Note: The "About Hair Loss" section is written by a team of leading doctors and fellow members of the balding community, most of whom have undergone all of the below recommended solutions.

About Hair Loss

According to research, 80% of all men suffer through hair loss or baldness at some point in their lifetime. Despite all the news and products surrounding hair loss, it is amazing to see at how little the general population knows about hair loss. This site is aimed at educating the public and providing one of the many solutions available for hair loss.

How does hair loss occur?

For the vast majority of men who are losing their hair (80 percent), their hair loss is genetic. It has nothing to do with wearing tight caps or combing too much or too little. And trust us when we say this, no amount of eggs, cucumber, different oils, or any other daadi maa ke nuskhes (grandmother's worldly advice) would help in getting your hair back.

Although hair loss is more a function of genes than anything else, there are various solutions out there in the market that can help the balding population and keep them looking younger.

Baldness is largely the result of certain hormones interacting over time with those hair follicles that are vulnerable to their effects.

For men who are experiencing thinning hair, their follicles on the top of the head are genetically vulnerable to baldness. Over time, these genetically vulnerable follicles are acted upon by the hormone DHT. This hormone binds with the receptor sites of these vulnerable follicles and causes a miniaturization of the hair shaft and follicle over time.

This process of hair loss gradually breaks down the follicles' ability to grow healthy, thick hair. The resulting baldness is commonly known as "Male Pattern Baldness".

Norwood Scale - Variations in Male Pattern Baldness

What are the solutions available?

• Hair System (Wig)
• Laser Therapy
• Hair Transplant (Surgery)
• Finasteride and Minoxidil
• Toppik Hair Fibers

Hair System

Popularly known as wig or plugs, this is the most common type of hair loss solution. Although it does give the look of real natural hair on the head, it doesn't give the feel of real hair. You can take a shower wearing many of these hair systems, and they need to be taken off for scalp cleaning every 4-6 weeks. However, most users complain of continuous scalp itching, especially in summers. Users have also complained of not having the real feeling and being conscious all the time.

Our verdict: If you are completely bald, with little room for hair re-growth or hair surgery or Toppik, then this may be the solution for you.

Laser Therapy

This is a relatively new hair loss solution which has gained importance since 2003.

Use of low level laser therapy (LLLT) devices for treating hair loss has been heavily debated for some time by reputable hair restoration physicians and patients. While some physicians reject its use entirely, others use laser hair treatment as a regular part of their practice. Additionally, some physicians believe that laser light therapy can assist with post-operative healing after hair transplant surgery.

Today, low level laser therapy is being used as a hair loss treatment. To treat baldness with laser light therapy, laser rays are directly applied to the scalp by a mechanical device so that red blood cells are stimulated. Lasers are said to work by converting ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) to ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate), releasing energy and causing cellular metabolic changes. During this process, additional nutrients and oxygen are provided to the scalp assisting the normal chemical processes performed by those cells, increasing overall blood circulation. Lasers, when applied to the scalp and hair, have been said to improve overall hair quality, promote hair growth, and increase hair shaft diameter.

However, promoting healthy hair growth is not the same as the re-growth of dead hair follicles brought on by genetic female hair loss or male pattern baldness (MPB).

Most physicians are of the belief that laser therapy provides similar benefits to minoxidil and finasteride (discussed below) and is mostly recommended to patients with slightly thinning hair. The procedure is free of side effects.

Our verdict: If you are suffering from excessive hair loss, or are completely bald, then this is not for you. This treatment is only for patients with minimal hair loss who want to stop further hair loss, and improve their hair quality. The same effect can also be achieved through minoxidil and finasteride. Overall, laser therapy can be avoided as it is quite an expensive and time-consuming procedure.

Hair Transplant Surgery

Hair Surgery can be performed on any type of baldness. Hair transplantation involves relocating (transplanting) bald resistant hair follicles from the back and sides of the head (the donor areas) to a person's bald or thinning areas. The transplanted hair follicles will typically grow hair for a lifetime because they are genetically resistant to going bald, regardless of where they are relocated to. In recent years, hair transplantation techniques have evolved from using large plugs and mini grafts to exclusively using large numbers of small grafts that contain from between 1 to 4 hairs.

Since hair naturally grows in follicles that contain groupings of 1 to 4 hairs, today's most advanced techniques transplant these naturally occurring 1 - 4 hair "follicular units" in their natural groupings. Thus modern hair transplantation can achieve a natural appearance by mimicking nature hair for hair. The transplanted hair takes 8-10 months to grow. Typically, Type IV and above patients would need to go for 2 procedures to get back a full head of hair. Depending on the surgeon you select, the surgery can cost between Rs. 1,00,000 and Rs. 2,00,000 in India.

