In a recent nationwide poll on aesthetic surgery, close to 20,000 American respondents named hair loss as one of the most feared aspects of aging. This comes as no surprise that men and women perceive hair loss as an embarrassing and frustrating occurrence. Yet, while there are less social and psychological barriers to going in for lip, hip or butt treatments, for example, many feel uncomfortable going in for a hair restoration procedure.
Yet many are not in need of hair transplant surgery or something similarly invasive but are only looking to curb further hair loss and shedding, and slow or reverse hair follicle shrinkage. Luckily there are a host of excellent, scientifically backed and proven non-surgical hair restoration therapies to profit from.
The first FDA approved medication for hair loss was Minoxidil, better known as Rogaine. Rogaine is a topical treatment now available without a prescription and can be found over the counter. Rogaine combats the dreaded DHT, which is found in both male and females and happens to be the number one culprit in hair loss. DHT shrinks hair follicles, dries out natural proteins and basically chokes hair to death. With Minoxidil’s excellent vasodilation properties, Rogaine combats DHT by swelling the follicles tiny microvascular structures.
Another strong hair restoration treatment, this time in an easy to use prescription medicine form is Propecia, or its generic name, Finasteride. Propecia is probably known as the world’s most effective hair growth product that’s approved by the FDA in treating hair loss. A clinical study showed 66% of men who took Propecia grew thicker or denser hair on the back of the head and 42% of men had a significant increase in the frontal hairline region. Remarkably, nearly all of the respondents announced that they had stopped losing or shedding hair altogether.
How does it work? Propecia inhibits the enzyme 5 alpha reductase in order to decrease DHT production. You may have heard of the not so pleasing side effect of a lowered libido, don’t worry men – this is a rare side effect that’s often exaggerated with only 1.8% of men being affected. At Modena Hair Institute, only about 1 out of every 100 patients report their sexual drive was slightly lowered.
Next, an option much more congenial and easier to mix into one’s routine: hair restoration shampoos such as Nizoral and GroMD – two high quality and high performing products on the market. Their active ingredients and proprietary blend of DHT blockers stop hair loss in its tracks, all while producing thicker, longer and healthier hair.
Finally, there is PRP or Platelet Rich Plasma treatments, which restores hair loss by converting hair follicles in the Telogen (resting) phase back into the Anagen (active growth) phase. ACell can also be added to PRP treatments to boost the effectiveness of the procedure by adding additional growth factors to jump start the healing, repair, and rejuvenating process of hair growth.
The National Institutes of Health have described incredible preliminary results from PRP, reporting that a “significant reduction in hair loss was observed between first and fourth injection. Hair count increased from average number of 71 hair follicular units to 93 hair follicular units.” PRP makes a great alternative for women suffering from hair thinning – as this is generally the first sign of their hair loss process. The New York Times also reports of one practitioner that the PRP procedure “gets results in 80 percent of patients, more than half of whom are female.”

Dr. Amir Yazdan, MD, is an internationally renowned hair transplant surgeon, expert guest on Dr. Phil and The Doctors, creator of the GroMD hair restoration product line, ISHRS member, and a visceral advocate for patient care. Learn more about Dr. Yazdan or read rave reviews from his patients.