Will a Single Medication Ever Permanently Cure Hair Loss? The “Tablet Theory”

This question comes from a member of our Hair Loss Social Community and Social Network:

Obviously, the rapid evolution of minimally invasive hair restoration solutions (such as stem cell hair loss therapies, injectable hair loss solutions, et cetera) is very promising, but I’m wondering if we will ever see permanent hair restoration via a single medication (tablet) or procedure?

I don’t know if the “tablet theory” (i.e. take a single tablet and cure your ailment) will ever be true for any complex medical condition, but this does not mean we won’t see some “miracle” treatments in our lifetime.

All discussions about highly debilitating conditions (AIDS, Cancer, MS) aside, I personally think baldness is too unique and complex of a condition to ever be “cured” with a single therapy. However, I definitely think we’re going to evolve and invent to a point where a combination of treatments and therapies will allow for an non-invasive, satisfying reversal of genetic hair loss.

In my opinion, I think we’ll probably progress somewhere along the following lines:

1. An injectable hair loss solution that helps regrow around 15-20% of lost/miniaturized hairs. I feel like this will be somewhere along the lines of the current reversal seen with Rogaine (minoxidil) and Propecia (finasteride), but without the need to stay on the medications for the same duration of time. Frankly, I believe this therapy is probably the furthest away.

2. A large number of practitioners offering reliable “Hair Regeneration” techniques. What I mean by this is a large number of physicians offering treatment involving partial follicular unit extraction and implantation with regrowth of terminal follicles in both the balding scalp and donor region (people often refer to this treatment as creating an “infinite donor supply”). We’re already starting to see this via hair duplication (Autocloning) using ACell.

3. I believe traditional methods of hair transplantation (follicular unit transplantation and follicular unit extraction) and non-surgical hair loss treatments will continue advancing.

I think this variety of options will create two scenarios: 1. minimally invasive methods for partial hair restoration (i.e. only undergoing injections or a single “hair regeneration” procedure); 2. near complete restoration via combination therapy (i.e. undergoing partial regrowth via injections and then restoring the rest of the hair (especially areas that require more control and planned density – e.g. hairline) with hair regeneration).

Remember, this is just my opinion. Additionally, I do believe that utilizing current methods – such as Propecia/Rogaine in combination with surgical hair transplantation, does allow for very satisfying restoration and should be investigated by all hair loss sufferers.

However, I do remain cautiously optimistic toward future therapies and the restoration potential when combining these treatments.
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Blake Bloxham – formerly “Future_HT_Doc”

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