Introduction

Hair loss—what’s the big deal? Everyone loses their hair
eventually, right? No point in worrying about it—or buying a
book about it. For that matter, how much is there to say about hair
loss anyway? And isn’t it rather vain to worry about hair loss when
world peace still hasn’t been achieved?
While we’d be the last to argue that world peace should take a
back seat to your hair loss, we think there’s plenty to say about
losing your hair—which is why we’ve written this book. We also
think that losing your hair can be a crushing blow to your self-
esteem, and can affect your social life, work performance and view
of yourself.
The good news is there are things you can do to minimize or
prevent hair loss, and ways to obtain a whole new head of hair, if
you decide to go that route. It may help you to realize the scope of
the hair loss problem by considering the following statistics:

Around fifty percent of men suffer from some degree of male
pattern baldness by age fifty

Around twenty million women have significant hair loss at
some point in their lives

Millions of men have taken prescription medications to pre-
vent or decrease hair loss

Approximately 100,000 men have hair transplants every year
Whether you already have significant hair loss, or are just sizing up
the other members of your family and fearing that hair loss is in
your future, this book will help you face your concerns and weigh
your options in the most practical way possible.
About This Book
The goal of this book is to make you more aware of the options
you have if you’re suffering from hair loss, and to make you more
comfortable pursuing those options. Whether you choose to take
medication, buy a hairpiece, or go directly to hair transplantation,
we want you to be an educated and confident consumer.
We also want you to understand hair: what it is, why it reacts the
way it does to the abuse most of us heap on it, and how best to
preserve its appearance.
This book is for you if you’re concerned about future hair loss or
already in the throes of it, or if you know someone who is. You’ll
learn more here than you ever wanted to know about diseases that
cause hair loss, the medications and over the counter options that
promote hair growth, how hair transplants are performed, how to
choose a good surgeon, and the way hairpieces are made, if you
choose to read the whole book.
On the other hand, if you just need quick info on what to expect
after hair transplant, or which medications work best, a quick look
in the appropriate chapter will give you that info.
Conventions Used in This Book
Every book follows certain styling rules to make it easier for you to
find information. In this book, we put important words that we
define in the glossary at the end of the book in italics. We also put
key words in bold type so they stand out and catch your attention.
We place all Web addresses in monofont to set them apart. During
printing of this book, some of the Web addresses may have broken
across two lines of text. If you come across such an address, rest
assured that we haven’t put in any extra characters (such as
hyphens) to indicate the break. When using a broken Web address,
type in exactly what you see on the page, pretending that the line
break doesn’t exist.
This book contains sidebars, which are shaded in gray, that con-
tain interesting or fun information, or personal stories about our
experiences in the hair loss field. You don’t have to read them to
understand the principals of hair loss and replacement, but hope-
fully you’ll enjoy reading them when you have time.
What You’re Not to Read
Feel free to skip the copyright material, unless you’re the sort who
has to read everything. You can also skip sidebars, the gray boxed
material that contains mostly personal stories which are
immensely interesting (and often amusing) but not essential for
your knowledge of hair replacement.
You may also want to skip areas marked with the icon Technical
Stuff if technical things aren’t your strong suit.
Foolish Assumptions
This book is for everyone concerned about their hair in any way,
shape or form—if you want healthier hair, more hair, or replace-
ment hair, this book is for you. More specifically, you should read
this book if:

You know male pattern baldness runs in your family

You already have some hair loss and want to know how to
slow or stop it

You’re thinking about taking medication—prescription or over
the counter—to slow hair loss

You want to conceal your hair loss as long as you can and do
not know how to do this

You want to buy a hairpiece but don’t know where to start

You’re considering a hair transplant and need more
information