Laser Therapy For Hair Loss Low-level laser therapy is a safe type of light/heat therapy under review for a range of health indications. It is used to treat the hereditary forms of hair loss typical to men and women, androgenetic alopecia or trait balding. Low-level laser treatment is also pointed to as red light therapy, cold laser therapy, soft laser treatment, big increase, and photobiomodulation.
Pattern’s Balding
Although men generally have a distinctive alopecia pattern including hairline recession and vertex balding, women commonly have diffuse hair thinning over the top of their scalps. To both men and women, losing their hair is a traumatic experience. The established care standard for trend balding is minoxidil and finasteride therapy, with hair transplantation as a surgical alternative. However, low-level laser therapy for hair loss is now being marketed as a safe replacement or supplemental therapy.
Low-level Laser Treatment for Pattern Balding
Laser therapy used to treat hair loss relies on instruments that emit light that can reach the scalp. Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) uses diode-emitting instruments with red light (630-670 nanometer wavelength) or infrared radiation, available as:
- In-room hoods or overhead screens
- Helmets or head helmets
- Mobile computers.
The iRestore Hair Growth Device, with diode red lights and infrared laser, was introduced by the FDA in 2016. It is ahead cap suggested to encourage hair development in females with androgenetic alopecia with Ludwig-Savin I-II classifications, males with Norwood-Hamilton lla-V classifications, and for all Fitzpatrick I-IV skin phototype classifications.
What are the Best Candidates for Low-level Laser Hair Loss Therapy?
Low-level laser treatment is designed for men and women with thinning hair or pattern baldness due to genetic disorders. Physicists use a method known as Norwood-Hamilton Classification (men) and Ludwig-Savin Scale (women) to describe the degree of hair loss. Low-level laser treatment is intended to stimulate hair growth in males with Norwood Hamilton IIa to V designation and females with Ludwig (Savin) I-4, II-1, II-2, or frontal hair loss variations and Fitzpatrick skin phototypes I to IV.
How is Laser Hair Treatment Going to Work?
The hair growth cycle consists of three phases: growth (anagen phase), relaxing (telogen phase), and shedding (catagen step). Hair deficiency in androgenetic alopecia relies on a testosterone derivative of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the skin. Low-level laser therapy is believed to enhance the flow of blood in the scalp and promote the metabolism of catagen or telogen follicles, resulting in the formation of anagen fur. Theoretically:
- Light photons act on cytochrome C oxidase contributing to the formation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This is converted to cyclic AMP in hair follicle cells, which releases energy and activates the metabolic processes required for hair development.
- The release of nitric oxide from the cells contributes to increased vascularization of the scalp, which distributes nutrients and oxygen to the roots of the hair.
- Undue build-up of DHT is avoided.
What is the Scientific Proof That Laser Hair Therapy is Effective?
Physicians have different opinions as to whether low-level laser therapy is successful or not. While some doctors fully oppose its application, others agree that low-level laser therapy can help some men and women suffering from androgen alopecia (genetic baldness). It has also been proposed that it can aid the postoperative wound healing process of a hair transplant patient and improve hair growth.
- The findings of a double-blind, placebo treatment-controlled, randomized multicentre study found that 110 male patients with Norwood-Hamilton IIa-V androgenic alopecia had substantially higher mean terminal hair density relative to subjects in the placebo treatment community after 26 weeks of laser light comb therapy (p<0.0001).
- Macro scalp images were taken of all participants at the beginning and end of the experiment, and advanced hair counting software was used to calculate the number of natural hairs that formed as a result of the use of each unit.
- Hair growth in subjects using laser therapy increased by an average of 19 normal-sized hairs per square centimeter, while it decreased by an average of 7 normal-sized hairs per square centimeter in subjects using a placebo.
- As a consequence of this proof of primary efficacy, substantial increases in average hair growth was shown in the subjective evaluation of patients (p<0,015) at 26 weeks above baseline.
- Treated participants have experienced more desirable hair qualities, such as smoother, shinier, and more manageable hair, compared to those using the placebo system.
- No statistical progress on the global investigator appraisal has been observed.
- Similar research findings have been published in double-blind, randomized research in women with androgen alopecia.
A second study of 103 males and 122 females with a pattern of alopecia, which concluded the study, recorded an improvement in terminal hair density relative to comparable subjects administered with a placebo unit. However, reported trials of low-level laser light have been criticized for not being unbiased, and anecdotal individual accounts of the use of these instruments tend to be disappointing.
Laser Treatment Effects for Hair Loss
- Low-level laser treatment should be used in both men and women.
- No adverse reactions have been recorded
- Clean and painless.
- Low-level laser hair treatment is relatively affordable
- Needs a minimum time investment
- Certain low-level laser therapy systems are compact
- Hair development can occur at the top of the head/crown and along the hairline of the forehead.
Improvement is recorded in at least some users after 12 to 26 weeks of use, with decreased hair loss and visible hair growth.
How is Low-level Laser Hair Therapy Administered?
Laser hair therapy can be done in the salon by practitioners skilled in its administration or at home. Usually, two or three weekly therapies are recommended and consist of an 8 or 15-minute exposure of the scalp to light-emitting diodes under a filter or filter or with a handheld comb or brush. In addition, scalp and blood circulation-promoting massages can be used as part of the program. Low-level laser therapy practitioners talk about the importance of regularity, which involves repeated visits (twice a week, more or less) for a long period of time ( usually one year).
Warnings and Cautions
Laser therapy should not be used concomitantly with drugs or products that are photosensitizing (see photosensitivity caused by the drug).