At New Image Clinics, we’ve always stood firmly dead set against more invasive forms of hair restoration. This includes anything surgical and anything chemical. As a clinic of long-standing hair loss professionals and experts, we have met thousands of people who have gone to the ends of the earth and back to try and recover their hair, and their success is often limited.
Botched hair transplants, ineffective medication and bad wigs are easy pickings for the media on a slow news day, but it’s often overlooked how devastating these things can be to men. A poorly performed kidney transplant would never be considered amusing, and any other surgical procedure should be treated with the same brevity of humour.
Something far more prolific, and far more sinister than ‘hair transplants gone wrong’ are so called miracle cures, chemical supplements which claim to stop, reverse and eliminate hair loss. While some of these medications may have a minimal benefit for some users, there are many who experience no change. Then there are those who experience the truly awful side effects caused by these medications.
Propecia is one of the most widespread of these wonder-drugs, but many people who use it don’t know what they are risking. In 1997, the American FDA refused to support an application for Propecia to be recommended for treatment of male pattern baldness, and that should have been the eye opener for most people, and they have issued further warnings about the drug.
Additional cautions from the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in the UK have since followed. Perhaps the most concerning thing is the FDA’s placement of Propecia into pregnancy category X (meaning it has been known to cause death and birth defects in foetuses), alongside the knowledge that it can be absorbed through the skin; merely handling a crushed Propecia tablet can spell trouble for a pregnant woman.
Recently Propecia has been causing a stir again, this time because of the links between use of the drug and suffering from debilitating depression, anxiety and sexual problems. What’s more, these symptoms can remain indefinitely after the sufferer discontinues use of the drug.
Dr Irwin Goldstein, president of the Institute of Sexual Medication has commented on the issue, suggesting that instances of these side effects may be far more prolific than studies have shown, due to the reluctance of many men to come forward and admit to experiencing them.
To us at New Image Clinics, using chemicals and taking medication to combat hair loss has never been an acceptable course of action. This is just another black mark on the long track record. Far more effective are the kinds of non-surgical transplants and hair replacement systems we offer. Get in touch today for side-effect free hair restoration.
By Fred Berry
