Male Pattern Baldness - Theradome & Finasteride Tablets

Over the last 2 years my partner Luke has been sharing his journey with the Theradome LH80 Laser Helmet, and this is something that I have been rather proud of him for. Hair loss can be quite a daunting and personal thing, and that remains the same whether you are Male, or Female. 

When it comes to hair it is one of the first things that you notice about someone, and that is what makes it so personal. Luke would be the first to say that this hasn't been an easy journey for him, and I know that he would say that it has felt like a losing battle at times. You can read more about how Luke has been tackling his hair loss here.

Over the last couple of years we have looked into a number of hair therapies, from the Theradome Helmet, Finasteride hair loss tablets and even looked into a Hair Transplant. One thing is for sure though, and that is that there are a whole range of lotions and potions targeted at the male with thinning hair. 

I once worked in a small office that was entirely populated by males, aside from myself of course. It wasn't the friendliest environment to be in and being only 18 years of age, I have found the whole experience to be less than pleasant. Two of the men in that office were rather rude and made my time in that workplace awful. They themselves suffered from thinning hair and I heard so many conversations about the range of different products that they had tried. 

They used to bring their latest purchases into the office to discuss amongst themselves, if memory serves one was more like a spray hair dye to try and make the thinner less visible hairs more prominent on their heads....

Anyway... I digress. 

 The most recent advancement that Luke has been pursuing is in the form of using the helmet and combining the Finasteride tablets alongside it, but even with these measures Luke still finds numerous stray hairs in the bathroom sink. 

Finasteride is sometimes used to treat pattern hair loss (androgenetic alopecia) in men, it supposedly slows any further hair loss down and can provide up to about 30% improvement after 6 months of treatment. The effects of the drug are only known to improve and continue if you continue to take the tablets, and if you stop then any benefits that you may have seen will more than likely reverse. 

Luke has been taking these tablets for almost a year now, and we decided that the time was right to take the next set of photos to highlight how Luke's hair line has been changing over the past 2 years. 

As I mentioned above Luke has been using the Theradome Laser Helmet and combined this treatment with Finasteride tablets. 

The photos have been positioned into 3 grids of 3 photos. 

The top Left photos are dated April 2015

The top Right photos are dated December 2016

The bottom Left photo is May 2017

I personally think that I can see a more hair growth in the latest photos, Luke is not so sure. What do you think? Is there a positive change in the latest progress photos? 

Female Hair Loss and Transplants

A woman’s hair can be her crown and glory, and it’s not uncommon for thousands of pounds to be spent maintaining it over the course of a lifetime.

There can be a number of reasons behind female hair loss; from lack of adequate nutrition and stress, to traction alopecia or hormonal imbalances. Whilst hair restoration is a good option for nearly 90% of the balding men, women can also benefit from hair transplant procedures. .

Are You a Good Candidate?

Hair loss in a woman should never be considered "normal"; however, the cause should be pursued until a diagnosis is established. The women who tend potential candidates for surgical hair restoration are:

• Women who have suffered hair loss due to mechanical or traction Alopecia (non- hormonal)
• Women with alopecia marginalis, a condition that looks very similar to traction alopecia.
• Women who have a distinct pattern of baldness, similar to that of male pattern baldness. This includes:
• hairline recession
• vertex thinning
• A donor area that is not affected by androgenetic Alopecia
• Women who have had previous cosmetic or plastic surgery and are concerned about hair loss around the incision sites.
• Women who suffer hair loss due to trauma, including burn victims, scarring from accidents and chemical burns.

The most common reason why a woman would not be a great candidate for a hair transplant would be because they don’t suffer with pattern baldness.

If you do suffer however, and for the other aforementioned reasons, then you may benefit from this procedure.

The U- FUE method for women

Hair transplant clinics such as the renowned Crown Clinic is one of a few clinics that can perform the U-FUE hair transplant. The U simply stands for unshaven or undetectable. A traditional FUE hair transplant is performed with the donor area shaved to have access to the maximum number of hairs possible to harvest. The U-FUE however, is next advancement in the treatment of hair loss.

The walk-in, walk-out method which requires no hospital stay and leaves no visible scarring, works through the extraction of individual follicles from a donor area which are then transplanted one-by-one into the area that needs to be treated.

With a regular FUE transplant, a small section of the back or side of the scalp is shaved to obtain the donor hair follicles.

With an U- FUE, this is eliminated entirely; making it perfect for those with longer hair. Patients can keep their original hair in the same style and length both during and after the procedure, meaning it is entirely undetectable.

The Result

A professional and skilled surgeon will only agree to perform the treatment if they believe the final result will be beneficial to your needs.

Transplantation is the only way to restore hair in areas that have lost their follicles completely, providing your donor areas is acceptable to harvest.  If it is the case, then your surgeon will be able to perform an undetectable transplant.