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	Dr. Alan J. Bauman, MD

Dr. Alan J. Bauman is the Founder, Medical Director and Chief Surgeon of the Bauman Medical Group, P.A. located in Wharfside at Boca Pointe in Boca Raton, Florida. His practice is dedicated exclusively to treating male and female pattern hair loss. Dr. Bauman uses state-of-the-art medical and surgical techniques to help his patients maintain and/or restore their scalp hair.

	Question Asked By

Derick
2005-12-05

	Question Topic

Tanning salons and Hair Loss

	Question

I hope this does not strike you as a silly question but i would like to know. If you are a male suffering from MPB, will going to a tanning salon speed up or cause any additional hair loss? I ask because there have been studies that show that there is radiation in tanning beds, and of course radiation, as is chemotherapy, is known to cause hair loss. Any input would be great! Derick

	Answer

Thankfully, there is no correlation between tanning salons and hair loss. FYI, "radiation" is a general term for many forms of energy--some dangerous, some safe. The entire electromagnetic spectrum (visible and non visible) can be considered radiation. The 'danger' of radiation has to do with the wavelength of energy. The sun, your flashlight, a hot water heater, waste products from nuclear reactors, an FM radio broadcast tower, an x-ray machine, your microwave oven, your regular oven, lasers, etc. all can produce contain forms of 'radiation.' When most of us here the term 'radiation' we immediately assume "nuclear radiation" which is, of course, dangerous in high doses. Nuclear radiation is dangerous to cells becaus it causes IONIZATION. Ionization of cellular material (like DNA) causes 'errors'--making cells rapidly divide uncontrollably. This is otherwise known as cancer. Also, chemotherapy is NOT radiation, but it does cause hair loss because it targets rapidly dividing cells (like cancer, hair follicles and blood cells). Long-term exposure to sunlight (which contains UV radiation) or a tanning bed (also UV), does increase your risk of skin cancer. Interestingly, high-powered (ionizing) lasers are used to remove hair, but there is some growing evidence that non-ionizing lasers (low level lasers or soft lasers) may actually improve hair growth. That means that certain wavelengths are beneficial for cellular function. The moral of the story (which has gotten a little long-winded, sorry!) is that not all 'radiation' is bad radiation. For a good overview of the 'electromagnetic spectrum' visit http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/emspectrum.html Regarding your hair loss, the critical step would be to consider treatment with Propecia--the standard-of-care for male pattern hair loss. Without Propecia, hair transplantation would likely be necessary to improve the coverage in the balding or thinning areas. Let me know if you have any questions. Sincerely, Dr. B. doctorb@baumanmedical.com

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