Hair loss occurs when hair follicles that have previously produced healthy hairs begin to produce shorter, thinner, more brittle hairs with weaker shafts. This process is known as miniaturisation. Eventually these follicles produce only fine, almost invisible short hairs, or in the worst case the hairs die out altogether.

Hair loss is related to three interdependent factors:

1. Genes. Baldness genes can be passed on by either parent. However, having the gene does not necessarily mean you will go bald. For example, a man whose father is severely bald may only have minimal hair loss himself.

2. Hormones. The hormone directly involved in alopecia is dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT decreases the length of the growing cycle so that with each new cycle the hair shaft becomes progressively smaller.

3. Age. Genes and hormones are not enough by themselves to cause baldness. Hair loss occurs when the susceptible follicles are exposed to DHT over a period of time. However, the age at which this process starts differs from person to person.

The most common type of baldness is male pattern baldness which occurs in stages. However, there is no definite time line for how this type of baldness progresses. You may notice that your hair has begun to thin quite noticeably in a short space of time, and then you might stay at that level of baldness for a long time before the next stage becomes obvious.

The best way of assessing how much hair you have lost and how rapidly you are losing it is by comparing photographs of you now to photos taken a few years ago.

The Norwood classification is an internationally recognised method of plotting the stages of hair loss in men. Below is a simplified version of the Norwood classification:

STAGE 1

The first tell tale sign of the onset of Male Pattern Baldness is the frontal recessions in the hairline.

STAGE 2

Over time these recessions become larger and much more noticeable, and the hairline moves further back.

STAGE 3

At the same time as the recessions taking place, a thinning area may also appear on the crown and will gradually increase in size.

STAGE 4

The final stage of Male Pattern Baldness is when the hair is lost completely from the crown and frontal region, leaving the familiar horse shoe shape.

Two medications – Minoxidil and Propecia – have been approved for the management and prevention of baldness.

Minoxidil has been used for a number of years to treat baldness. While some success has been reported it appears that the effects of using Minoxidil in this way are only temporary and men using it continue to bald over time – although at a slower rate.

Minoxidil can be purchased over the counter without prescription in concentrations of either 2% or 5%.  The medication appears to have the most benefit from 5 months to 2 years, at which point it gradually decreases in effectiveness.

Because Minoxidil has to be used continually it can end up being more expensive than surgical treatment for hair loss

Propecia or finasteride is a medication which blocks the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) – the hormone that causes male pattern baldness.

In January 1998 the FDA approved 1mg of finasteride (Propecia) per day for the treatment of male pattern baldness. Finasteride only seems to be effective on areas of the scalp that are thinning but where there is still some hair present. It doesn’t appear to stimulate growth in completely bald areas. The results are usually best in the first year and then they either remain stable or decrease very slightly in the second year.

Thing to bear in mind if you’re thinking about taking Minoxidil or Propecia is that when you stop taking the drug you will lose the hair that was gained or preserved by the medication – you will then return to the stage of baldness you would have been at if you had never taken the drugs in the first place.

The only permanent solution for hair loss is a Hair Transplant procedure.

The hair on the back and sides of the head is usually thicker, stronger and more densely packed, hence it makes for ideal grafting material. If hair from this part of the head is removed and transplanted to the balding areas, it retains its own genetic characteristics and will continue to grow naturally for life.

With the use of a special magnifying apparatus, Dr Reddy can measure the degrees of hair loss in various areas of your scalp. As long as you have some stable hair on the back and sides of your scalp, you may be eligible for hair restoration transplants.

In order to explain the benefits of our treatment and what it involves, it helps to give you an idea of what is involved in the more invasive Strip technique.

The Strip technique involves removing a long band of skin from the back of the head with a scalpel, then dissecting the follicles under a microscope before placing them onto the bald or thinning area. This technique always leaves a scar, no matter how skilled the surgeon is, and can cause nerve damage and numbness of the scalp.

With FUE hair transplant procedures, a special punch less than 1 mm in diameter is used to remove the hair follicles directly from the scalp. There is no need for a scalpel, hence no stitching or scarring. We can safely extract up to 7000 hairs in one day whereas with previous generations of FUE it was only possible to safely extract 2500 hairs in one day. Another advantage of FUE is that none of the follicular units are damaged during the extraction, whereas with the Strip method up to 30% of the donor follicles may be damaged by the use of a scalpel.

Dr Raghu Reddy is now introducing to the UK the fouth generation of FUE – the 4G FUE™, exclusively available at The Private Clinic.

4G FUE™ procedures use a solution called Acell, which is an extra cellular matrix powder with remarkable regenerative capacities. Acell is FDA approved for wound healing and duplicating tissue.

Acell forms a protective barrier to prevent further hair loss and it duplicates the surrounding tissue. This means that if there are some healthy hair-growing stem cells in the vicinity of the area being treated, these may duplicate.

Dr Reddy has invented the 4G FUE™ which is available exclusively at our clinic in Harley Street.

Hair transplants are simple and painless and the graft heals within 2-4 days. Compare this to the Strip technique where healing time takes up to 30 days and requires very strict post-operative care, and you can see why so many people are choosing FUE over the Strip Method.

The length of the treatment depends on the number of hairs needed.

Hair growth usually starts around 4 weeks or even earlier.

Results with 3G FUE are permanent.

As the placement incisions are so small, the risk of post-operative infection is very low with 3G FUE.