How Is It Treated
How you choose to treat your hair loss depends on the cause. It also depends on your feelings. You may decide that you need treatment, or you may not be worried about thinning hair or baldness. The choice is up to you.
If hair loss is caused by something that won’t last or can be treated, your hair is likely to grow back. For example, if an underactive thyroid is causing the problem, taking thyroid medicine may help. And most hair lost during chemotherapy will grow back after the treatment ends.
Hair loss that runs in the family can be treated with medicines or hair transplant surgery. Some people choose to wear hairpieces, like wigs or toupees . Finding different ways of styling your hair, like dyeing or combing, also can help.
If hair loss is caused by something you can control, like stress or medicines, you can treat it by getting rid of the cause.
When you are deciding about treatment, think about these questions:
- Which treatment is most likely to work?
- How long will it take?
- Will it last?
- What are the side effects and other risks?
- How much will it cost, and will insurance cover it?
How To Stop Hair Loss And Regrow Hair
If a cold shiver runs down your spine before combing your hair because youre afraid that a lot of hair will get caught in the brush again, you shouldnt lose your nerve right away, too. The loss of 100 hairs per day is completely normal and not yet a symptom of hair loss that you should worry about.
Nevertheless, women in particular fear hair loss. After all, beautiful, full hair stands for health and attractiveness. The fact is: hair does not grow endlessly after a certain, genetically determined time, it is automatically lost. After that, the hair root rests for a short time before forming a new hair again.
When Should You Call Your Doctor
- Your hair loss is sudden, rather than gradual.
- You notice hair shedding in large amounts after combing or brushing, or if your hair becomes thinner or falls out.
- You are concerned that a medicine may be causing your hair loss.
- Your skin is scaly or has a rash, or you have any change on your skin or scalp with hair loss.
- Your hair is gradually thinning and balding, and you want to discuss treatment options with your doctor.
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How To Stop Hair Loss: Do Natural Treatments Work
This article was co-authored by Lisa Bryant, ND. Dr. Lisa Bryant is Licensed Naturopathic Physician and natural medicine expert based in Portland, Oregon. She earned a Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon and completed her residency in Naturopathic Family Medicine there in 2014.There are 16 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 37 testimonials and 87% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 1,738,343 times.
Hair loss can be a frustrating and embarrassing experience, and you definitely arent alone if youre looking for a solution. You may have heard about all kinds of natural ways to stimulate hair growth. Some of these may work, especially if you have any nutrient deficiencies, so you can try them for yourself. However, if these steps dont work, then your hair loss may be genetic. Genetic hair loss usually follows a particular pattern, like starting at the temples or forehead and moving back.XResearch source You usually can’t treat genetic hair loss at home, but luckily, you still have options! Visit a dermatologist to talk about your medical options for re-growing your hair.
Hair Loss Cure For Men In 2020 No But There Are Options
Medically reviewed by Kristin Hall, FNP
Dealing with hair loss can be a stressful, challenging experience. Its also a very common one, especially for men in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
Research indicates that up to 50 percent of men experience some form of androgenic alopecia by the time they reach 50 years old.
Unfortunately, although some interesting developments appear to be on the horizon, theres no cure for male pattern baldness at the moment. This means that if youre prone to hair loss, you cant take a magic pill to stop it forever .
With this said, there are several effective treatments available today that can help you stop hair loss, maintain the hair you have and, in some cases, even grow back some or all of the hair that youve lost so far.
These treatments arent miracles, and there are limits on what they can do. However, scientific studies show that they do work and that they may be a solution if youre losing your hair.
Currently, some of the most popularly used hair loss treatments are finasteride, minoxidil and topical ketoconazole shampoo, each of which targets hair loss from a slightly different angle. Below, weve explained how these treatments work, as well as how you can use them to stop hair loss for good.
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Children 10 Years Of Age And Younger
Alopecia areata often begins during childhood. If your child has difficulty coping with the hair loss, treatment can often help regrow hair.
Treatment options for children 10 years of age and younger are:
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Corticosteroid you apply to the bald spots: Prescription-strength corticosteroids can help regrow hair. You apply this medication once or twice a day. For children, this alone can be an effective treatment.
