Hair disease diagnosis and hairloss treatment
Around 70% of the male population and 40% of the female population will at some stage in their lives experience hairloss and baldness, varying from thinning of scalp hair and bald patches to complete baldness.
If the number and quality of hairs on your scalp is progressively declining and you are looking for ways to prevent further hairloss, we suggest a consultation with specialists and dermatologists at the Intermedica Hair Clinic. They have special expertise and experience in evidence-based methods of treating hair diseases and hairloss.
Male pattern hairloss or Androgenetic alopecia
An overwhelming percentage of the known hair diseases is caused by the hereditary sensitivity (see below) of hair follicles to one of the male hormones: male pattern baldness or, as it is officially named, androgenetic alopecia. Male pattern baldness appears in both men and women. The typical expression of male pattern hairloss in men is a balding patch at the vertex region of the head and a receding frontal hairline. In women, a general thinning of hair occurs with emphasis at the central parting of the scalp hair. This type of baldness is caused by a hereditary sensitivity of hairfollicles in the scalp to the hormone dihydroxy-testosteron (DHT). Medication based on finasteride or dutasteride will inhibit the conversion of testosteron to DHT, resulting in normalisation of hairloss and restoring thin hairs to their former thickness, length and colour.
Temporary hairloss or Telogen effluvium
Apart from hereditary causes, hairloss may also be caused by extreme stress. This type of hairloss, also called a telogen effluvium, can be related to causes such as general anesthesia, strict dietary rules, high fever or an infectious disease. As a result, hair may massively fall out three to five months after the event and will continue to do so until the cause has been eliminated. A correct diagnosis is extremely important in order to distinguish this type of hair loss from androgenetic alopecia and to prescribe an effective treatment.
Intermedica Hair Clinic and hairloss treatment
The Intermedica Hair Clinic uses accurate, advanced methods and techniques to precisely and reproducibly register and document your hair. To monitor the course of the disease or its treatment, a trichoscan is made of the scalp, measuring numbers and thickness of hairs at various sites and registering hair quality. By repeating this procedure on a yearly basis, our specialists can show you the rewards of our joint efforts. A first appointment with the Intermedica Hair Clinic will take one and a half hours. Apart from the trichoscan mentioned above, a bloodsample will be taken and subsequently analysed.
The results are available for evaluation in a personal consultation with one of our specialists.
Based on all the information available, the dermatologist or specialized physician will arrive at a diagnosis. In addition, the treatment options and a prognosis of the treatment results will be communicated.
Medication, lotions, hair transplant or a combination?
At bald patches without hair follicles, finasteride or dutasteride will no longer be effective. In those cases, a hair transplant by which hair from the back of the head are redistributed to the bald sites, is often the treatment alternative of choice. The Intermedica Hair Clinic can refer you to high quality hair transplantation clinics. It is recommended to combine a hair transplant with the use of finasteride or dutasteride to prevent hairloss in and around the transplantation area.
National referral clinic
The Intermedica Hair Clinic receives referrals of patients by general practitioners, dermatologists and hospitals in The Netherlands and abroad. Patients are frequently referred by their general practitioner or medical specialist to benefit from our expertise and equipment. Appointments however can also be made on your own initiative, without referral by a doctor.
Heredity
From an early age, every human scalp contains on average 150.000 hair follicles. From these follicles hairs grow for about four years before they fall out. Because every follicle is capable of producing 25 hairs in a human lifespan, every person should in principle grow 100 years old without thinning hair or going bald. Unfortunately, many people lose their hair at a much earlier age.
The cause of this type of hairloss is the sensitivity of hair follicles to a hormone called dihydroxy-testosteron (DHT). By binding itself to genetically determined receptors at the surface of the follicle, DHT causes an accelerated miniaturization of the follicle, which very rapidly produces its 25 hairs and vanishes upon exhaustion. When this happens to many hair follicles, hair will start thinning and eventually bald patches will appear. The more sensitive hair follicles are to DHT, the earlier baldness will appear. The degree of sensitivity to DHT is stipulated hereditary.
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Medication based on finasteride and dutasteride prevent the DHT to be formed from testosteron, thus preventing the follicle to die an early death.
Consultation fees
First appointment € 215
Check-up after one year € 215
Approximate costs for medication € 50 per month
The consultation fees will be partly (60-80%) covered by your Dutch health insurance when you are referred by your GP or a specialist. Costs for prescription drugs like finasteride or dutasteride are in general not reimbursed by the Dutch basic health care insurance. Please check this with your health care insurance advisor.
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If you are looking for reliable sources on the effectiveness of hairloss treatment alternatives, do avoid the traditional search engines as these searches will not yield scientifically warrented results. We strongly advise you to use www.pubmed.com to retrieve abstracts and publications from research published in the scientific medical journals. The U.S. National Library of Medicine includes citations of science journals for medical and biomedical articles, links to full text articles and other related resources. Search for: male pattern baldness, finasteride, dutasteride etc.