The use of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) devices for treating hair loss has been heavily debated for some time by reputable hair restoration physicians and patients on our hair loss forum.
Treatment Overview.
Eligibility For Treatment.
Good candidates for a hair transplant include:
- men with male pattern baldness
- women with thinning hair
Preparation Before Treatment.
Before making a diagnosis, your doctor will likely give you a physical exam and ask about your diet, your hair care routine, and your medical and family history. You might also have tests, such as the following:
- Blood test. This might help uncover medical conditions that can cause hair loss.
- Pull test. Your doctor gently pulls several dozen hairs to see how many come out. This helps determine the stage of the shedding process.
- Scalp biopsy. Your doctor scrapes samples from the skin or from a few hairs plucked from the scalp to examine the hair roots under a microscope. This can help determine whether an infection is causing hair loss.
- Light microscopy. Your doctor uses a special instrument to examine hairs trimmed at their bases. Microscopy helps uncover possible disorders of the hair shaft.
About Treatment.
To treat baldness with laser light therapy, laser rays are directly applied to the scalp by a mechanical device so that red blood cells are stimulated. Lasers are said to work by converting ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) to ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate), releasing energy and causing cellular metabolic changes. During this process, additional nutrients and oxygen are provided to the scalp assisting the normal chemical processes performed by those cells, increasing overall blood circulation. Lasers, when applied to the scalp and hair, have been said to improve overall hair quality, promote hair growth, and increase hair shaft diameter.
Post-Treatment Care Treatment.
If you want to stop and perhaps reverse hair loss, you might consider laser treatment as an option.
As with any treatment, there are some positives and negatives that should be considered when determining if it’s right for you. Your doctor can help you make a good decision.
There are no post-care treatments as such.
Treatment Recovery Tips.
There are a number of reasons that advocates cite to encourage participation in the procedure, including:
- it’s noninvasive
- it’s painless
- there are no side effects
- it increases hair strength
There are no treatment recovery tips as such, but the patients can go through medications for hair loss to increase the pace of treatment.
Treatment FAQs.
How does laser therapy help with hair loss?
As a result of increasing laser technology adoption in hair loss treatment during the last decade, many scientific papers exploring the benefits of low-level laser therapy were published. One study sought to confirm the hypothesis that LLLT can potentially stimulate the growth of hair.
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