Male Pattern Baldness Treatment Information

The cause of baldness is no longer a mystery. Research has confirmed that pattern baldness is inherited like the color of your eyes. While you were still forming in your mother's womb, your hair follicles were genetically coded. If hair loss genes were present, the hair follicles on top of your head are sensitive to the hormone dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. These hair follicles were genetically "programmed" to begin shrinking in adulthood. When this occurs, the hair follicles grow finer hair that is lighter in color, shorter and less deeply rooted than their predecessors.

In most cases, this "thinning hair" will progress to "baldness" when the shrinking follicles finally stop producing hair. The pattern of progression, and the extent and speed of male pattern baldness is largely dictated by genetics, hormones and age. For men, permanent baldness generally follows a specific pattern as suggested in the Hair loss Classification Chart.

Male Pattern Baldness Treatment Information

Even in the most extensive cases, a horseshoe-shaped fringe of hair remains. This hair-bearing fringe is insensitive to the balding process and usually will last a lifetime. Because hair is genetically programmed in the hair follicle, the hair in the donor fringe area provides the basis for surgical hair restoration. These hairs, when transplanted into thinning or balding areas, will take root and grow, and continue to grow for the rest of a person's life.