Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Efficiently Dealing with Female Hair Loss

Time is vital when dealing with hair loss. Natural hair loss products provide an all-natural solution that can be good for everyone who is dealing with any type of hair loss. When taking care of your hair, it is imperative to work with professionals. By choosing to conduct your treatment with professionals, you are guaranteed results. Now it can be confusing and overwhelming when attempting to figure out whom to consult for the treatment of your hair. What natural hair loss treatment does is it gives you the full head of hair that you need. Natural treatments also give the results of natural hair regrowth.

Female hair loss is one thing that many people cope with. It is not enjoyable to be losing hair. Some people lose hair and feel that it is very harmful to them. Losing hair can be a result of multiple reasons. Getting older and dealing with losing hair can be challenging. Now there is a proved solution that can solve hair loss problems. Few are apt to try all the different kinds of treatment available. Nor should people have to try different kinds to understand which one suits those best. A great approach that is an all-natural solution is available. This solution solves female hair thinning. Female hair loss can now be dealt with efficiently. Female hair thinning used to be a problem that required a variety of different remedies. The negative side to all the different kinds of remedies is the fact that they’re time consuming.

With hair loss products formulated with plant extracts—saw palmetto, rosemary, nettle, fennel, and the like—a healthy stimulation of dormant hair follicles can be achieved. In turn, a healthy scalp and natural hair regrowth can be observed by the hair loss sufferer. There are various shampoos, conditioners, topical creams and serums that contain saw palmetto extracts and procyanidin oligomers, which are key ingredients of growth-stimulating hair care products.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Oral, Topical, and Laser Treatments for Baldness

Hair loss is not a condition that’s gender specific. It has the ability to affect both men and women. In fact, a quarter of the women population in the United States is suffering from hair loss. While balding and hair loss may seem acceptable with men, for women the case is totally opposite. Hair loss and balding in women can affect a person’s entire life in a negative manner. It can lead to reduced self-esteem and confidence, interfering with work and social life.

To alleviate this condition, the sole permanent solution is hair transplantation and it can be performed on women too. Hair transplantation surgery is now used not only to plant hairs on the head but also in areas like the eyebrows and sideburns.

Once you visit a hair care specialist, he or she will first perform an examination on you to determine whether you suffer from any reversible medical conditions which cause hair loss. If found such conditions will be treated and the hair loss problem will be eliminated. However, if the surgeon finds out that your condition is non-reversible, then he or she will direct you to consider other medical options like hair transplantation, finasteride, minoxidil, and low level light therapy.

In the initial stages of the treatment, surgeons normally try out conservative treatments which use oral, topical and light therapy. If a change is not seen, hair transplantation surgery is recommended.

Similar to men, women are also ideal candidates for hair transplantation surgery. This sole permanent solution for hair loss involves a procedure which starts with the extraction of hair from the back of the head of the patient. Individual hair grafts from this extraction are then transplanted into the areas where hair is missing. In contrast to men, women who undergo this procedure need fewer amounts of grafts for successful results. Attractions of hair transplantation comes from the fact that it is an in-office procedure spanning a few hours, causing very little pain and discomfort.

Minoxidil is another hair loss medication used by surgeons today. This is an FDA-approved topical hair loss medication which can stimulate and make hair grow. Although results start to appear after a few months, it has been found out by researches that twice daily intake of this medication for around four months has resulted in 62% decrease in hair loss. Hence, if the patient is compliant enough and motivated, the results from minoxidil are highly possible.

Finasteride is an FDA-approved orally taken pill. This medication is given to act on the chemical (dihydrotestosterone) which is responsible for causing hair loss. Similar to minoxidil, the results from this medication are seen after about six months. One of the major drawbacks of this pill is that it can cause various sexual side effects.

Lastly, low light therapy can be used to treat baldness as well. Similar to finasteride and minoxidil, this treatment option takes around six months to provide tangible and visible results.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Natural Hair Loss Remedies: The Top Choice for Women

According to research, more and more women are choosing to use natural hair loss remedies; whether as their main remedy for the condition, or as a supplement to other forms of treatment. Natural remedies include dietary supplements, herbs and aromatherapy.

The use of natural hair loss remedies for women is spreading amongst ladies who are facing the dilemma. According to research and clinical studies, many ladies are reporting success in pursuing natural remedies for female loss of hair.

In a society that values outward appearance, the sight of a thinning hair or balding patches is often considered an embarrassment. It is no surprise that ladies want to seek out the best female hair loss treatment choices available. Natural hair loss remedies for women have been practiced for centuries, and many of them are able to address the root cause of the loss rather than superficial symptoms.

