Laser Treatment for hair loss

[LovingBeingAMummy]

Hi all. For the last few years I hve been experiencing hair loss. I have taken various vitamin supplements which have helped but in the end the hair keeps on falling out. Now the hair on the top of my hair is thin and i can see the scalp.
I had a private consultation with a laser treatment company. It was truly shocking to see ho much scalp is visible on the top compared to the back of my head. I actually feel really tearful about it.
Anyway they suggest 6-8 month laser course at £1500. I don't have this money which makes me even more tearful.
I could take out a loan ... or should i learn to live with it? Help me please mums and dads. Have you had this treatment? do you know of anything that can help?
Comments much appreciated.
PS: hope i am posting in the right section. Not usre if this is a health problem for you, but it is for me.

[topsi]

I have never heard of a laser treatment for hair loss, I know a bit about lasers for hair removal!
I would save your money and maybe spend it on a consultation with a hair loss specialist.
I would just research lots and lots before parting with that kind of money.
Have you spoken to your GP they may be able to refere you to someone on the NHS.

[LovingBeingAMummy]

thanks for your reply.
i have googled this so much and the laser treatment option seems a viable option.
My GP gave me a book on stress - don't hink this helps regrowth just loss.

[ellaeleven]

Have you had blood tests for hormone levels, thyroid, iron etc? Do you have any new hairs growing on the top of your head? It sounds like it may be androgenetic alopecia. I think I may have this and it is very common among women. For this you can try minoxidil which you can get on prescription. If you get regrowth you have to stick with it but apparently it works for alot of people. If you actually look around in supermarkets, wherever, there are so many women over 30ish with thining hair. If you have alot of hairloss on a daily basis though you may be suffering from a telegon effluvium which is hairloss triggered by something, an operation, childbirth, low iron or stress. There is a lasercomb which is about £250 and it has a money back guarantee if it doesnt work within 20 weeks. You are supposed to see results within 16 weeks at the latest. In the meantime you could try a new hairstyle, fringe, and there are cover ups like tiny fibres which make your hair look thicker. Good luck, I know it can be upsetting when your hair is falling out but there are lots of ways to conceal and treat without spending a fortune.

[merrywidow]

the clinics offering the treatment at that price are ripping you off. you can buy a laser comb and do it yourself at home for probably less than a couple of hundred though I am doubtful as to the efficiency of laser treatment for hairloss anayway. Get yourself to a trichologist either on referral from you GP or use the institute of trichologists website to find one in your area. Do not do the laser course!

[PopeBenedict]

Please think very hard before you do this. I have had alopecia areata for most of my life, and if this is the cause of your hairloss it is really quite likely that the laser treatment will NOT help.

This auto-immune condition comes and goes seemingly at random, with a very slow cycle of regrowth when bouts come to an end. This makes it very easy for NON-effective treatements to claim success for an improvement that is just part of the ebb and flow of the condition.

It is a relatively poorly understood condition that specialist doctors can't often help with. This breeds conditions in which lots of desperate people look for cures elsewhere and there is a whole industry of ineffective treatment. Not necessarily dishonest people, but certainly poorly evidenced treatments.

£1500 is such a lot of money to gamble on something that I think might well not help.

[PopeBenedict]

(I know it might be something you find hard to countenance, but you could get more than one really top quality wig for less money than that.)

[LovingBeingAMummy]

Thanks for the replies. I had a long with a friend who is 15 years older but suffered from AA since 20. She told me to stick to vitamins and to not be taken in by the clinic's hard sell. I went back to GP today for blood tests as last ones were last year. Doubt they will show anything different but periods have become heavier so maybe anemia??

PopeBenedict I have noticed that there are many with thinning hair around. Why can#t someone invent a cure?????????

Already thought about wig - what about hair extensions? My problem is top of my head - is this the same for you?

Also the GP won#t refer to trichologist but will look one up online.

[merrywidow]

Don't have hairextensions they will put more stress on your hair and cause more loss, in fact anybody that suggests you permanenetly attach any hair replacement product to your hair to fill it out so that it gives your hair time to rest and add volume at the same time is not telling the truth - ANYTHING attached permanently will pull out your hair, cause friction underneath and cause you more hairloss. Be very careful.

[LovingBeingAMummy]

i went for the blood tests today.
i am taking nourkrin, could i take folic acid too?

will try anything that doesn't cost too much money. but orried about mixing tablets etc.
do you kno if ok to take both? thanks for the suggestion.

[LovingBeingAMummy]

thanks Shine - i will ask for this when i call next week for the blood test results.
i am keeping my fingers that something as simple as folic may help me.