How to Spot, Diagnose, and Treat Hair Loss

Hair loss often begins before a bald spot appears. A widening part, receding temples, more visible scalp, reduced density or a change in how the hair looks when it is wet or styled can all be early signs. At Leonard Hair Transplant Associates, Chief Hair Restoration Surgeon Dr. Matthew Lopresti helps men and women determine what may be causing their hair loss and which treatment options may be appropriate. The earlier the cause is understood, the more opportunity there may be to protect the hair that is still there.

How Can You Tell If You Are Losing Hair?

The best way to spot hair loss is to look for a change from your own normal rather than obsess over every hair in the shower drain. Hair naturally sheds every day, but progressive thinning tends to leave clues: the temples move back, the crown becomes easier to see, a part gets wider or the same hairstyle suddenly does not provide the coverage it once did.

Sometimes the best evidence is already in your phone. Scroll back through old cell phone photos, selfies, family pictures or social media posts from a year or two ago and compare them with how your hair looks today. Look at the temples, crown, part and overall density. Hair loss can happen slowly enough that you may not notice it in the mirror every morning, but an old photo can make the change surprisingly obvious.

If you see a difference that appears to be progressing, that is the time to find out what is happening rather than guess at a treatment. A hair loss evaluation can help determine the pattern, possible cause and whether anything should be done to preserve the hair you still have.

What Causes Hair Loss?

Genetics is the most common cause of progressive hair loss in men and women, but it is not the only reason hair can thin. Hair loss can also be associated with medical conditions, medications, nutritional deficiencies, stress and other changes affecting the normal hair growth cycle. Significant weight loss may also be followed by temporary increased shedding in some people, which makes understanding the timing and pattern of the hair loss important.

The diagnosis matters because different causes call for different answers. A hair transplant cannot correct every type of hair loss, and surgery should never be the starting point simply because someone has less hair than they used to. First understand why the hair is disappearing. Then decide how to fight it.

How Is Hair Loss Treated?

Hair loss treatment depends on why the hair is being lost, how far it has progressed and what hair can realistically be preserved or restored. For some patients, the priority is protecting existing hair. For others, restoring areas where hair has already been permanently lost may require hair transplant surgery. Often, the smartest plan considers both.

Leonard Hair Transplant Associates offers surgical hair restoration with Follicular Unit Excision (FUE) and traditional Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), as well as non-surgical options that may include PRP with ACell, finasteride and minoxidil when medically appropriate. The right treatment is not the one with the newest name or the biggest promise. It is the one that makes sense for the cause of the hair loss, the hair a patient still has and where that hair loss may be headed.

Your first complimentary consultation is an opportunity to review your concerns, discuss your goals and understand the appropriate next step. When hair transplant surgery is recommended, Dr. Matthew Lopresti personally develops the surgical plan and performs the FUE or FUT procedure.

If your hair looks different than it did a year ago, finding out why is a better first step than guessing at a treatment. Contact Leonard Hair Transplant Associates to schedule a complimentary hair loss consultation in Massachusetts, Rhode Island or New Hampshire.