Baldness Treatment

Baldness treatment

        There are a lot of solutions for treating baldness, but there are not all efficient. Baldness treatments are based on chemicals, natural plants, or, in extreme cases on surgery (hair transplant). A very efficient baldness treatment is the treatment with minoxidil. Solutions containing this substance are the only medicines approved in the U.S. for external use as baldness treatments. This is because, now, they are the only drugs that have proved effective after clinical trials (unlike some natural baldness treatment for hair).

Baldness treatment history

        Minoxidil was first used in the form of oral tablets to treat hypertension, acting through its properties of veins dilatation. But during treatment, the patients who also suffered from baldness observed that their hair no longer fall, but began to grow even more. So the researchers had the idea of using minoxidil in solutions for hair loss, and so it has been born the most successful baldness treatment. At first there were conceived formula of 2% concentration but then appeared on the market and solutions with 5% active substance.

Mechanism of action

        Research shows that minoxidil is effective in stopping hair loss both in the vertex (top of head) and frontal area. From a pharmacologically point of view minoxidil is a potassium channel agonist, but the mechanism by which it acts in the hair follicle is not fully understood by all the researchers. A hypothesis is that this substance promotes premature entry of follicles in the anagen cycle of hair growth, and also in its extension.

Baldness treatment side effects:

        The solutions for baldness treatment containing minoxidil are generally well tolerated and are sold in the U.S. without a medical prescription. These solutions are only for external use. The most common side effect of Minoxidil is the itching on the scalp. Also, in susceptible individuals, because alcohol composition it may cause drying and flaking of the scalp. These accelerated effects can be counteracted by using some shampoos with a gentle action on the scalp, in parallel. There were patients who reported allergic reactions following the baldness treatment with minoxidil. That is way the use of solutions with minoxidil is contraindicated to the persons with hypersensitivity to minoxidil or other components of the solution: propylene glycol or alcohol. In case you develop a skin irritation or an exaggerated redness on the skin of the head, stopped Minoxidil application and consult your doctor.

        Stop using minoxidil solution and present to the doctor in the event that: you have a pain in your chest, you have palpitations, weakness or dizziness; if you are gaining weight suddenly; if your hands or feet get swollen; if you observe an undesired appearance of hair on the face. These adverse effects could be caused by absorbing Minoxidil to the scalp in a high rate enough to generate systemic effects. After the clinical studies there have not appeared evidence to support this hypothesis, the occurrence of these side effects is unlikely.

Treatment and warning:

        Keep away from children. Do not use if you are pregnant. Do not use on children skin. Use only on head skin. If you have heart problems is better to consult your doctor before using the solution. Avoid contact with the eyes. In case this happened rinse your eyes with a lot of water. Do not use if scalp is irritated or inflamed. Minoxidil is toxic to cats. In desperate cases there is an effective baldness treatment: hair implant. It is a surgery in which hair grafts taken from areas of the back of the head are implanted in the remaining "discovered" portions. One thing should be noted at the outset, namely that from such interventions the result is based on an improvement in the appearance of what you own at that time. It depends on the health of the patient, the quality of the hair, the possibilities that can be recovered.

        The implant itself can extend at least four months after each intervention following a period of healing. It may use local anesthesia but also to a general one, everything being determined by the complexity of the procedure. There are several hair implant techniques: either taken a portion of the back of the head covered by hair which is then divided into small grafts of five or six hairs and then are placed through very small incisions in the affected area of balding, another technique is related to implant a portion of whole hair in the affected area, another possibility lies in the extent of skin which reduces the area devoid of hair. For a day or two after surgery the patient will wear bandages and on the third day he will wash the head. It will feel pain in the head but, with appropriate medications, they will become bearable. In six weeks the implanted hair will fall, but a new one will grow naturally in 12 weeks.