Current Treatments For Hair Loss

There are many products in the market currently being sold to prevent or treat baldness, but there are only two medications that are scientifically proven to reduce hair loss. 

Minoxidil foams or scalp lotions work by enlarging hair follicles and stimulating hair growth. Studies suggest that some hair re-growth occurs in about seven out of ten men who use minoxidil. However, results can take months to appear and side effects include scalp irritation.

While minoxidil may be bought over the counter, finasteride pills need a doctor’s prescription. Finasteride prevents hair loss in about 90 percent of users and it works by reducing the conversion of testosterone to another hormone that prevents hair from growing.

Surgical treatments for baldness include hair transplant surgery, scalp reduction, and moving scalp flaps to bald areas. These techniques involve moving small grafts or large flaps of the scalp with hair to bald areas of the head. These procedures take time and although considered generally safe, they can also have minor side effects such as bleeding and scarring.

If hair loss is associated with some disease or medication being taken, treatment of the condition may help resolve hair thinning and hair may grow back to normal without further treatment.

New Research Raises Hope for Hair Restoration

So far, traditional hair loss treatments involve removing hair follicles from a person’s own scalp and transplanting these to his bald areas. While scientists have successfully induced new hair growth in hairless rat skins, they have not been able to trigger new hair growth in the cultured skin cells of human subjects. 

Recently however, scientists observed that transplanted cell behavior in rats and humans differed, which could be key to the capability to induce hair growth.

Read More: What you should know about baldness

They believe that hairless epidermal skin (the superficial layer of skin) could be reprogrammed to grow new hair follicles by transplanting just a few hair cells. This could be helpful not only for alopecia but also for covering hairless skin in patients who suffer from severe burns or wounds.

The authors of the study, which was recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences of the United States of America, state that although the results of their research is encouraging, more work is required before this type of treatment can be done in people. Nevertheless, their findings represent a significant milestone in bioengineering of hair.