Help, I Lose my Hair! But, What Are My Options?

Baldness is easily postponed. Uncover the reasons for your potential lack of cover and find out how to beat it. We all lose hair. Although you might feel like Captain Kirk when you’re 18, you could already be turning into Picard. According to the Belgravia Centre, Europe’s largest hair clinic, we lose 50-100 strands a day. Hairs last 3-6 years, then follicles grow new hair in place of the dead – until you reach your late teens, that is. Balding usually kicks off in your mid-twenties, when testosterone levels are at their highest.

Causes of trouble. In your mid-twenties, your hairline retreats due to follicles’ sensitivity to androgens (compounds which, ironically, stimulate male characteristics) and they can’t squeeze out new hairs. Fight this with scalp treatments containing minoxidil, which increase blood flow to follicles.

Damn Genetics. Even if your dad looks like Kojak, it’s your mum’s family who are to blame for the rapid growth of Scalp Island. Joint research by Bonn and Dusseldorf Universities found that baldness is genetically inherited from your mother’s side of the family, a condition called androgenetic alopecia. Checking the family photos to see if you’re likely to lose it can help you spot the symptoms early enough to slow the slaphead slide. Or you could just start buying beanies in bulk now.

Is it all lost yet? By the age of 30, the forces of baldness strike with vengeance. Their secret weapon is DHT, a byproduct of testosterone that follicles can’t handle. It promotes body hair but for unknown reasons it turns you into a Zinedine Zidane lookalike. A love of irrational headbutts is strictly optional.

Tearing your heat out? Next time you’re told to “keep your hair on”, do so. When stressed, your body loses vitamins, minerals and protein: aka follicle fuel. As they starve, cortisol is pumped out by your adrenal glands. An excess of this hormone triggers barnet departure; multivitamins can help stem the exodus.

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