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Minoxidil: Also known by the brand name Rogaine®, minoxidil can help maintain the regrowth after you stop applying the corticosteroid. It has few side effects, so its considered a good option for children.
For children older than 10 years of age, treatment options are based on the amount of hair loss.
Other Concerns With Hair Loss
Treating the cause often stops hair loss, and hair grows back. In some cases, other treatment is needed.
Hair care for cancer treatment
Hair loss caused by cancer treatment requires special care: Use mild shampoos. Do not use a hair-dryer.
Alopecia areata
Alopecia areata occurs when the immune system attacks hair follicles, where hair growth begins. Because hair often grows back within a year, you may decide not to have treatment. Understanding the come-and-go nature of hair loss with this condition can help you make the best treatment decision. Children and teenagers may need counselling to help them adjust to the hair loss.
Medicines, such as corticosteroids, can be used to treat alopecia areata.
Women taking birth control pills
Women with inherited hair loss who wish to take birth control pills should use a pill type that does not add to hair loss, such as a norgestimate or desogestrel.footnote 2
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Be Gentle With Your Locks
Try to be as gentle as possible when brushing or styling your hair. Constantly twisting, twirling, or pulling your hair tight can lead to hair loss.
If youre worried about hair loss, you may want to avoid the following:
- tight hairstyles, such as pigtails, cornrows, braids, and buns
- hot oil treatments
- chemicals used in perms and hair straightening treatments
- hot curling irons or straightening irons
- bleaching your hair
If you must use chemicals or bleach in your hair, seek help from a trained professional. Dont try to do it yourself at home.
Natural Herbs To Regrow Hair
One of the most common hair loss causes is DHT. This is a hormone that has been proven to lead to thinning hair in many people. The only way to combat this is through herbs. Studies have shown that Saw Palmetto, Biotin, Pumpkin Seed, and Muira Pauma are some of the most potent hair loss fighters.
You can find these herbs at almost any health food store. Simply take a look at your ingredients list and see if any of them are DHT inhibitors. One in particular, Muira Pauma, blocks DHT by up to 40%. Its definitely worth taking a look at. Another one is Saw Palmetto, which blocks a different type of testosterone that causes the DHT to be produced. Its pretty cool stuff.
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The Hair Transplantation Procedure
In hair transplantation, pieces of hair-bearing scalp are taken from the sides and back of the head and re-planted in holes in the bald area.
As we mentioned earlier, hair transplantation involves removing small pieces of hair-bearing scalp from a donor site and relocating them to holes or slits in a bald or thinning area, usually on the top of the scalp. Modern techniques in hair grafting is performed by many physicians and in many clinics throughout the world. No new hair is added during this procedure — hair and skin are simply relocated. Grafts vary in size and shape:
- Punch grafts – Round grafts that usually contain about 10 to 15 hairs
- Mini-grafts – Much smaller grafts containing 2 to 4 hairs
- Micro-graft – Tiny grafts containing 1 to 2 hairs
- Slit grafts – Thin grafts that contain about 4 to 10 hairs each
- Strip grafts – Long, thin grafts containing 30 to 40 hairs
Several surgical sessions may be needed to achieve more fullness, and a healing interval of several months is usually recommended between sessions. It may take up to two years before you see the final results of the transplant series.
The amount of coverage you need is partly dependent on the color and texture of your hair. Coarse, gray or light-colored hair offers better coverage than fine, dark-colored hair. The number of large plugs transplanted in the first session varies with each individual, but the average is about 50. For mini-grafts or micro-grafts, the number can be up to 700 per session .
Genetics And Hereditary Traits
Genes play a large role in determining how much our hair will thin as we age. If you want to get a good idea of how your hair may change over time, just look at your parents. If you have a genetic predisposition to thin hair, a reduction in hair volume can occur as soon as you hit puberty. For those with little or no genetic predisposition, hair thinning can be much milder.
