 You’re feeling a little thin on top of your head. Your hair is disappearing faster than your dollars at the gas pump. You're not alone. An estimated 40 million American men have male pattern baldness.
 The average scalp has around 100,000 hairs – every day, you lose about 100 of them. Usually, a new hair begins growing in the place where the old one fell out. But in men with male pattern baldness, the hair follicles – tiny holes in the skin of your scalp – start to shrink. Eventually, the follicle gets too small. New hair stops growing.
Hair loss is permanent, and some men these days seem to be comfortable with having a sleek top like Michael Jordan. But if you’re not and you’re tired of wearing a baseball cap to cover your head, you may have some options – and they don’t include having to adopt your Uncle Phil’s classic comb over. Just be aware that hair loss solutions typically fit the individual, not the whole hair-loss club.
MedicationThe man who can’t look in the mirror without a grimace can take medication. He has two options: minoxidil (Rogaine) and finasteride (Propecia) are both approved to treat male patterned baldness.
 Minoxidil, originally used to treat high blood pressure, is a lotion you rub into your scalp. This drug may stimulate hair growth by 20 percent and may significantly slow the rate of hair loss. (Women can use it too, by the way.) You have to apply this drug twice a day for four months, however, before expecting any results, so don’t throw away that ball cap (if you use one now) the minute you massage in your first dosage. Stop using minoxidil, moreover, and you start losing hair again.
Finasteride, once used to treat an enlarged prostate, is a pill you pop to halt hair loss. The only oral medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for male pattern baldness, finasteride stops your body from making a hormone that contributes to male pattern baldness. (Sorry, ladies, this one’s not approved for you.) About half of men who take this drug have increased hair growth in a year. Stop taking it, however, and hair loss picks up where it left off. (Back to the ball cap…or the comb over?)
This medicine is generally more effective than minoxidil. Some men who take this drug, however, experience sexual dysfunction. If you’re an Olympic athlete, or an aspiring one, you can forget about taking finasteride. The World Anti-Doping Agency banned the drug in 2004 because it can hide the use of illegal steroids.
Covering it upIf medicine’s not your thing – and who wants to be banned from the Olympics for trying to improve their appearance – you can try covering your bald spot.
Hair weaving is one method of disguising your hair loss. These nets of human or manufactured hair are sewn or braided into your existing hair. They’re usually the least expensive and safest treatment for male pattern baldness, but they don’t work well for some types of hair, particularly that of Caucasians.
You could try a wig – sorry, guys, a hairpiece. Today’s "hair systems," as they’re also known, are a little more sophisticated than the ones you probably made fun of your Uncle Phil wearing when you were a kid. Some use mesh fabrics to give you a natural-looking hairline, but they don’t last for long so you’ll have to go back to the shop for more work. Other hairpieces are made from polymers like silicone. While they’re less expensive than mesh toupees, these solutions can be uncomfortable and – here’s what you’ll remember about Uncle Phil’s hairpiece experiment – you still shouldn’t use the phrase "natural appearance" too casually with them. Suturing of hairpieces to the scalp, in case you were wondering, is not recommended, as it can cause scars, infections, and abscesses.
 Hair transplants are another option. In this procedure, a surgeon removes tiny plugs of hair from one part of your head – usually the back or the sides – and implants them in the balding spot. As with most things, however, there are certain caveats. For one, if you don’t have a lot of hair in your bald area, the results might not be as thick and appealing as you’d think. In addition, hair transplantation can cause some scarring and skin infection in the donor areas. The procedure usually requires multiple transplantation sessions and may be expensive. Your "new" hair, however, is permanent, so you can throw away the ball cap – if you’re satisfied with the results. (The FDA has banned the use of hair implants made of artificial fibers due to the high rate of infection.)
As for sprays and lotions that promise to thicken your own hair, "as seen on TV," well, you may want to take these products with a grain of salt. It’s your money, and your head, but, before you go down that road, you may find yourself better off with Uncle Phil’s comb over.
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