As you see yourself balding, while others retain their hair, you may ask - why me?

The basic answer is – your hair loss is due to your genetic make up. Your thinning hair is not due to anything you have done, whether wearing too many hats, washing your hair too much or too little or any other hair loss myths. Alopecia or hair loss is primarily genetic and is referred to as "Androgenetic Alopecia" in the medical community.

Your hair's future is largely determined before you're even born. Your follicles have been genetically programmed as to when, where and how much baldness (if any), you'll experience in your lifetime. But the fate of your hair can be altered or compensated for with modern hair loss treatments.

So what are the specific causes of hair loss?

Baldness is largely the result of certain hormones interacting over time with those hair follicles that are vulnerable to their effects.

Both men and women produce "male" hormones. The three most common are testosterone, androsteinedione, and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Hair follicles, as well as the sebaceous glands, contain high levels of an enzyme called 5-alpha-reductase. This enzyme converts testosterone into DHT, via the blood. DHT is the source of most male pattern balding.

In some people, their follicles on the top of the head are genetically vulnerable to baldness. Over time, these genetically vulnerable follicles are acted upon by the hormone DHT. This hormone binds with the receptor sites of these vulnerable follicles and cause the hair follicle to weaken over time. Propecia is a drug that has been shown to slow the creation of DHT and can be helpful in slowing, stopping or in some cases, reversing hair loss when it is used early enough.

Hair grows naturally in cycles of approximately 3 to 8 years. At the end of the growth cycle, the hair shaft is shed from the follicle and a new hair grows. With thinning hair or balding, each successive growth cycle is shorter and the hair produced is thinner and finer. This is called 'miniturization'.

Men and women don't go bald overnight, it is a slow progression of thinning hair and hair loss that eventually produces baldness. In many cases, the balding has progressed to such a stage that hair loss treatment products aren't enough to reverse the balding process.

Few treatments have the dramatic effect of restoring hair like hair restoration surgery. Click here to learn more about hair restoration.

Not all hair loss is permanent. There are many causes of temporary hair loss that can be treated with diet, stress reduction and a visit to your doctor. Click here to learn about other causes of hair loss.

Androgenetic Alopecia

And rogenetic Alopecia, commonly referred to as 'genetic balding', is the main cause of male and female hair loss. This genetic 'programming' accounts for 95% of male hair loss.

For baldness to occur three factors need to be present:

1.The presence of and rogens, or male hormones.

2. A genetic pre-disposition to balding.

3. Time for the DHT to degrade the vulnerable hair follicles.

While they comprise less than ten percent of permanent hair loss, there are several other Causes of Hair Loss like stress, nutrition, health, age and hormones, that can cause temporary as well as permanent hair loss.

There are also several categories of treatments for hair loss which include drugs, topical lotions, hair care products, hair replacement systems and hair restoration surgery. To learn more about each, please visit our Hair Loss Treatment section.

Why the Coalition?

With hair loss treatments often being marketed without regulation or accountability, hair loss sufferers need credible information about legitimate treatments and the ethical physicians who provide them.

The Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians is a carefully selected group of skilled and ethical physicians who are united in providing patients with outstanding education and results.

Physician Accountability

Membership in the Coalition requires members to maintain a high degree of patient satisfaction. Members care for their patients knowing that their patients are free to post their experiences on the popular Hair Restoration Discussion Forum. On this open forum patients are free to critique physicians and to hold them accountable for their actions. This forum is run and moderated by hair restoration patients.

In such a transparent environment our members are held publicly accountable for their actions and results. Members who fail to meet the high technical and ethical membership standards set by the Coalition are removed from the group.

However, we ask that patients first give their physician the opportunity to satisfy their concerns privately before posting any public criticisms on the discussion forum.

If the issue is not resolved to the patient’s satisfaction they are encouraged to contact the Coalition by email to service at hairtransplantnetwork dot com

Member clinics also agree to open their clinics up to inspection. Many of these inspections have been reported on the Hair Restoration Discussion Forum. View some of these clinic visits.

Membership Standards

The skill, technique and talent of hair restoration physicians vary widely, as do the end results. Only a minority of leading physicians provide truly state of the art hair restoration.

Coalition members are carefully reviewed and granted membership based strictly on their high level of integrity, skill, experience and ability to perform ultra refined follicular unit transplantation.

All Coalition members have made the investment in time and resources to perform a highly refined and difficult to perform state of the art procedure called “Ultra Refined Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation”.

While many surgeons now perform standard follicular unit grafting, only a minority have risen to the challenge of using very tiny incisions and grafts to achieve ultra refined results. This ultra refined procedure, while very demanding on the physician and staff, produces excellent results for the patient with optimal density and rapid healing. It also allows the patient to achieve their goal for fullness and density with a minimal number of surgical sessions.

To learn more about Ultra Refined Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation

Membership Criteria

A physician must meet the following requirements before being granted membership in the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians:

• A demonstrated capability to successfully perform large sessions of ultra refined follicular unit grafting using tiny incisions and grafts that are microscopically prepared.
• The ability to dense pack tiny follicular unit grafts in a given area when appropriate.
• Mastery and control of the orientation and direction of the transplanted grafts to achieve a completely natural appearance.
• Dedication to doing state of the art hair restoration exclusively or at least as the main specialty of the clinic.
• Excellent patient results demonstrating a high level of artistry and naturalness throughout, as well as excellent growth rates.
• An excellent reputation of the physician amongst colleagues and former patients.
• Several years experience in performing hair restoration surgery.
• Medical training, depth of background, board certifications, honors, credentials, lectures, and published articles and books.

Note - All members contribute dues to support our joint educational resources and services.

We are open to reviewing experienced surgeons for possible membership. Apply for membership as a physician.

Membership Selection Process

Physicians with a proven track record of providing excellent ultra refined follicular unit hair transplantation and who meet the Coalition’s membership criteria will be considered for membership.

In addition to reviewing the applicant physician’s credentials, technique and results, input from patients and current members of the Coalition will be considered prior to membership being granted.