Since Samson lost his Biblical strength when Delilah cut his hair off (c.1200 B.C.), our hair follicles have helped define the way that men perceive and present themselves. Hair provides a frame in which our face is viewed, and is one of the easiest aspects of our features to modify. The length, color, and style of our hair helps project our personality to the world and how we see ourselves. Hair loss is an involuntary change in our appearance, which prompts the anxiety often associated with it.

Androgenic alopecia, or male pattern hair loss, is the gradual shortening of each follicle's hair cycle, so that the follicle thins, loses color, and becomes more "wispy." It affects 30% of men by age 30, and 50% of men by age 50, although the speed and extent of hair loss varies for each man. Still unknown is why male pattern hair loss affects the crown and frontal scalp's hair, while largely sparing the back and sides.

We still don't know precisely how the hormones and genes that cause male pattern hair loss operate on the hair follicle. Although new advances in biotechnology continually come closer to a fuller understanding of androgenic alopecia, which will facilitate more effective and preventative treatments; until then, state of the art hair transplantation allows men to maintain or restore a natural appearing frame of hair around our face.