The most common cause of hair loss, Androgenic alopecia, is hereditary and leads to an overall reduction in hair volume over time. This genetically determined type of hair loss typically occurs along the top of the head when hair follicles that are overly sensitive to normal levels of androgens become smaller, making hair thinner with each passing hair growth cycle.
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New Treatments For Thinning Hair For Women
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After 20 years of trying every drug, supplement, diet and procedure for hair loss including driving four hours twice a week for laser therapy Lina Telford, a graphic artist, gave up on her comb over and shaved her head. From then on, she alternated between a $1,500 wig and a $4,000 wig.
When you hear people complain about having a bad hair day, you almost cant bear it, she said. Youre like, Honey, you have no idea.
In February, though, Ms. Telford, 46, flew from her home in London, Ontario, to Sarasota, Fla., for a new $1,400 hourlong treatment known as platelet rich plasma , which is said to stimulate dormant hair follicles. The procedure involves drawing blood, spinning it in a centrifuge to extract the plasma, adding various nutrients , then injecting the resulting mixture in one-inch intervals in a grid on the top of the scalp, which has been numbed with a local anesthetic.
Like the long-suffering friend who inspired her to undergo the procedure, Ms. Telford quickly saw an improvement in her hair. New hair growth usually take at least four months, but at the two-month mark, she has already spotted some baby hairs. Not a gazillion, she said, but its a start. Shes planning to return for follow-up treatments every six months, and has high hopes of ditching the wigs and wearing her hair in a pixie.
Finasteride, better known by the brand name Propecia, is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for women.
Genetics Underlying Male Pattern Baldness
A study led by the University Edinburgh in the United Kingdom discovered 287 genetic regions involved in male pattern baldness. Many of the genes that the researchers identified were linked with hair structure and development.
We identified hundreds of new genetic signals, said Saskia Hagenaars, a Ph.D. student from the University of Edinburghs Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology. It was interesting to find that many of the genetics signals for male pattern baldness came from the X chromosome, which men inherit from their mothers.
Not only could the teams findings help to predict a mans likelihood of experiencing severe hair loss, but they could also provide new targets for drug developments to treat baldness.
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Common Hair Replacement Procedures
Hair Grafting or Hair Transplant
Hair grafting — also called a hair transplant — is an outpatient hair replacement procedure performed in the dermatological surgeon’s office. Micro grafts contain only one to two hairs per graft, while slit grafts contain between four and ten, and punch grafts hold 10-15 hairs. Also available are mini-grafts and strip grafts . Local anesthetic is injected into the scalp and sedation is available if needed for relaxation and comfort.
What Happens During and After Hair Grafting?
In hair grafting, the dermatological surgeon first removes a portion of the hair-bearing scalp from the back of the head. Then, the surgeon cuts the removed scalp into small segments with varying amounts of hair in each graft, which, when transplanted into the balding area, produce a very subtle thickening and “natural” look.
With each session, 50 or more hair-bearing segments are usually transplanted. “Donor” sites are closed with stitches, which usually are then concealed by the surrounding hair. After the grafting session is complete, the scalp will be cleaned then covered with gauze and, if necessary, a bandage. Stitches will come out approximately 10 days later.
How Long Does Hair Grafting Take?
Several sessions may be needed to achieve satisfactory “fullness.” After each session, a healing process of two to four months is usually recommended.
Will There Be Any Discomfort or Side Effects With Hair Grafting?
- Swelling
Shampoos For Hair Loss
Shampoos that moisturize the scalp can create a healthy environment for hair regrowth. Anti-dandruff shampoos like Head & Shoulders and Dove Dermacare Scalp contain zinc pyrithione , an ingredient that removes dead skin cells that could be preventing growth. Plus, all of that itching and scratching from a dry scalp can lead to excess shedding.
Whats more, hair thinning can also stem from a hormone called DHT . DHT signals hairs to shrink and become vellus hairs , says Caroling Chang, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at Rhode Island Hospital and member of the Prevention Medical Review Board. It does this by changing the hair cycles and causing a shortening of the growth phase and increase in the resting phase, she explains. In this case, consider a DHT-blocking shampoo like Alterna Haircare.
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