Would you get a head tattoo to cover baldness?

Male pattern baldness is the most common type of hair loss in men, afflicting an estimated 6.5 million men in the UK and for many it is noticeable by the time they reach the age of 35.

In recent times there has been countless celebrity hair loss stories in the media. For instance, we have seen celebrities such as Wayne Rooney and Calum Best opt for expensive hair transplants, and even pop superstar Justin Bieber has come out and said that Prince William needs to take hair loss medication Propecia.

Other effective and proven hair loss treatments for men include Regaine Foam, Regaine Lotion and Alpecin caffeine shampoo. However, how about covering up your diminishing hair with a tattoo?

Yes, you read that correctly, a tattoo! British men are now able to benefit from a procedure which involves tattooing tiny dots on their scalp, helping to mask receding hairlines and hair loss.

The new technique will set men back quite a hefty amount however, between £500 – £3,000, providing them with what will seem like a full head of hair – all in just a couple of hours. Men will end up with a ‘buzzcut’, which may or may not be to everyone’s liking, but has been made popular in the last decade by celebrities such as Wentworth Miller and David Beckham.

A hair expert will apply differing shades of specifically blended pigments into the patient’s scalp, mimicking the size, shape and density of micro hairs, creating the buzzcut appearance.

The idea was formulated by Ian Watson, 42, founder of HIS (Hair-Ink-Skin) Hair. Mr Watson was in his mid-twenties when he suffered with alopecia, brought on by the loss of his brother to cancer.
In an attempt to cover the hair loss, Mr Watson asked his brother’s widow to use a fine ink pen and draw tiny black dots onto his scalp. Although the ink washed off in the shower, the whole premise got Mr Watson thinking and his idea gathered pace from there.

The treatment is suitable for varying types of hair loss, whether it be alopecia, cancer, and baldness. No anaesthetics, incisions or adhesives are used during the procedure, leaving the patient without any scars on their head. Adjustments can also be made in the future if there is further hair loss suffered, or style preference is changed.

The downside is the price as not many people in the current financial climate can afford to pay between £500 and £3000 for treatment, plus no actual hair is regrown or prevented from being further lost, as opposed to the previously mentioned Propecia.

Medical Specialists Pharmacy are able to offer the prescription-only medication Propecia (finasteride) to suitable males, which works by blocking the conversion of testosterone to DHT, responsible for hair loss.  It is obtainable following a quick and easy 4-step process which includes an online consultation with one of our in-house GMC-registered doctors, priced from as little as £47.58 per month.

More men fear hair loss than impotence

Hair loss and suffering with impotence are probably amongst men’s biggest worries and the cause for a great deal of anxiety.

However, a new study suggests that hair loss could actually surprisingly be a bigger concern to men than their performance in the bedroom. It could be that hair loss degrades confidence to the extent that many men feel this will affect their ability to find a partner in the first place.

The survey of 2,000 males found that an incredible 94% feared going bald, compared to 89% who feared about experiencing erectile dysfunction and losing their ability to perform in the bedroom.
Other things that caused fear for the men survey included going grey, feared by 75% of the men (although becoming a ‘silver fox’ never did George Clooney any harm!), whilst 64% were concerned about putting weight on. This is perhaps unsurprising when health experts have stated that by 2050 obesity is predicted to affect 60% of adult men, 50% of adult women and 25% of children.

In addition, 61% were terrified of losing their teeth, 45% had a fear of needing to wear glasses at some point, 31% were worried about losing their hearing and suffering with bad breath was feared by 24% – although the revolutionary and massively popular CB12 mouthwash has now helped with this problem for both men and women.

None of these fears compared to hair loss however. Psychotherapist Toni Mackenzie was not shocked by the survey’s findings.

She said: “Hair loss can be genuinely distressing for men. It can’t be easily disguised and people think its fair game for jokes, unlike things like putting on weight or going grey. Men who lose their hair are expected to take insults with good humour. The pressure this causes can have a huge effect on men’s self-confidence, which has knock-on effects on their physical and mental wellbeing.”

Ian Watson, of HIS Hair Clinics, commented: “Going bald is just too personal to be funny. I lost my hair in my 20s. I’ve had countless people rub my head like a lucky Buddha and been called everything from baldilocks to Fester. It soon becomes downright upsetting.”

The findings back up other surveys carried out this year, such as one recently commissioned by pharmaceutical and cosmetics company Alpecin, producers of the hugely popular Alpecin caffeine shampoo for hair loss. Their survey discovered that losing hair is an increasingly bigger concern for 21-30 year old men. There are countless studies, articles, and media stories that portray attractiveness as being a key factor in success and for many people hair is associated with attractiveness.

