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Dermbits

Is hair recoverable in pattern hair loss?

Hair and Nails

You as long as you still have fine or intermediate hairs present, you can oftentimes use medications or other modalities to prolong the antigen time of those hairs. So to understand that, you have to kind of understand what's happening in pattern hair loss. In pattern hair loss, the antigen phase is shortening, so the hair stays on the head less time. So instead of staying on the head five years, it might stay on the head six months or a year or however long it is. But it's shortened and it doesn't have time enough to thicken, increase in diameter and provide density. So if you can use a medication such as oral or topical minoxidil that prolongs antigen and the hair stays on the head longer, it gets larger in diameter and it starts to contribute to density. So in that case, we're not really reversing hair loss such that we're bringing hairs back that weren't there. We're just sort of pushing the hair growth in the opposite direction. Instead of getting smaller, it's getting larger, and therefore your density looks better and the hair looks fuller. So if you're lucky enough to respond to one of the topical, oral, or Prp type injections, then yes, that's going to happen and you're going to have what looks like a reversed hair loss process, but it's really just prolonging of antigen.