The terms hair loss medication and hair loss drug are not necessarily synonymous. While most of think of prescription drugs when we think of hair loss medication, any agent used to treat hair loss can be considered a hair loss medication and some of these are among the best treatments available to you.

As you may have gathered from the number of bald and balding men you encounter in day to day life, male hair loss is a common and natural occurrence. Effective treatments for this condition can also be derived from nature. Before getting into the method of a natural hair loss medication vs. a hair loss drug; it is important to understand exactly why [link]male pattern [link]baldness[/link][/link] occurs. Nearly all men carry the baldness gene, if only as a recessive gene. About twenty five percent will begin experience thinning hair and hair loss by the age of thirty; about two thirds will by the age of sixty because of a buildup of a hormone called DHT, which is a super concentrated form of testosterone. It binds itself to hair follicles in the scalp and "chokes the life out of hair" to put it simply.

The hair loss drug Finasteride, sold as Propecia, works by actually lowering the amount of testosterone in your body. As you can imagine, a hair loss medication of this type has many negative side effects. These can be a swelling of the prostate, lack of sex drive, erectile dysfunction and testicular pain. Nonsexual side effects can also result in itching hives, and swelling of the face. Pregnant women should not handle the hair loss drug and limiting exposure to it is highly recommended because of the possibility of birth defects. Like the side effects of most pharmaceuticals that are approved for use the majority of men do not experience all of these side effects; though they have been known to persist long after use of the hair loss medication, and this is an unacceptable risk to many men.

Herbal hair loss medications rarely have such side effects, and are much milder. They also have a surprisingly high success rate, which is due to the most common two active ingredients: Saw Palmetto and Nettle Root. These work to remove the DHT from your scalp without significantly upsetting hormonal balance. Most Natural hair loss medications also contain vitamins and proteins to encourage stronger, faster hair growth. These come in both supplement form and topical creams and ointments, though the topical methods of delivery can occasionally cause irritation to the area it is applied. This is why my recommendation is not just to look into herbal hair loss medications instead of pharmaceutical hair loss drugs, but also to go with a supplement rather than an ointment, cream or shampoo.

Propecia is a trademark of Merck & Co.