The fact that there are an estimated 6 million men in the UK suffering from hair loss, this equates to a huge amount of stress and fear. However, Medical Specialists Pharmacy are able to offer the prescription-only medication Propecia (finasteride), which is commonly used to treat male pattern baldness and works by blocking the conversion of testosterone to DHT, which thought to cause hair loss.  It is obtainable following a quick and easy 4 step process which includes an online consultation with one of our in-house doctors. Propecia is priced from as little as £47.58 per month.

Other options in addition to Propecia include Regaine Foam and Regaine Lotion, as featured in numerous television adverts. Obtainable from Medical Specialists Pharmacy from as little as £49.95 and £59.95 respectively, Regaine products contain the active ingredient Minoxidil which is clinically proven to help prevent further hereditary hair loss, showing success in 4 out of 5 men. It works by increasing the blood supply to the hair follicles which helps to strengthen existing hair and stimulate secondary hair growth.

Justin Bieber says Prince William should use Propecia to fight his hair loss

Canadian pop superstar Justin Bieber is perhaps not famously renowned for his medical knowledge or hair loss expertise. Despite this, it has not stopped the teen icon from offering his words of wisdom on the rapidly diminishing mane of Prince William and urging him to use the effective hair restoration medication, Propecia.

The 18-year-old ‘Boyfriend’ singer made his jibes about the balding 30-year-old Prince when  speaking to Rollercoaster magazine during a recent promotional trip to the UK in support of his ‘Believe’ album.

Bieber first emerged into the global spotlight back in 2008 after being discovered via his uploaded home videos on YouTube. Part of Bieber’s popularity was somewhat due to his baby-faced good looks, and luxurious flowing locks which he initially had stylised into a bowl-shaped cut upon his breakthrough. However, for the previous two years Bieber has sported a much shorter spiked-up quiff after causing a massive media sensation in 2010 when he decided to get rid of his longer hair.

Whereas Bieber can grow his hair back should he wish to do so, Prince William has been losing his hair an alarming rate in recent years and where hair is concerned, he has evidently taken after his father Prince Charles and uncle Prince Edward who are both suffering with male pattern baldness (MPB).

For the interview in Rollercoaster Magazine, Bieber was quizzed about what he would do if he started to lose his locks to MPB and his hair started to thin like the young Prince’s. Justin said, “I mean, there are things to prevent that nowadays, like Propecia. I don’t know why he doesn’t just get those things, those products. You just take Propecia and your hair grows back. Have you not got it over here?”

In reply to Justin’s question; yes we do have Propecia ‘over here’ and it is obtainable today from Medical Specialists Pharmacy working out from as little as £47.58 per month. The medication Propecia (finasteride) is commonly used to treat male pattern baldness and works by blocking the conversion of testosterone to an androgen thought to cause hair loss. Its effectiveness and popularity are obvious when even a teenage pop star with a full head of hair is aware of its existence!

With Male pattern baldness affecting 6.5 million men in the UK alone, Medical Specialists are committed to doing everything we can to help. Other options as well as Propecia, include Regaine Foam, as seen on television adverts. Obtainable from Medical Specialists Pharmacy from as little as £46.45, this product contains the active ingredient Minoxidil which is clinically proven to help prevent further hereditary hair loss, showing success in 4 out of 5 men. It works by increasing the blood supply to the hair follicles which helps to strengthen existing hair and stimulate secondary hair growth.

There are also emerging over the counter products that have been released in recent times. Alpecin Caffeine C1 Shampoo stimulates hair growth directly at the roots, strengthens weakened hair roots and prevents hereditary hair loss. In just in 2 minutes, the active ingredient travels along the hair shaft directly into the hair follicles. If the shampoo is left on for longer, the caffeine will also penetrate into the scalp.

When leading Trichologist David Bailey was asked about Bieber comments, he said, “Well it would seem obvious from his comments that he knows all about Male Pattern Hair Loss! How does he know whether the Prince is already taking Propecia or not? As the manufacturer clearly states, it works in the majority of men, but not all. Also, not everybody can take Propecia, they have to have it prescribed by a Doctor after a consultation.”

Medications over their expiry date can pose health risks

A survey conducted on behalf of over the counter medicine range Care, has found that an alarming two-thirds of all adults could possess and use medication that has long passed its date of expiration.

The worrying statistic was determined after 5,000 adults were quizzed. The results indicated that a quarter of British adults have willingly ingested out of date medicine, clearly unaware of the health risks this could pose to them. A further 7% were under the assumption that medicines do not have a shelf life. More results from the study show that approximately two-fifths of adults do not bother to look at the important patient information leaflets provided with medications, and 12% admitted that they simply just guess what the right dose is that they should take.

