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Tea as a Natural Hair Treatment for Hair Loss

May 7th, 2012 Kimberly Cambell

Hair growth pills, lotions, creams, and shampoos abound the market today. Yet, as many as these conventional hair treatments for hair loss are herbs that can do the same in halting hair loss and restoring hair.

Those that prefer the organic treatments are certainly lucky that nature has already prepared a menu for them. The main problem, however, is that herbs lack scientific attention, albeit the fact that they are indeed effective, if not more effective compared to conventional treatments.

Use any of the following herbs and make a tea. Drink three cups daily to improve hair growth and minimize hair loss.

  1. Nettles and oat straw can be used together to slow down hair loss and stimulate hair growth. Nettle contains beta-sitosterol, an anti-androgenic substance while oat straw is a good source of calcium and B-vitamins. These compounds are essential for hair to grow and undergo proper cycling.
  2. Burdock root is a nutritional herb that basically acts as a blood purifier and detoxifier. For this, it is a good hair treatment for hair loss. It helps break up fatty deposits and toxic wastes that can interrupt with essential bodily functions, including hair growth.
  3. Horsetail is high in silica and selenium content, making it very beneficial for the hair follicles, hair shafts, and scalp. Other nutrients that make horsetail a natural hair treatment for hair loss include flavonoids, alkaloids, sterols, and fatty acids. These substances make horsetail also good at preventing dandruff, regulating sebum production, and treating scalp infections such as fungal diseases.
  4. Often used in aromatherapy, rosemary improves the blood circulation to the scalp, thus stimulating hair growth in the process. It is rich in natural antioxidants (rosmarinic acid, carnosic acid, rosmanol, epirosmanol, carnosol) which are known to help regenerate blood vessels.
  5. Licorice root is an excellent DHT inhibitor. DHT is the chemical derivative of testosterone that primarily causes common baldness in men. Besides a hair treatment for hair loss, licorice soothes inflammation, improves hair growth, and treats other scalp problems like dandruff.
hair loss treatment for women

Natural Hair Loss Treatment for Women with Blonde Hair

April 30th, 2012 Kimberly Cambell

Strange as it seems but people with blonde hair are likely becoming extinct. From models to politicians, blonde-haired people appeal in so many ways to a certain crowd.

Culturally, it has become an object of envy, attraction, racial superiority, seduction, as well as intellectual simplicity—the reason they become a butt of jokes.

Little do we know that blonde hair just joined the list of endangered species. The celebrities we have grown to love and hate like Marilyn Monroe, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, and Paris Hilton are actually fakes.

As much as how our eyes deceive us, a German study showed that the “truly natural blondes” are becoming extinct because blonde hair is caused by a recessive gene. It said that the truly natural blonde-haired women would come from Finland because it has the highest proportion of biologically female blondes.

Hair Loss in Blondes

However, whether fake or natural, people with blonde hair are prone to hair loss one way or another. Constant bleaching, for one, can cause hair loss. The formation of dihydrotestosterone or the sudden drop of estrogen levels can cause hair loss. Factors such as stress, contraceptive pills, crash diets, and severe illnesses all cause hair loss.

Chamomile and Lemon Hair Care

Besides the conventional techniques of treating hair loss, there is a natural hair loss treatment for women with blonde hair. This is the combination of chamomile and lemon extracts.

Chamomile is a low-growing plant, which is native to India, Europe, and Asia. It has delicate leaves with daisy-like flower heads with a hollow and yellow conical center. It has an aromatic odor. Its oil is blue in color.

Chamomile has natural anti-inflammatory (i.e., apigenin), antispasmodic, antibacterial, and antifungal compounds. Aside from being useful in a hair loss treatment for women who are blondes, it is a popular ingredient of some skin creams and cleansers. Chamomile is especially good for blonde hair. In fact, chamomile shampoos have been directed towards enhancing blonde hair.

Lemon is also another blonde hair enhancer. Its juice is rich in citric acid, phosphorous, vitamins B and A, and antioxidants that help fight dandruff, improve circulation, and especially functions as a hair loss treatment for women with blonde hair. It also provides blonde hair extra body and shine.

hair growth treatments

5 Powerful Hair Growth Treatments: What to Do When You Are Balding

April 23rd, 2012 Kimberly Cambell

Until scientists find a cure for baldness, balding men have no options but (1) to simply embrace their baldness; (2) at least give it a fight by undergoing hair transplantation or by trying creams, shampoos, or pills; and/or (3) just get a good haircut.

