Society places great emphasis on the presence of hair. Some degree of hair loss is accepted as a normal part of the aging process, in line with the observation that more than 50% of men will develop androgenetic alopecia by the age of 50 years. However, it is possible to understand the psychosocial isolation and distress felt by men with a strong familial predisposition to androgenetic alopecia, who tend to display hair loss in their late teens or twenties. There are currently two drugs which have been licensed for the treatment of male androgenetic alopecia: oral finasteride and topical minoxidil solution which are effective to some extent. Furthermore, upon discontinuing treatment, any gain that has been achieved is quickly lost. Added to which there is an entire market of unproven over the counter products: advertised in the electronic media, local hair salons, and various departmental stores. In this review, we highlight the important advances in the management of male androgenetic alopecia with emphasis on approaches that can lead to more successful and long-term hair restoration for young adults. In particular, we discuss the evidence supporting the use of the follicular unit grafting technique in conjunction with medical treatment before and after the procedure. Moreover, some other alterations of this most popular state of the art hair restoration technique have been mentioned briefly. As a result, patients and physicians seem equally satisfied from this procedure for its naturally looking results which are cosmetically more acceptable and esthetically pleasing for longer period of time.
Keywords: androgenetic alopecia; follicular unit graft; hair loss; hair transplant; male pattern alopecia.
© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.