Question:
What is the best topical treatment for the re-growth and thickening of hair loss for a female around the age of 40?
Answer:
I personally do not believe there is a good topical treatment for re-growth for women. I think the only FDA approved drug is Rogaine or minoxidil and I think it is a drug that has not been very successful in re-growth of either males or females.
In my experience I think less than 5% of women will see any re-growth with minoxidil or Rogaine. I have seen a decrease in hair loss with minoxidil but it still does not stop hair loss totally.
My feeing is the best treatment for women who are experiencing hair loss, especially an early thinning, is low-level laser therapy. In our experience we have had phenomenal success in not only stopping the hair loss with laser therapy but we have also seen a reversal of miniaturization of the hair getting shorter and shorter and finer and finer. We have actually seen the volume of hair getting thicker and thicker with low-level laser therapy.
The one thing we should make clear is that low-level laser therapy works best in patients who have a lot of hair still present and therefore the earlier one comes for treatment, the better the results.
Dictated By: S. Friedman MD
