NONSURGICAL TREATMENTS
NONSURGICAL TREATMENTS
When it comes to non-surgical treatments for hair loss, it’s important to understand how they work, what their expectations and limitations are, and what possible side effects may occur. Dr. Yaker discusses the importance of six main principles when it comes to any form of non-surgical therapy.
- Non-surgical treatments do not bring back completely bald areas. That is the limitation of non-surgical treatments.
- While there might be some dormant roots (under the skin) that can be rejuvenated, their main purpose is the following:
- For some patients the treatments delay the speed in which one loses. Meaning, you will continue to lose but at a much slower pace had you not started treatment. Essentially, you are buying time for researchers to find better, more effective treatments to help limit or prevent further hair loss.
- For some patients they will notice their hair loss stop. Many patients report that the treatment continues to keep their hair in place despite being on them for years.
- For some patients, they not only slow down or stop losing hair, but they also notice their thin, wispy hairs re-thicken. By thickening up the thinning areas, you can more easily camouflage the bald areas in between. Therefore, thickening the hair creates an illusion that new hair formed from the bald areas, when in fact the surrounding hairs became thicker. Of course this benefits people who have early forms of hair thinning and hair loss.
Unfortunately, there is no way to predict how someone will respond to each treatment. Therefore, results vary.
- Treatment results may take at least 4-6 months to show but can take up to one year.
- For certain treatments, compliance with daily use is recommended for you to optimize your outcome. The most common cause of not responding to treatment is the lack of compliance.
- Treatments must be used life-long (yes, forever!) in order to maintain results. Hair loss is a chronic condition that can worsen as you age. Therefore, should you stop treatment at any point, you will lose the benefits it provided for you (slowing, stopping, and/or re-thickening) within a few short months and you will continue to lose your hair as you were destined to lose.
- Hair shedding with any non-surgical treatment is a normal, physiological process that can occur for up to 8-12 weeks. As the roots under the skin absorb the new treatments, they analyze each hair shaft they’ve created. If the hair shafts are weak and thin, a new hair shaft is created. As the new hair shafts grow in length, it pushes out the old, weaker hair shaft.
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