Get your hair trimmed. It might sound counter-intuitive but getting your hair trimmed will help your hair from breaking off and this will result in your hair growing faster. With time, the strands of hair will begin to split at the ends. These split ends tangle and are more likely to be pulled out when brushed. Keeping your hair trimmed will minimize split ends.[7]

But you must start these medical therapies before you lose all your hair. McAndrews likens it to brushing your teeth, in that both are preventative measures. “The sooner you start doing it, the better at slowing down this aging process,” he explains, adding, “Is toothpaste perfect? No, you’re still getting tooth decay with toothpaste, but you’re slowing down tooth decay.”

And though this treatment appears to be safe and somewhat effective, it’s hard to tell who will react well to this low-level light therapy, which is why the doctors I spoke with were hesitant to fully endorse it. “We’re not sure what the optimal power is, what the optimal wavelength is, we don’t even really know the mechanism of action of how this is working,” says Rieder. Plus, it doesn’t work on everyone. “There are subpopulations of patients who do respond to low-level laser light, but this is not easily predictable,” explains McMichael, though she adds that the risk of using the LaserComb is low.

If a biopsy is required, the most information is gained from horizontal sectioning of the tissue and calculation of the terminal to vellus hair ratio. A ratio of <4:1 is considered diagnostic of FPHL while a ratio of >8:1 is considered diagnostic of CTE. Ratios of 5:1, 6:1, and 7:1 are considered indeterminate. Multiple scalp biopsies reduce the risk of an indeterminate result or of underestimating FPHL. Underestimation of FPHL can occur with a single biopsy as FPHL is a diffuse process and the most common biopsy taken is 4 mm in diameter.

A little farther up the follicle is the mysterious feature called the bulge. That's where follicle stem cells live. When they get the right set of chemical signals, these self-renewing cells divide. They don't divide like normal cells, in which both halves become new cells that keep splitting and developing. Only one half of the follicle stem cell does that. The other half becomes a new stem cell, and stays put for future regeneration.