited that baldness in hereditary hair loss is inevitable and medications are only as a means of slowing down the hair loss, having heard this i totally got disappointed because i know i gonna lose my remaining hair one day which is most unsatisfactory.
My question is ,is there a way to stop and cure hereditary hair loss for life other than hair transplant surgery ? Please also tell me your opinion about PRP and whether it is useful and worth trying? I appreciate your help.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Kalpana Pathak (26 minutes later)
Hi,
Thanks for writing to us.
From the description it seems you suffer from male pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia. As the name suggests, it is due to hereditary factors and hormone testosterone which converts to its active metabolite 5 DHT to cause hair fall. It affects almost 80 percent of males at some point of time. Whatever your dermatologist has told you is true to some extent. The extent of response to therapy depends upon the severity of hair fall. It is said hair fall from crown area of less than 10 yer duration responds favourably to drugs. US FDA has approved two drugs for the same minoxidil solution 5 percent and finesteride tablet. It would require almost 6 months to an year to notice your hair fall reduce and to see optimal hair growth. Once hair growth is good, one need to use minoxidil to maintain hair growth. Once minoxidil usage is stopped, hair may revert to normal after 6 months or so. Having said this, I think it is better to lose hair at 40 then at 25. So I would insist that you comply with the treatment offered for another three months. If there is no response, you may try mesotherapy with minoxidil, stem cell factors or platelet XXXXXXX plasma. PRP works on stem cells to induce hairgrowth and is said to have very good results. Another new treatment option is use of a biomimetic peptide capixyl. It has to be applied over scalp topically and it also works through stem cells. Though PRP and capixyl are being used and have shown good results, these are not FDA approved yet due to lack of standardised studies. However many of my colleagues have used these and claim good results. So in my opinion if medical treatment does not work, you may try PRP for sure
Transplant is favoured in advanced cases of hair loss.

Hope that answered your query.
Take care
Note: Hope the answers resolves your concerns, however for further guidance of skin related queries consult our Dermatologist.Click here to book a consultation

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Kalpana Pathak

Dermatologist

Practicing since :2006

Answered : 2014 Questions

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Suffering From Hair Loss. Taking Anti Hair Loss Medications. Noticing Hair Thinning. Cure? Hair Transplant?

Hi,
Thanks for writing to us.
From the description it seems you suffer from male pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia. As the name suggests, it is due to hereditary factors and hormone testosterone which converts to its active metabolite 5 DHT to cause hair fall. It affects almost 80 percent of males at some point of time. Whatever your dermatologist has told you is true to some extent. The extent of response to therapy depends upon the severity of hair fall. It is said hair fall from crown area of less than 10 yer duration responds favourably to drugs. US FDA has approved two drugs for the same minoxidil solution 5 percent and finesteride tablet. It would require almost 6 months to an year to notice your hair fall reduce and to see optimal hair growth. Once hair growth is good, one need to use minoxidil to maintain hair growth. Once minoxidil usage is stopped, hair may revert to normal after 6 months or so. Having said this, I think it is better to lose hair at 40 then at 25. So I would insist that you comply with the treatment offered for another three months. If there is no response, you may try mesotherapy with minoxidil, stem cell factors or platelet XXXXXXX plasma. PRP works on stem cells to induce hairgrowth and is said to have very good results. Another new treatment option is use of a biomimetic peptide capixyl. It has to be applied over scalp topically and it also works through stem cells. Though PRP and capixyl are being used and have shown good results, these are not FDA approved yet due to lack of standardised studies. However many of my colleagues have used these and claim good results. So in my opinion if medical treatment does not work, you may try PRP for sure
Transplant is favoured in advanced cases of hair loss.

Hope that answered your query.
Take care