Our Verdict: Surgery is one of the few proven methods to get your hair back. However, there are many patients who have expressed dissatisfaction after their surgery. We strongly advise everyone to carefully select their surgeon and not compromise on quality. In addition to surgery, we also advise patients to continue with minoxidil, finasteride, and Toppik.

Finasteride and Minoxidil

Currently, there are only two hair loss drugs that are proven to have any real degree of effectiveness. These two hair loss drugs, Propecia (Finasteride) and Rogaine (Minoxidil), are also the only two drugs that are approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA-USA) for the treatment of hair loss.

The generic version of Propecia is Finpecia (Cipla) or Finax (Dr. Reddy's). The generic version of Rogaine is Mintop Forte (5% minoxidil). It is strongly advisable to stick to 1mg of Propecia daily and 5ml of Rogaine application.

Propecia and Rogaine work in completely different ways to slow or stop hair loss. Propecia is a pill taken once daily, while Rogaine is a liquid that is applied to the scalp twice daily.

Propecia works by inhibiting the production of a hormone called DHT that is known to be a catalyst in causing hair loss. Studies have shown that almost 80% of men using Propecia stopped or even reversed their hair loss to some degree.

Rogaine works by revitalizing shrunken hair follicles, thus increasing their size. When Rogaine is used every day, persons follicles may increase in size, and the growing phase may become longer. This may then produce longer, thicker hairs.

Note - Propecia and Rogaine typically only keep existing hair and not grow hair in the frontal areas. For reasons yet unknown, these drugs only generally work in re-growing thinning hair in the crown area of the scalp. Only hair transplant surgery has been successful in restoring hair in the frontal hairline area once it has been lost.

The number of hair loss drugs, treatments and "cures" offered on the Internet and on radio and television is amazing.

However, these are the only two hair loss drugs - Propecia and Rogaine - that are FDA approved and proven to have any real degree of effectiveness.

Possible side effects of Propecia - A small number of men had sexual side effects, with each occurring in less than 2% of men. These include less desire for sex, difficulty in achieving an erection, and a decrease in the amount of semen. These side effects went away in men who stopped taking Propecia because of them. In addition, these side effects decreased to 0.3% of men or less by the fifth year of treatment.

Losing your hair took time. So too will re-growing your hair using Propecia or Rogaine. These drugs require patients to take the drug daily for at least three months before any obvious changes will be noticeable. Most physicians advice taking these drugs for a year before evaluating their effectiveness.

Our Verdict: We strongly advise balding men to start taking Finasteride and Minoxidil as these are the only 2 drugs which will visibly stop further hair loss, and after 10-12 months usage, hair re-growth can also be witnessed in most cases. Finasteride and Minoxidil can be taken together.

Toppik Hair Fibers

Toppik is an effective and safe product that covers up the scalp's thinning areas.

It's the way that Toppik accomplishes this that is really unique. When applied, it coats balding areas with tiny, microfiber "hairs". These microfiber hairs are composed of the same material as real hair, keratin. These microfiber hairs form a well blended mixture of real and microfiber hairs.

The product is safe and can be used for men as well as women with diffuse (overall and evenly spread) hair loss. Toppik's users have claimed that it can't be detected, even from two inches away.

Toppik washes out easily with any shampoo. It is available in 8 shades: Black, Dark Brown, Medium Brown, Light Brown, Grey, Sandy Blonde, Auburn, and Light Blonde. Toppik works perfectly fine with Finasteride and Minoxidil as well. Even doctors recommend using Toppik post hair transplant surgery to cover the scalp.

This application process takes less than 30 seconds. Once Toppik is applied, the thousands of static electrically-charged microfibers intertwine with your own hair. These microfibers have been proven to stay firmly in place, regardless of harsh weather or wind.

Note: Toppik does not work on a fully bald patch as its fibers require some existing hair to bind to it. Toppik is not a hair growth solution; it only covers your thinning areas.

Our Verdict: Toppik is simply an amazing product if you have thinning hair. The ideal solution for you would be to start taking Finasteride and Minoxidil to stop further hair loss. In the meantime, start covering your thinning hair with Toppik and get a full head of hair instantaneously. Toppik works on very thin hair as well giving the person the confidence he deserves.

Our Final Verdict

The purpose of this website is not to sell our product, although that would be a secondary reason. First of all, you need to decide what stage of baldness you are in. If you are completely bald with no hair at the top and front of your head, then surgery or a wig may be the answer for you. However, if you still have thinning hair and a slight receding hair line, start taking Finasteride and Minoxidil immediately, followed by using Toppik Hair Fibers. Toppik can also be used post hair surgery.

Be careful in future before listening to anyone's advice about hair loss. Also, kindly note that any doctor or advisor you visit will try to sell you his or her product or services. We request you to take an informed decision about what is best for you. We hope we have informed you enough!

Get your hair and confidence back!!!