The hair is usually rare in the forties in men. But some lose them younger, at age 20, while others do not experience this problem of baldness. This inequality in the face of hair loss raises many questions among men.
The causes of alopecia in humans
Hair, like all cells in the human body, follows a life cycle during which they grow, age and then die. The hair grows during the anagen phase. It has a rest period that corresponds to the catagen phase, before falling during the telogen phase. In men, this cycle lasts at most 5 years. It is much longer in women. However, this cycle accelerates in some people under the influence of the enzyme 5 alpha-reductase. The hair will then fall prematurely, the bulbs no longer having the ability to regenerate. The genetic factor plays a preponderant role in some cases of alopecia that is called androgenetic baldness. This phenomenon usually begins at the end of puberty. Some people lose their hair much later, around the age of fifty.
If hair loss leading to baldness has genetic origins, the father does not necessarily transmit alopecia to his son, but the problem may appear several generations later. Environmental factors can aggravate the situation and speed up the process, such as a stressful work environment, family worries or difficult living conditions. However, the individual must have a genetic predisposition to baldness to suffer. In some cases, baldness may last for several years before regrowth occurs. The extent of the problem, however, varies from one individual to another.
Hamilton and Norwood established graduation I to VII to define the extent of hair loss. In stage I, it is the forehead and the temples that are shedding in the first place. The fall then spreads gradually over the entire scalp. In stage VII, there will remain only a crown, called alopecia hippocratic, from the neck to the temples.
What men experience at the loss of their hair
A large majority of men with baldness suffer, although all agree that with age, you can lose all or part of your hair. Many men are ashamed of their appearance with their bald heads and sparse hair, which even leads some to no longer socialize.
Men and women consider hair not only a seductive element, but also a sign of belonging to a social group through a particular haircut or hairstyle. Hair loss is thus equivalent to the loss of an identity and aging that puts an end to any physical attraction on the part of the opposite sex.
The loss of self-confidence gradually interferes, weakening the man and accentuating his psychological distress. The psychoanalyst Marie-Louise Pierson believes that losing hair for a man is losing its strength, like Samson who lost all his resources when he found his hair cut.
Treatments for baldness in men
Despite the stress caused by baldness, few people consult. Some men find it difficult to break the vicious cycle of stress and hair loss. Others end up accepting their sparse hair or their bald head, and make charms of it. For those who can not live with their baldness, consulting a psychologist is the best solution.
There are also treatments to slow hair loss or give a boost to regrowth. This is the case of some drug treatments. For now, Propecia which contains finasteride is one of the few drugs to have proven effective against alopecia. But its side effects are not negligible, such as sexual dysfunction or the appearance of a depressive state, as reported by Dr. Michael Irwig, a researcher at the University of Washington.
Minoxidil 5% is an oral treatment that is primarily used to treat hypertension. The development of hair growth is the main side effect of this treatment. Depending on the studies, the hair regrows after 3 months.
If the hair follicle is destroyed, preventing the regrowth of the hair, the only solution remains the transplant, like the technique of the Follicular Unit Extract or FUE which consists in taking the follicles one by one, then implanting them in the same way.
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