The Male Health Center - Male-Pattern Baldness

Male-Pattern Baldness

Help for the man facing hair loss.
Nothing separates a man from his youth more thoroughly than losing his hair. The fact that many young athletes choose a smooth crown as a style doesn't really help. Deciding to go hairless is one thing; having it happen against your will is entirely another.

Knowledge does help put male-pattern baldness in perspective. First, it is entirely genetic. Men go bald as a result of the genes passed down by their fathers and mothers, and the inheritance pattern is almost impossible to predict. You may go bald while your brother stays well covered. Nothing you did caused it, and lack of hair says nothing about your manliness, your level of male hormones, or your life expectancy.

It's also worth knowing that most men who will become substantially bald show signs by the time they're 35. So once we hit 40, most of us can quit worrying—one way or the other.

For some men, understanding that going bald doesn't really reflect on who they are makes the difference. They learn to live without their plumage and may even come to appreciate not having to maintain those locks. Others, however, don't let go so readily. For them, there are options to try.

Minoxidil (under the brand name Rogaine) is the only currently approved medical treatment for baldness. It appears to work by dilating blood vessels in the scalp, helping hair to grow, but it must be continued indefinitely to maintain growth. Minoxidil has the best chance of working if applied early, when baldness first begins to show. Once a hair follicle has given up, minoxidil can't revive it.

Even among the prime candidates, minoxidil is a great success for only about a third of the men who try it. For men who already have significant hair loss, it's usually a disappointing failure. Among my patients, some of the men who ask for minoxidil soon enough at least postpone their hair loss; many others insist on using it after it's too late.

Surgical options also exist for those who will stop at nothing to restore hair to the tops of their heads. Basically, there are two approaches: Bald scalp can be removed, pulling areas with hair up. Or hair can be transplanted from thick areas into bald spots. Either method can succeed, but neither is cheap (as much as $10,000). The skill of the surgeon is very important. A botched job is a possibility.

Until other treatments come along, bald men might look at it this way: If we are evolved from hairy apes, perhaps the bald are just a bit more evolved.

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