The figure of 62% of adults having medicine out of date, works out at roughly 73 million out of date products just in the UK alone. Health authorities may now need to act and devise a scheme to help encourage people to regularly check the medicines they have sitting in their cabinets at home, see if they are in date, and if not – then dispose of them in a safe manner.

A London based GP, Dr Sarah Jarvis, says, “It is extremely worrying to hear so many of us are taking out of date medicines. Just like food that goes off, medicines past their expiry date can deteriorate and make you ill. You need to be particularly careful with your eyes, nose or a wound as these areas are especially prone to letting in bacteria.”

Dr Jarvis’ comments were supported by English Pharmacy Board member Sid Dajani who commented, “People are risking their lives by not taking the use by dates on their medicines seriously. The danger is what they don’t do for you – anti-seizure drugs resulting in fits, people with asthma suffocating because their blue inhaler doesn’t work or pregnancy tests showing a false negative because the active HCG reagent is too old. I urge everybody to check the use by date before taking medication, and to return out of date medicines to their local pharmacy where they’ll be disposed of safely.”

Medical Specialists Pharmacy advise that you never simply place unused or expired medicines into the rubbish bin or flush them down the toilet. For instance, there is a big risk that babies and children will get the medicine from the bin and ingest them. Also, medication can eventually end up contaminating local drinking water systems after being flushed down the toilet or be hazardous to the environment. You should take unwanted or expired medicines to a pharmacy, who can dispose of them safely.

In regards to Medical Specialists Pharmacy, you do not ever need to worry about out of date products. We have a strict and rigorous system in place that ensures all of our prescription medications such as Viagra, Cialis, Propecia, Dianette, etc. are well in-date, and this applies to our chemist shop items too such as condoms and hair loss products such as Alpecin shampoo.

Male hair loss DNA test can open the way for early preventive action

After renowned hair transplant surgeon Dr Bessam Farjo made headlines last month by performing what is believed to be the world’s first streaming of a hair transplant, he is now in the news again. Dr Farjo, who has clinics in Manchester and London, and boasts ex Manchester United footballer Clayton Blackmore as one of many celebrity clients, is offering the chance for men to take a simple test to see if they are likely to lose their hair.

The pioneering new idea that is carried out at Dr Farjo’s clinics is a £195 DNA test which involves taking a sample of saliva from inside the cheek. The sample then gets sent to a specialised laboratory in the U.S. where it is analysed for the presence of a gene that results in follicles to stop growing, thus resulting in hair loss. After just ten days, men can find out whether they are at risk of losing their hair.
Dr Farjo commented on the procedure and who could benefit, saying, “This test is useful for someone very young who has not yet started losing their hair but wants to have peace of mind or to do something about it if there’s a family history. A positive result means you have a 70 per cent chance of being significantly bald by the age of 40. That means you’d look in the mirror and say, “I’m bald”, not just thinning a little bit.”

Losing their precious locks is one of the biggest worries amongst the current generation of young males.  After leading celebrity figures such as Wayne Rooney and Louis Walsh openly admitted to undergoing hair transplant procedures last year, this has helped to shed some of the embarrassment-factor previously associated with the sensitive subject of male or female hair loss.

However, hair transplants are not a viable option for everybody in the current financial climate and can set you back thousands of pounds.  Other effective, inexpensive hair loss solutions include the medication Propecia. This therapy treats genetically inherited male pattern hair loss and works most effectively on the top of the head and the mid-scalp area. Propecia can slow down the hair loss on vertex and the anterior mid-scalp area, prevent further hair loss or in some cases, even re-grow hair. It is available from Medical Specialists Pharmacy working out from as little as £47.58 per month.

Other options include the increasingly popular Regaine Foam. Obtainable from Medical Specialists Pharmacy from as little as £46.45, this product contains the active ingredient Minoxidil which is clinically proven to help prevent further hereditary hair loss, showing success in 4 out of 5 men. It works by increasing the blood supply to the hair follicles which helps to strengthen existing hair and stimulate secondary hair growth. For most men, using Regaine even reverses the process, resulting in regrowth.

There are also emerging over the counter products that have been released in recent times. Alpecin Caffeine C1 Shampoo stimulates hair growth directly at the roots, strengthens weakened hair roots and prevents hereditary hair loss. In just in 2 minutes, the active ingredient travels along the hair shaft directly into the hair follicles. If the shampoo is left on for longer, the caffeine will also penetrate into the scalp.

