Hair loss is often labelled a guy problem, but in fact it hits both genders.

Up to half of all men, and 40 per cent of women, suffer from hair loss in their lifetime.

Now a remedy might be as close as the nearest pharmacy thanks to Dr Brown’s Laboratories, a line of hair restoration products created by physician Kyjuan Brown.

“The prescription-based formulas have been available to my patients since about 2015,” said Dr Brown, who runs Northshore Medical & Aesthetics Centre in Pembroke. “But in 2018 I started reformulating.”

He wanted to release his formulas to be sold over the counter so that more people could be helped with hair loss.

Alopecia — hair loss — runs in his own family. At 37, his hairline started receding and his crown thinning.

Rather than let nature take its course, he turned to his own creations, Dr Brown’s Hair Growth Formula, and Dr Brown’s Shampoo Additive.

“Now it is starting to grow back nicely,” he said. He’s even receiving a few compliments on his hair.

And customers have flooded him with their own hair-growth successes, thanks to his products.

Back in dermatology school, he learnt how to diagnose hair-loss problems, but not a lot about treating them.

When he returned home to practise his patients often wanted to know how they could grow hair again.

“Some of the treatments we were doing at that time weren’t working,” he said. “It was more topical injections, and sometimes some oral medications. Patients weren’t tolerating the medications or the pain from the injections.”

Wanting to learn more, he took a course with well-respected hair-restoration specialist Alan Bauman of Boca Raton, Florida. He learnt a lot, but noticed that the majority of Dr Bauman’s patients were white.

Back in Bermuda, he took to the lab to come up with hair-growth products better suited to his patients.

“Hair textures are different,” he said. “Some hair needs oil and some doesn’t. I had to develop a product that was unique for our patients because our demographic was considerably different from where I trained. That started this whole process.”

His work won him the Professor Hywel Williams Research Prize for the most outstanding research paper which showed the greatest relevance to dermatology and medical hair restoration, at the 2015 Caribbean Dermatology Association conference.

He was stunned when he heard his name called for the award.

“From that experience, which was humbling, I realised a little boy from the back of town that went to CedarBridge Academy can actually produce something of international reputation,” he said.

“That gave me confidence to say if I can do that, what else can I do? That is my message to people period. I am a big advocate on speaking to young adults and people to say, the world is your oyster you can accomplish your dreams if you put your mind to it.”

But his four products, which also include Retinol A Serum and Vitamin C Serum, are only for mild to moderate hair loss.

“You have to be realistic,” Dr Brown said. “We have other products and services that we offer those patients who have more severe hair loss. This is great for those women who are losing their edges from perms, weaves or extensions. It is great for those young men and women suffering from male and female-pattern baldness where they are having mild to moderate hair loss.”

He said there are many causes of hair loss from pulling out braids and extensions, to scarring and autoimmune diseases like lupus, but most often, alopecia in men and women is caused by hormonal changes that cause destruction and miniaturisation of the hair.

Dr Brown’s topical formulas try to block the hormonal process behind hair loss.

His formula contains 5 per cent minoxidil which has been FDA approved for hair restoration and growth for male and female-pattern baldness.

“Then it has 12 other herbs and nutrients that has synergistic properties,” he said.

And so far his hair restoration line is doing really well.

“It is flying off the shelves,” he said. “People are seeing the results in a very short amount of time — within a month to two months — that something is growing where there really wasn’t any hair growth.”

Dr Brown’s Laboratories products are available at the Phoenix Store, People’s Pharmacy, Caesars Pharmacy and shampoo additive is available in many salons. The products retail from $35 to $40.