Baldness and thinning hair is something that many men and women alike worry about as they age. For years, there have been very limited options for those who wanted to combat the aging process and keep a full head of hair.
For men, their only options included committing to a daily combination of Rogaine and Propecia for the rest of their lives. Even with this rigid commitment, however, they still had to hope for the best because it wasn’t guaranteed, and that method only worked when it came to those with thinning hair.
Those who were already going bald had to spend a ton of money investing in plugs, shave their heads altogether, or just deal with it.
In the United States, there are 35 million men dealing with some level of hair loss or baldness, and according to the American Academy of Dermatology, 50 million men have hereditary hair loss. In addition, about 50% of men will develop some form of hair loss by the age of 50.
Many are critical of the fact that with all of the technology we have at our disposal, we haven’t figured out a solution to stop baldness altogether. It isn’t that simple though, researchers say.
“Keeping hair on all heads is a tall order, because it’s not just fixing hormones, or genetics or nutrients — the process of hair growth is a multifunctional cycle of growth, loss and regrowth, and it’s a different cycle for each individual,” says Dr. Paul Jarod Frank, a dermatologist in New York City.
Even though there is no magic solution to cure a bald head, there are still more options than ever to combat hair loss and baldness. In fact, in recent years there have been a ton of cutting-edge options added for men who want to keep the hair they already have or bring follicles back to life. Among them, the best ones to check out include hair transplants and follicular unit extraction (FUE).
