Hair loss can be traumatic and painful. One can lose hair due to several reasons, like a health problem or from medications used in the past or side effects of past surgeries. Hair loss is known as alopecia also. One loses confidence and self esteem with hair loss since it makes the person look bald and not as vibrant he or she he would look with a headful of hair. Hair definitely adds to one appearance and charisma. Baldness or losing hair cannot be completely reversed but one can surely seek treatment to control the loss and promote hair re-growth for some kinds of alopecia. Sometimes if you are lucky, hair can start growing by itself as well.

Once you visit your physician and get all the tests and reports done as suggested by him, he will come to your route of treatment by understanding the root cause of your hair loss. With excessive hair loss, the treatment would work less effectively than minimal losses. It also varies person to person and the most important of all, the underlying cause for hair loss. The food and drug administration have approved these following drugs for the treatment of hair loss in people. They include -

Rogaine or Minoxidil

This can be bought over-the-counter (OTC) and is a non-directivedrug that is approved to treatment of Androgenetic alopecia as well as alopecia areata. Minoxidil is a liquid or foam that has to be rubbed on the scalp twice daily for re-growth as well as to stop further hair loss. A few people experience hair re-growth after using this medication but the effects can sometimes be slow. The dose of Minoxidil is available in a 2% and in a 5% solution.

The new hair grown from Minoxidil could be thinner than the original hair. In a few cases the hair growth could actually cover up bald patches that the person may have. New hair usually stops to grow the moment you stop using Minoxidil. After starting the medicine, it could take up to 12 weeks for new hair to start growing. The side effects are minimal and are mostly irritation of the scalp and nothing more than that.

Propecia or Finasteride

Finasteride is a directive medicine to treat male pattern baldness. It is taken in a pill form. Hair loss slows down dramatically after using this pill and men reported to growing new hair as well. Result pace may vary and some may grow hair slowly while some a little faster. This medicine helps by stopping the conversion of testosterone into DHT or Dihydrotestosterone which is a hormone that shrinks the hair follicle and is also responsible for hair loss amongst men. There could be very mild side effects from this pill along with a low libido and a diminished sexual appetite. Just like Minoxidil, the hair re-growth will halt the moment you stop the medicine. This medicine is not meant for women as it poses danger to a woman’s fertility at child-bearing age. If pregnant, stay away from this pill even if it is a crushed or lying around. Finasteride pill since the absorption of this drug could lead to birth defects in fetuses.

Corticosteroids

Cortisone is an injection administered to the scalp to treat alopecia areata. This treatment is done monthly usually. Doctors may also prescribe corticosteroid pills for extensive hair loss as a result of alopecia areata. It would take around 4 weeks after the injection for new hair to be seen or felt.

Dritho-scalp or Anthralin

This is available in a cream or an ointment form. It is a synthetic formation that has to be applied to the scalp prior to washing it off. The main role of it is to treat psoriasis and doctors recommend it to treat other skin conditions as well. The medicine stimulates new hair growth if a person is suffering from alopecia areata and it may take at a minimum of 12 weeks for the results to show and before the person notices new hair growth.

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