Androgenetic alopecia is progressive. Follicles miniaturise gradually — producing finer, shorter, less pigmented hair — before they stop producing altogether. The window where treatment can do something useful is while miniaturisation is still under way.
Key Facts
- 1540 nm — non-ablative fractional erbium glass wavelength used for hair regrowth
- 300 µm lens — the lens used across the published protocol
- 8.4–10.8 mJ — energy range, titrated to tolerance across sessions
- 0.6 mm — spacing distance between microbeams
- 4-week intervals — spacing between the two published sessions
- 1 cm beyond — treatment boundary planned past the visible area of loss
- 20 minutes — topical anaesthesia before commencement
- Norwood & Ludwig scales — used to stage male and female pattern loss
- Autologous — Regenera Activa uses your own scalp tissue, not donor material
Staging comes before treatment selection
Male pattern loss is staged on the Norwood scale, female pattern loss on the Ludwig scale. They are different presentations: male loss typically follows temporal recession and vertex thinning, while female loss is more often diffuse with a widening central part.
This is not a formality. A diffuse pattern with preserved density at the hairline points somewhere different from advanced vertex loss with visible scalp, and the treatments that suit each differ accordingly.
A laser does not create follicles that are gone. It works on follicles that are still there but underperforming.
1540 nm non-ablative fractional laser
Dr Sin Yong published a case study in PRIME Journal (November/December 2023) on the use of a Secret 1540 nm non-ablative fractional erbium glass laser for hair regrowth in androgenetic alopecia.
The protocol treated a male patient with Fitzpatrick skin type IV across two sessions at four-week intervals. Topical anaesthesia was applied for 20 minutes; the treatment boundary was planned 1 cm beyond the visible area of reduced hair. The first session used a 300 µm lens at 8.4 mJ with 0.6 mm spacing across two passes, with an additional 10.8 mJ pass over more affected areas. The second session raised energy to 9.6 mJ on the same lens and spacing.
The reported outcome was an improvement in hair density of approximately 10% after two sessions, with mild erythema as the treatment endpoint and no side effects at one-month follow-up.
Read that figure carefully. It is a single-patient case study, not a controlled trial, and the author states plainly that treatment protocols still require standardisation — irradiance time and level have to be set per device. It is an early finding worth knowing, not a promised result.
Why a laser affects hair at all
The proposed mechanism is that 1540 nm micro-trauma behaves similarly to microneedling, stimulating angiogenesis as a postulated pathway to improving androgenetic alopecia, and likely upregulating proteins involved in hair synthesis. Improved blood supply to a miniaturising follicle is the plausible route by which a laser influences hair rather than skin.
The same wavelength is used for acne, skin texture and scarring, which is a useful reminder that what changes is the parameter set, not the machine.
Regenera Activa — autologous micrografting
A small sample of your own scalp tissue is taken and mechanically processed to obtain progenitor cells and growth factors, which are then reintroduced into thinning areas. Because the material is autologous — your own tissue — no foreign substance is introduced.
This addresses a different part of the problem from laser. Laser works on perfusion and signalling around follicles that remain; micrografting reintroduces cellular material. They are frequently discussed together for that reason. See our Regenera Activa page for detail.
H2LT laser therapy
Hair Hyperstimulation Laser Therapy is a lower-intensity, longer-course approach used as maintenance and adjunct rather than as a single intervention. Details are on the H2LT page.
Where medication fits
Oral finasteride and topical minoxidil remain the conventional pharmacological options. The PRIME case study notes that laser and light therapy have a role in the treatment armamentarium, particularly for patients averse to the side effects of conventional oral finasteride and topical minoxidil.
That is the honest framing: energy-based treatment is an alternative route for patients who cannot or prefer not to take these medications, not a demonstrated replacement for them. See our medications page and male and female pattern pages.
Why hair loss is assessed, not guessed
Two people with visibly similar thinning can have entirely different underlying causes. Androgenetic alopecia is the most common, but diffuse shedding also follows illness, rapid weight loss, iron deficiency, thyroid dysfunction and the postpartum period — and telogen effluvium from those causes often resolves without any procedural treatment at all.
Treating a temporary shedding phase as though it were pattern loss means paying for a course of treatment that the body was going to resolve regardless. Establishing which process is actually occurring is the first useful step, and it is a clinical question rather than a cosmetic one.
Why combinations are common
Each approach acts on a different part of the problem. Laser influences perfusion and signalling around follicles that remain. Autologous micrografting reintroduces cellular material. Medication acts on the hormonal driver of miniaturisation. Low-level light therapy maintains between more intensive sessions.
Because these mechanisms are distinct rather than competing, a plan frequently uses more than one — not to sell more treatment, but because no single route addresses perfusion, cellular signalling and hormonal drive simultaneously. Where one contributor clearly dominates, a single approach is the more sensible plan.
Timeline and realistic expectation
Hair grows in cycles, and any treatment that works does so by influencing follicles through those cycles rather than by producing an immediate change. This is why assessment intervals are measured in months, and why photographs taken under consistent lighting and framing matter more than day-to-day impressions in the mirror.
In the published 1540 nm case, post-treatment photography was taken four weeks after the final session, with the vertex view compared at the three-month mark. That interval reflects the biology rather than a scheduling preference.
What none of this does
No energy device, micrograft or medication regrows hair from a follicle that is gone. Once a follicle has fully involuted, the options are transplantation or acceptance. A treatment plan built on the assumption that dormant follicles will return when they have already been lost will disappoint, however well executed.
An assessment that concludes the viable window has closed in a given area is a legitimate and useful result.
References
- Yong S. Secret 1540 nm erbium glass laser treatment for hair regrowth in androgenetic alopecia. PRIME Journal, November/December 2023, p.46. prime-journal.com
Staging and follicle viability are established at an in-person assessment before any treatment is recommended.
Book My AppointmentFrequently Asked Questions
Options that do not rely on oral or topical drugs include autologous micrografting (Regenera Activa), non-ablative fractional 1540nm erbium glass laser, and low-level laser therapy. Suitability depends on the pattern and stage of loss established at assessment.
Published case work using a 1540nm non-ablative fractional erbium glass laser reported an improvement in hair density of approximately 10% after two sessions in a single patient. That is a small case study, not a large trial, and it should be read as an early finding rather than a guaranteed outcome.
An autologous micrografting procedure. A small sample of your own scalp tissue is processed to obtain progenitor cells and growth factors, which are reintroduced to the thinning area. Because the material is your own, there is no foreign substance involved.
Female pattern loss typically presents as diffuse thinning with a widening part, while male pattern loss more often follows a recession and vertex pattern described by the Norwood scale. The distinction matters because it changes which treatments are appropriate.
Not as a rule. Laser and light therapy are described in the published literature as part of the treatment armamentarium, particularly for patients averse to the side effects of conventional oral finasteride and topical minoxidil. Whether it is appropriate in place of, or alongside, medication is a clinical decision.
This depends on the pattern, stage and response. The published 1540nm case used two sessions at four-week intervals, with the author noting that further improvement could be achieved with increased sessions.
Topical anaesthesia is applied before laser treatment. In the published case the patient described a light prickly sensation that resolved within a few hours, with mild erythema as the treatment endpoint.
Androgenetic alopecia is a progressive condition. Treatments manage and slow it rather than cure it, so maintenance is generally part of any realistic plan.