Most men and women with thinning hair can do little to reverse the process. For cosmetic purposes, or after hair loss from surgical or drug treatments, many people turn to wigs, hairpieces and hair weaving -- even tattooing to simulate lost eyebrows and eyelashes. Some drugs may slow hair loss, and certain alternative treatments can relieve stress or bolster the health of remaining hair, but until recently no treatment could start hair growth where no hair existed. Rogaine.

T Rogaine sometimes causes regrowth of hair on areas of bald scalp. Rogaine works on hair follicles to reverse miniaturization and can also stimulate new growth. Rogain works best in people just beginning hair loss treatment to bald or who have small hair loss patches. Rogaine is applied to balding spots twice a day and must be continued; hair loss will recur if the application is stopped.

More than half the time hair loss treatment with minoxidila thickens hair and slows progression of hair loss treatment. But it is not usually effective in men who already have extensive male pattern loss. The drug may cause skin irritation. Minoxidil is approved for use in men and women.

Propecia is also used to treat male pattern hair loss. Propecia works by blocking the formation of the hormone, dht, that induces hair loss. Propecia is taken once a day . Propecia isn't recommended in women of child-bearing age for hair loss treatment because it can cause birth defects.

Hormone therapy may be prescribed for certain types of hair loss due to alopecia areata. Antiinflammatory orticosteroids may be applied topically hair loss treatment or injected in the scalp. The treatment may be painful and may cause skin atrophy. Cortisone taken orally may stimulate new hair growth temporarily. Prednisone, another oral steroid, has proven effective for alopecia areata patients.

Hair transplantation involves the transplantation of plugs of skin from parts of the scalp containing hair follicles to bald areas. A patient may need several hundred plugs -- implanted 10 to 60 at a session. The transplanted hair may drop out, but new hair usually begins to grow from the transplanted follicles within several months. Newer hair transplantation procedures called follicular unit hair transplants can transplant one to four hairs, transplanted very close together, for a more natural look.

Scalp reduction tightens the skin of the scalp to move hair from the back and sides of the head toward the crown. Hair transplants ate then done to the remaining bald area at the top of the head. Like hair transplants, does nothing to retard genetic or age-related hair loss.