Hair loss men and what you can do

A lot of men will probably acknowledge that once they had great hair, but it became thinner and their hairline started to recede. And at some point your hair looks like that of a monk.

You also do not want that the hair loss will make you look older. And you especially do not want to get reminded of you getting older by looking in the mirror everyday and seeing your hairline recede.

It may be a sign of male testosteron, but you obviously want to look and feel great s well.

So, what can you do against hair loss? How can you look like a Greek God again with your luscious hair?

Causes of hair loss in men

Before answering this question let's first look at the numbers. About 42% of men experience moderate to severe hair loss. 16% of men experience severe hair loss between the age of 18 and 29 and 53% of men between 40-49 get to deal with severe hair loss. About 12% of men primarily experience a receding hairline[1].

So, it is safe to say that men experience hair loss quite often. Only just under 50% of men do not experience any kind of hair loss[2].

Generally speaking men will deal with hair loss when they are 50 years and older. That is unfortunately just genetic.

When you lack enough proteins, are malnourished or have any eating disorder, then that can contribute to hair loss as well[3].

Especially white men will deal with receding hairlines. When your dad is bald, you will likely experience it too, but when you already start balding early on in your life, it could come from your moms side.

Pulling your hair or wearing tight man-buns can also contribute to hair loss in men. You will first experience a receding hairline and after that you will experience thinning hair in general.

Another cause of hair loss is atopic eczema located at your hairline.

Studies also show that men that experience hair loss are dealing with coronary heart diseases, high blood pressure and high cholesterol more often than men with no hair loss[4].

Diffuse hair loss in men

Diffuse hair loss can happen to men and women. This form of hair loss does not result in a receding hairline or like a balding spot at the crown of your head. Diffuse hair loss is a more general thinning of your hair. You often see this when people have had chemo.

This specific form of hair loss can also be triggered by emotional triggers. Especially a lot of stress and a unhealthy diet can deteriorate hair loss, so make sure you take good care of yourself[5].

It also could prove useful to check your thyroid hormones when you experience general thinning of your hair instead of a receding hairline or bald spot at the crown of your head[6].

What to do against hair loss in men?

So, above I mentioned a few reasons that can cause hair loss, but there is still a lot science does not know. In the first place you can check of you maybe wear tight man-buns a lot or that you accidently pull your hair.

In that case you can experiment with loose buns and see if that improves your situation. Maybe your hair will grow back again.

When it is really outside of your control, then there are a few medications that could prove useful to combat hair loss and some of them maybe even help to grow some hairs back.

Finasteride and hair loss in men

Late 90's they have done quite a lot of research on finasteride and these studies showed that when men take 1mg a day it can stop the hair loss[7].

Later research also suggested that in 40% of the cases finasteride proved effective in growing some hairs back[8]. I personally use this, but I do not notice a lot of hairs growing back, but the hair loss seems to have stopped. Read here all about Finasteride and Minoxidil!

You do have to use this the rest of your life and even if the hair does not grow back, you can use it to stop the hair loss. If you ever consider taking Finasteride, always consult with your general physician first, because in rare cases this drug can have serious side-effects.

Diet and hair loss in men

A healthy lifestyle is also very important for your hair, so make sure you eat enough proteins. It is recommended to eat 8 grams of protein per kilo of body weight. For a 80 kg man, this means 64 grams of protein per day.

You can also check if you are taking any medication that lists hair loss as a side-effect. Always consult with your doctor when you are considering stop taking prescribed drugs.

Making hair loss less obvious with a great hairstyle

We have to be realistic and in some cases you can not really fix your hair loss anymore, but luckily there are many hairstyles that can make it less obvious.

It is especially recommended to use matte hair styling products when styling your hair, because those make it harder to look directly on your scalp. Hair products with a shiny finish tend to make it easier to look through your hair and on your scalp.

Short hair

You can go for a very short hairstyle. This hides the hair loss because your hair is already short.

