The FDA has cleared for sale a laser comb for use at home. MEGAN SCOTT discusses it with hair loss experts.
Former NBA star Karl Malone sports a bald pate. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)
No shame in his game. Football star Matt Hasselbeck sports a receding hair line with pride. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
The HairMax LaserComb's manufacturers say its low-level lasers promote hair growth. (AP Photo/HO/Courtesy of KMR Communications)
Most women are not trying to follow Sinead O'Connor's lead. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)
Could a high-tech comb equipped with lasers help cure hair loss?
That's the claim of the company that makes the HairMax LaserComb, which was cleared for sale last week for the promotion of hair growth in men by the Food and Drug Administration. When the comb is raked through the hair, a low-level laser strikes the scalp, stimulating hair follicles, says its manufacturer, Lexington International.
David Michaels, the company's managing director, said the device -- which sells on the Web for $545 -- will regrow hair in bald spots and increase the fullness of hair in places where it's thinning.
"It's incredible the amount of feedback and positive user testimonials we have received about the LaserComb," says Michaels. "We really believe there is new founded hope for the millions of people suffering from the misery of losing their hair."
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I'M LOSING MY HAIR
Losing your hair can be a devastating thing. Balding men are perceived as older, less attractive, less confident and duller than a man with a full head of hair. And let's face it. Not everyone can sport a bald head like Michael Jordan, Vin Diesel and Bruce Willis.
Lexington expects the product to find a market among the 40 million men and 30 million women in the United States are losing their hair -- including many as young as their early 30s.
Considering only three to five percent of men and seven to 10 percent of women will take action to combat hair loss -- besides shaving their head, it's going to be tough, according to Fraser Clarke, CEO of Hair Club.
Dr. Matt Leavitt, founder and medical director of Medical Hair Restoration, a national chain of surgical hair replacement practices, attributes the low number to the confusing messages about what products work -- the hair vitamins and oils promising longer thicker hair, Propecia and Rogaine, the negative connotations about hair transplants.
But he says people are less willing to live with baldness these days. He says an increasing number of men, besides black males, are shunning baldness and want to grow their hair longer. And while the shaved-head look may suit Britney Spears, don't expect many women to follow her lead.
"I think out of frustration people were choosing to shave their head," he says. "Now these people are coming in and saying, it's an androgynous look because nothing is framing their face. When you take 3 percent of men, it's still a significant number who want to have their hair back and want a good treatment option."
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LASERCOMB TO THE RESCUE?
Lexington claims the LaserComb helps grow and regrow hair for men and even women, though the FDA cleared it only for men.
The company conducted a study and found that 93 percent of men (ages 30 to 60) had an increase in the number of thick hairs, with an average of 19 per square centimeter over a six month period. That's significant, says Leavitt, whose chain also uses the LaserComb.
But Fraser Clarke, CEO for Hair Club, isn't so sure.
Like Rogaine and Propecia, the LaserComb is intended for lifetime use, and studies have shown that people only stick with hair loss products for eight months -- even if they are working. Clarke, who is considering selling the product, says LaserComb, along with Propecia and Rogaine, work better for early stages of hair loss. Most people who are losing their hair don't seek treatment in the beginning.
"On average an individual will recognize they are losing their hair and wait seven years before they act on that hair loss," he says. "The more hair you lose, the more you recognize it, the more concerned you get, the more likely you are going to act on it."
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GROWING HAIR
The LaserComb is not intended to replace Rogaine, Propecia or hair transplants, says Leavitt, whose company uses all three.
"If someone wants to create thick hair in a bald spot, a hair transplant is still going to be the most efficacious -- or a hair piece," he says.
"We're not trying to say this is the only option. We're saying this is a brand-new option for someone who hasn't been willing to try another treatment for their hair loss."
Clarke remains skeptical about how much the LaserComb will help. He says 75 percent of people who are losing their hair and want treatment are in the moderate to severe range. His prediction: people will try Rogaine, then Propecia, then the laser comb, then call Hair Club for hair transplants or a hair replacement system.
"People who try a laser comb now, in five years they are going to end up getting a hair transplant because they are more willing to act on their hair loss," says Clarke. "So this is creating a future market for Hair Club, and that's very positive."
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Find it Online: http://www.hairmax.com
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asap reporter Megan Scott has thick hair and wishes some of it would fall out.
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