From the mid-part of the last century, men have had the privilege of enjoying more therapies and methods that are proven through clinical tests to get hair to grow in their balding spots than women have. These available treatments include surgical procedures like hair implants and drugs or medications that block DHT such as Finasteride.
Unluckily, most of the available male treatments for hair loss are not feasible or safe for female hair loss. The standard procedure for hair implants is not actually effective since the process of how women lose hair is different from men.
When a man begins to get bald, his hair at the front and crown of his head usually falls out while a large area of hair growth is still located at the back area of his head. The back area is the one that provides the donated hair follicles necessary for the procedure of hair restoration surgery.
On the other hand, women usually lose hair on their entire scalp meaning there’s no suitable donor area where there is a thick growth of hair. So, hair implantation surgery is not an effective treatment of hair restoration for women.
Similarly, the FDA approved medication called Finasteride can also work well to slow down hair loss for men but not for women. Based on clinical studies, Finasteride has a serious side effect where an unborn male child can have serious birth defects.
For this reason, despite the effectiveness of the medication against baldness, women are not permitted to even touch its tablets because of the risk that its ingredients may be absorbed by the skin’s pores. This is applicable to all women who can get pregnant.
For female hair restoration, the only approved drug from the FDA is Minoxidil. This drug is applied topically and it works by protecting the hair follicles against the DHT attack. The drug is proven to be safe for women in a 2% solution while men are allowed to use a 5% solution for this hair restorer.
A lot of women have observed that they can also get good results at a 5% concentration. Still, the FDA has only given its approval for the 2% solution as of the moment.
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