Buzz cut

A buzz cut is still short hair, but in some cases you can keep it a bit longer and comb your hair to the front. It will not look strange, because it just looks like that is the natural direction of your hair.

Caesar

Prince William had this hairstyle for a while to conceal his hair loss. The hair on the sides is a bit shorter and on top you keep it a bit longer. These longer strands you can comb to the front. You can backcomb it a bit in the front to create more volume and thickness.

Uneven layers

When your hair is thinning, but it is not yet too thin, you can ask your hairdresser to cut your hair in uneven layers. That will create a messy look which will help to conceal your hair loss. Just use a bit of product and you have a great out-of-bed look!

Grow a beard of moustache

To distract people from your thinning hair, you can grow a beard or moustache. When you have some great looking facial hair, then people will not be looking at your receding hairline.

Just experiment a bit with your facial hair. You can try only a moustache or a 3-day beard or even a really long beard. Try it out and see if it works for you.

In our Moquer shop we have plenty of products for your beard.

Never go for the comb-over

It is better to accept your hair loss or choose a hair piece then to choose a comb-over. A comb-over will result in weird thin strands of hair draped over your scalp and that is not a flattering look when you are already pretty bald. It is better to go for a short hairstyle in that case.

The last resort: a hair transplant

When you are experiencing hereditary male pattern baldness and have a healthy lifestyle, then you cannot change the fact that you are going bald. A last resort to counter your hair loss is a hair transplant.

In 2017 I did a hair transplant and I wrote a blog post about it. So, read here all about my own hair transplant!

Sources:

[1] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1524-4725.1998.tb00009.x

[2] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.0412-5463.2001.00110.x

[3] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-2230.2002.01076.x

[4] https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/43272142/Evaluation_and_treatment_of_male_and_fem20160302-16061-n1lfq1.pdf?1456935215=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DEvaluation_and_treatment_of_male_and_fem.pdf&Expires=1605801408&Signature=Ruc36VMW29D-~Ty4hPn3OM0-dn3UvIfH7iyuM9cM-cgqhUyaVOJzNmAl5d-2puEX46Y6XBCNl3t42qF4KdEIfI-Mj7vCxLMsFYvSuD7fqjWigFngF3uUjfZ0ujsa29KRFs5iwXXm4J8zucuez4GFvT6VZlUbyJHpqS5W6QgVskfuJsAVjBh8lkN1lTiI8mEUGM4FHp7qRiOpNt3HKIG-03Nh815qudXKA7CZEp9FrfvDfD1Sio9AbaBZRzBQwWIrkcc48j3yIWZDThGuhesFM2qdal8tA6PC6qqL~JbTWY~Z0JTaFdI6~zRYFjivSYhdlPZ5tZorgbywLPSJyhZqRg__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA

[5]https://europepmc.org/article/med/11263854?utm_medium=email&utm_source=transaction&client=bot&client=bot

[6] https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/43272142/Evaluation_and_treatment_of_male_and_fem20160302-16061-n1lfq1.pdf?1456935215=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DEvaluation_and_treatment_of_male_and_fem.pdf&Expires=1605801408&Signature=Ruc36VMW29D-~Ty4hPn3OM0-dn3UvIfH7iyuM9cM-cgqhUyaVOJzNmAl5d-2puEX46Y6XBCNl3t42qF4KdEIfI-Mj7vCxLMsFYvSuD7fqjWigFngF3uUjfZ0ujsa29KRFs5iwXXm4J8zucuez4GFvT6VZlUbyJHpqS5W6QgVskfuJsAVjBh8lkN1lTiI8mEUGM4FHp7qRiOpNt3HKIG-03Nh815qudXKA7CZEp9FrfvDfD1Sio9AbaBZRzBQwWIrkcc48j3yIWZDThGuhesFM2qdal8tA6PC6qqL~JbTWY~Z0JTaFdI6~zRYFjivSYhdlPZ5tZorgbywLPSJyhZqRg__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA (pag. 4)

[7] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0190962299700812

[8] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.0412-5463.2001.00110.x