Hair Loss Got You Worried?
It’s not just men who worry about hair loss. It seems that I hear more and more women mentioning they are concerned because they have began to lose hair volume. There are many reasons that you might have hair loss. Even improper hair care.
Diseases can also result in hair loss and the most common cause is hereditary thinning or baldness. The daily loss, or shedding, is normal when combing or brushing your hair but those whose hair becomes thinner or falls out should consult a dermatologist or your naturopathic doctor for appropriate diagnosis and possible treatment.
Temporary causes for hair loss are as follows:
❖ Improper or excessive use of styling products as perms, dyes, gels, relaxers or
sprays.
❖ Ponytails and braids that pull on the hair.
❖ Combing, brushing, or shampooing too much or too hard.
❖ Thyroid disease and other varieties of diseases.
❖ Major surgery, childbirth, high fever, severe infection, stress or even the flu.
❖ A lack of protein or iron in the diet and eating disorders such as anorexia and
bulimia.
❖ Some prescription drugs include blood thinners, high-dose vitamin A, medicines for arthritis, depression, gout, heart problems and high blood pressure.
❖ The use of birth control pills, usually in women with an inherited tendency.
❖ Hormonal imbalances, which are especially in women.
❖ If there is ringworm of the scalp or contagious fungal infection, most common in
children.
❖ Radiation therapy and chemotherapy used in cancer treatments.
❖ Alopecia areata, which is a type of hair loss that affects all ages and causes hair to fall out in round patches.
The physical symptoms of hair loss can be traumatic for patients and the psychosocial impact is just as severe. Hair loss can create dramatic and devastating emotions in patients and can negatively impact their quality of life and self-esteem. Their body image and self-confidence can negatively be affected as well. Psychosocial complications include depression, low self-esteem, altered self-image, and enjoyable social engagements. This negative quality of life may be worse in women due to societal pressure to be attractive.
A few suggestions for treatment of hair loss are:
❖ Injectable or topical cortisone medications have been shown to accelerate the regrowth in some types of hair loss. Be careful with these. Be sure to ask your
doctor how these medications would affect your liver.
❖ Having your Naturopathic doctor help you with making sure your diet is good. Sometimes we do not realize that we can be malnourished from junk food. Malnutrition may cause hair loss.
❖ Certain supplements such as Biotin have been studied and proven to help hair loss.
❖ Prescriptions for topical or oral estrogen (best if made natural from a compounding pharmacy) have helped some women with hair loss.
❖ A permanent form of hair replacement is transplantation utilizing dermatologic surgery that might benefit men and women.
❖ Another treatment might be restoration surgery. In this procedure, bald scalp is removed (ouch!) and hair-bearing scalp is brought closer together to reduce the balding. In scalp expansion surgery, a physician temporarily inserts devices under the scalp to stretch hair-bearing areas.
Never Underestimate The Power Of The Human Body
It is very important that you love who you are. Do a little research to see which idea would fit you best. Oh by the way, I had a friend who was turning gray quicker than she wanted. She started eating better, no junk food and started taking supplements. I promise you, Margaret’s hair stopped turning gray and the roots grew out her normal color. It was not an overnight thing. It took a few months, but it really worked.
-Dr Fredda Branyon