Overall, it could be in men’s best interests to take Dr Farjo’s revolutionary test. For just £195 you will be able to have a much better idea of your chances of experiencing hair loss in the future, and take preventive action today through a number of different options such as those mentioned earlier.

L’Oreal experts develop new treatment for hair loss

Trichologists from Paris have discovered information that could possible pave the way for new methods of treating baldness. Head of hair biology Dr Bruno Bernard and his team at L’Oreal Paris underwent research and found that some hair follicles can become trapped in their resting or ‘sleeping’ state, which then means new hair is not grown and eventually will fall out. Usually hair strands grow for about four years before the follicles become dormant and the strand will fall out. As the follicles remain dormant, stem cells in the skin should begin to kick-start the procedure of growing new hair. However, this process is interrupted and fails to occur for people who are suffering from baldness.

The researchers however may not be able to completely halt the balding process forever; the hair follicles inevitably lose the ability to make new hair. For people who are looking a little thin on top, the future products the team are developing could come in handy and prevent you from having to do a dreaded ‘comb over’, using embarrassing wigs, or hugely expensive hair transplants. Of course, there are already many products available on the market right now that have been shown to effectively combat hair loss in both men and women, such as Propecia, Regaine, Alpecin caffeine shampoo, and Dianette for women – which can also be used for acne, hirsutism and contraceptive purposes.

Dr Bernard says that the company are exploring a treatment that can either be applied to your scalp in a cream or shampoo which may help in hair regrowth. He spoke out on the current developments and said, “Hair follicles exist in two stable states – either an active state or a dormant state. From time to time, they will jump from one state to another. Some of the follicles are just resting in the dormant state and are waiting for the right signal to make new hair. They are in a latency period. If you can reduce this latency period, you will have more hair. We have identified a compound and we are going to make a formulation of it that can be applied to the scalp to wake the follicle up from its sleeping state to the active state.”

David Bailey, a leading UK Trichologist and now retired said, “I can’t see how this treatment can help. There are basically three stages to the hair cycle: Anagen (growing phase), Catagen (resting phase) which lasts about three months, and Telogen (falling out phase). It would seem that this treatment works on shortening the Catagen phase, which is only three months, and would not stop the hair loss process which reduces the Anagen phase.”

At Medical Specialists Pharmacy we are fully aware of the impact both male and female pattern baldness can have on a person. It can be massively detrimental to one’s confidence and self-esteem. Male-pattern baldness is the most common type of hair loss, affecting 6.5 million men in the UK and an estimated 35 million in the U.S. In addition, it is believed there are 8 million women just in the UK who suffer from some degree of hair loss. As mentioned earlier, we offer a huge range of prescription and non-prescription treatments that can slow down the process of thinning hair, promote hair growth and help regain your confidence.

Future problems for childhood cancer survivors

If you develop cancer during your childhood and survive it, you are more likely to suffer from hair loss and/or disfigurement during your adult years, resulting in possible long-term emotional problems. This is the claims of a new American study published last week in the ‘Journal of Clinical Oncology’.

Karen Kinahan, coordinator of the ‘STAR Survivorship Program at the Robert H. Lurie Cancer Center of Northwestern University in Chicago’ and her team studied data from 14,358 childhood cancer survivors and compared this information against 4,023 of their siblings who were already involved in a separate scientific study.  All 14,358 were survivors who had received their treatment between the years 1970 and 1986 and were given two questionnaires, one in 1992 and another one in 2003.

When compared, it was noted than those who had survived cancer during childhood actually had notably more scarring and disfigurement on their legs, arms and head areas during later years in their life and that adults with these attributes, usually will suffer from more depression and lead a worse quality of life.

Kinahan commented on the results, “I think it showed us these aren’t necessarily life-threatening late effects of cancer, but certainly we need to be more aware of the outcomes these patients are dealing with”.  The study explained that survivors with persistent hair loss had more of a chance of having anxiety, female survivors with persistent hair loss were more likely to display signs of a depressive nature, and survivors who had been left with disfigurements on their body had an increased chance of depression.

Indeed if we further look at the statistics, 14% of survivors had reported that they were going bald, compared to 6% of their siblings. Hair loss was especially associated with depression in the female survivors. In addition, those who reported scars or disfigurements had a 20% higher chance of having depression in comparison to those without such issues. It was shown that overall, ¼ of survivors had a scar or disfigurement later in life, whilst it was just one in twelve for their siblings. Quality of life was shown to be effected in negative ways for those who had survived cancer in such circumstances as mental health, general pain, physical ability and their social interaction skills.