It is not true that you have to be old to have your strands fall out. Women can be prone to losing strands for several reasons. In particular there is a clear link between hormone levels during the menopause and the lack of estrogen. The deficiency in the production of estrogen causes the testosterone levels to rise and this is one of the main causes for baldness in women.

Whatever a sufferer’s choice or preference may be, it is encouraged to get a professional diagnosis and guidance from a licensed healthcare professional before committing to any treatment plan. This is because every woman’s body is different, and the patient should be confident that her choice of remedies will be helpful and not give rise to other unwanted side effects.

Sometimes the natural thinning hair remedies for women can be as simple as a slight change to a woman’s diet. Pharmacies and health food store employees may be able to provide customers with advice on the best herbal products and supplements that are recommended for a particular condition.

Missing meals and eating the wrong types of foods can lead to a lack of the essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients required to keep the body and scalp healthy. This is often coupled with stress that could mean the level of personal care falls. Foods that contain the correct mix of nutrients and essential vitamins, such as oily fish that contains Omega 3 helps to maintain healthy scalp and follicles.

Emotional well-being can be maintained and can cope with some level of stress. When the stress becomes too much to deal with and is persistent, hair loss can be one of the symptoms. Stress can be effectively controlled by learning to relax. The use of oils in aromatherapy is a good indicator of the effectiveness of using herbs and plant extracts in essential oils.

There are hundreds of styling products available on the market. Knowing which ones to choose can be difficult, so it is always best to check the contents on the product label. Many of the products contain chemicals that can have an adverse effect on an individual that would be unlikely to occur with natural and herbal products. The tools used to style hair can dry it out and using natural products offers a degree of protection and helps to stimulate growth.

Treatments for cancer can often cause baldness. Unfortunately, this is often an unavoidable side effect with this type of treatment. During and after their treatment, patients can help to stimulate and encourage hair regrowth by using natural hair loss remedies for female hair loss.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Stem Cells: A Major Breakthrough in Hair Loss Studies

When you see large amounts of hair daily in your comb or brush, you may become distressed. Androgenetic alopecia or male pattern baldness is the primary cause of hair loss in men. In male pattern baldness, hair follicles shrink until no more hairs are produced. A new study is giving hope to men with androgenetic alopecia. Researchers were surprised to find that the shrunken follicles of a balding scalp contain just as many live stem cells as normal hair follicles. Cells, derived from these stem cells, called progenitor cells, however, were severely reduced in the bald hair follicles. These results suggest that if the stem cells within hair follicles of balding scalps can be awakened or activated to produce progenitor cells, hair loss can be reversed.

Hair Growth Cycle

Hair grows out from the hair follicles in repeated cycles. Each cycle is made up of distinct stages: the anagen, catagen, and telogen phase. The anagen phase is the active or growing phase; it can last for two to six years. About 85 percent of all hairs are in this phase at any one time. When the anagen phase ends, the catagen or transitional phase begins and lasts about one to three weeks. During the catagen phase, the hair follicle shrinks and the lower part is destroyed. The resting or telogen phase follows the catagen phase and lasts for one to four months. During this period, the hair does not grow, but stays attached to the follicle. About 10 to 15 percent of scalp hairs are in this phase at any one time. At the end of the telogen phase, the hair is shed and hair follicles go back to the anagen or growth phase and a new hair is produced. In men with androgenetic alopecia, more and more hair follicles fail to reenter the anagen phase.

Stem Cells

When a hair follicle produces a new pair, the stem cells within the follicle start to divide and generate progenitor cells. Progenitor cells produce the new hair. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, used scalp samples from men undergoing hair transplants and analyzed the stem cells in hair follicles from bald scalp regions and normal scalp regions.

Surprisingly, the numbers of stem cells in both bald and normal scalp were similar. However, bald follicles had greatly reduced numbers of progenitor cells. The researchers confirmed that progenitor cells could grow hair in a nude mouse model. They injected mouse progenitor cells into the skin of nude mice. These mice are immunodeficient and are characterized by lack of hair growth. The mouse progenitor cell successfully formed hair follicles in these mice. The researchers write, “These results suggest that loss of progenitor cells, but not stem cells, contribute to male pattern baldness” (Garza, L.A. et al.).

Implications

Although androgens, testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, play a role in male pattern baldness, little is known about the cellular basis for androgenetic alopecia. This study shows that the absence or reduction of hair follicle progenitor cells or the inability of hair follicle stem cells to produce progenitor cells is the cause of male pattern baldness. The good news is that the hair follicles of balding men are alive and well. Now new strategies to activate these stem cells can be explored. Although the researchers have not looked at the scalps of women with androgenetic alopecia, a similar situation may exist.