Male hair loss: what are the common mistakes men make?

To commemorate National Hair Loss Awareness month, HJ Men chatted to a panel of experts on all things related to male hair loss and will be sharing the findings in a series of online articles. For the second instalment, we discuss the male hair loss mistakes often made by clients and what you can advise them to do. Wil Fleeson, owner of Rainbow Room International’s Stirling and Buchanan Street salons and Trichology Scotland’s director Many clients with thinning hair are too gentle when washing their hair. This is a problem as the scalp needs to be stimulated and massaged in order to get the blood flowing and for hair to grow. Clients should try to give their hair a good scrub for a couple of minutes and give their scalp a gentle massage every time they wash their hair. Bobbie Mills, Organic Colour Systems UK salon mentor and qualified trichologist As the hair thins the follicles miniaturise causing individual hairs to grow finer and more fragile, because of this I would advise against wearing hats. In terms of hairstyles, keeping it shorter is better than trying to hide or cover hair loss. I would recommend a short, shaved style but it’s down to personal preference. Eva Proudman, associate member of the Institute of Trichology (AIT) Men often leave the problem until it becomes advanced. A male client will have more treatment options available if they seek professional advice and diagnosis sooner rather than later. If the diagnosis is androgenetic male pattern baldness, treatments with Minoxidil at 5% can be effective or Finestaride. If it is a scalp problem or a shedding problem, investigations into hair care routines, health, diet and lifestyle might reveal underlying causes that may or may not be treatable. This article first appeared in the Autumn 2018 issue of HJ Men.