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Hair Loss

6 Less Known Facts About Male Pattern Hair Loss

Have you ever been told you should eat more vegemite because it’s going to put hair on your chest? If only it was meant to put more hair on your head.

There’s a lot of misinformation floating around, especially about men’s hair loss. We thought we’d share six facts, which may be surprising to you, that you can trust.

1: Hair loss becomes visibly noticeable when 50% of it’s already gone.

You’d think that checking out your crop in the mirror every day whilst brushing your teeth or styling your hair would make it impossible to not notice when things start to thin out.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to see the small changes happening on the scalp as we age. Most hair follicles have two or three hairs growing out of them, and some may even hold four or five. So by the time you notice your hair thinning, half of those are already gone.

2. It’s more common than you think

We all know that the chance of going bald increases as you get older, but did you know the occurrence is almost inline with each decade of your life?

ie: 30% of men at age 30 are starting to lose their hair, 40% at age 40, and 50% at age 50 and so on…

In fact, 80% of men will deal with hair loss at some stage in their lives.

3. Hair loss in men has a greater effect on mental health than you’d think

Multiple studies have linked male pattern hair loss to lowered self-esteem and decreased confidence. A 2019 study in the International Journal of Trichology found that male pattern hair loss lowered the quality of life for many men, with particular effects in the areas of self-perception and interpersonal relations.

A recent study of New Zealand men in their 20’s showed that 70% of them would rather forego sex for one year than lose their hair, whilst men aged between 20-49 years would rather give up alcohol for one year than lose their hair.

4. Only 5% of male hair loss is NOT genetic

Probably not a major surprise but it does put things into perspective when you read all the possible causes of baldness. The truth is, if you’re losing your hair you can most likely thank your parents for it rather than blaming poor lifestyle choices.

5. Don’t blame your mother

There are a number of genes responsible for male pattern hair loss, and they come from both parents. For many years your mother would have been blamed for passing down the unwanted gift of thinning hair, but we now know your father could also share the blame.

6. You’ll only get “concerned” about hair loss when it starts happening to you

We’ve all heard the saying “out of sight, out of mind”. Well, it certainly doesn’t hold true for men’s hair loss. The less you see of it, the more it plays on your mind.

A recent study suggested only 8% of non-balding men stated that going bald would concern them, while 50% with mild hair loss and 75% with moderate to severe hair loss said they were concerned.

The above facts may be a little hard to digest, It sounds like male pattern hair loss is a hopeless diagnosis:

  • It’s hard to know if you’re losing hair early on.
  • If in fact, you are, there’s a good chance it’s genetic, and if left untreated will only get worse.
  • The stats are not on your side, as you get older the chance of the crop thinning out continues to increase
  • And to top it off, it also brings the chance of mental health issues.

Fortunately, it’s not as bad as it sounds.

Although there’s still no cure for male pattern hair loss, we certainly know enough about it to treat it effectively and give men the choice to keep their hair.

Under the guidance of a doctor and personlised prescription treatment, you can stop the progression of your hair loss and regrow hair lost in recent years. Bear in mind, treatment does have its limitations on how much hair can be grown back.

If you like your hair, the worst thing you can do is, do nothing.

Want to know what you can do about your hair loss?

Click this link and get your free assessment by a qualified doctor.