Even for a man, baldness is quite disturbing especially wherein the dating life and career could be at stake because it can seriously trim down one’s morale.

A receding hairline, thinning hair, or persistent hair fall—these are just the early signs of alopecia called pattern baldness. If you are beginning to suffer from these signs, then you can set your hopes up for you have a variety of options to restore hair.

Here are powerful hair growth treatments that may be able to assist you further:

  1. Massage your scalp for at least five minutes a day or at least as often as time permits. You can use a good combination of mustard and almond oil for the therapy. Apply, massage, and leave it on for at least 3o minutes—a perfect duration for the oils to penetrate better.
  2. Mix an equal amount of gooseberry and henna powders. Pour a sufficient amount of water so that it could make a thick paste. Store this in a bottle and it can serve as an alternative to your regular shampoo. Do not forget to condition your hair after. Not only do gooseberry and henna soften and add luster to the hair, but they function as effective hair growth treatments as well.
  3. You can also use lemon juice and coconut oil with which to massage your scalp. With 2 parts of coconut oil and 1 part lemon juice, this mixture has all the qualities that feed a gorgeous mane. Apply it on your hair as well and let it stand for at least an hour. Rinse thoroughly.
  4. If you have dandruff, make sure you get rid of them. Dandruff can accelerate hair loss. Mix 4 tbs. of gram flour and 1 tbs. of apple cider vinegar. Add water just enough to make a moderately thick paste. Use this mixture to massage your scalp with and let it stand for at least half an hour. Rinse thoroughly with shampoo.
  5. Finally, be sure to replenish your body’s supply of hair-friendly vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B-complex, biotin, zinc, iron, and copper.

Simple yet powerful, the above-mentioned hair growth treatments can be easily incorporated into a daily regimen to reverse the process of baldness and stimulate hair regrowth instead.

hair loss causes

Hair Loss Causes: Sulfur Deficiency

April 16th, 2012 Kimberly Cambell

One of the common hair loss causes is nutritional deficiency. Often we hear that hair is technically dead. While part of that is true, at the root of each hair shaft is actually a seat of biochemical activity which explains how hair keeps growing about half an inch each month. That said, hair requires essential vitamins and minerals to be able to stay rooted and healthy.

One of the important minerals the hair needs is sulfur. Often called as the “beauty mineral,” sulfur makes up for 0.25% of the total body weight, making it the third most abundant mineral in the body.

Sulfur bonds help maintain the shape of proteins and regulate the biological activity of these proteins. For this reason, sulfur is high in hair and nails, which are basically both made of hard protein called keratin. Therefore, when there is a lack of sulfur, hair loss can ensue. Sulfur does not only give strength to the hair but also add luster and stimulate hair growth by improving blood circulation to the scalp.

Symptoms of Sulfur Deficiency

Sulfur deficiency is one of the common nutrition-related hair loss causes. Along with hair loss, on the other hand, are a series of other symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, dry skin, and thin nails. Thinning, brittle, and dry strands can be apparent along with excessive hair fall.

Dietary Sources of Sulfur

Onions, cabbage, eggs, fish, and protein-rich foods are good sources of sulfur. Sulfur supplements such as methionine and cysteine (sulfur-containing amino acids) may help well since you will be providing your body with the correct dose of the mineral on a regular basis. The general daily recommended dosage for methionine is 250 mg while for cysteine, 100 mg.

Consult Your Doctor

While sulfur deficiency is rare especially in developed countries, thus making it one of the rare hair loss causes, you should immediately consult your doctor if you are suspecting it. A physician should be able to guide you well to the right selection of foods.

hair regrowth and hair loss in children

Keratin Disorder in Children Causes Failed Hair Regrowth

April 3rd, 2012 Kimberly Cambell

Hair does not easily fall or break unless it has underwent severe abuse and neglect. Hair is basically made up of a protein called keratin which gives hair tensile strength. This is why high-quality protein especially contributes to a strong hair and good hair regrowth.

However, there are a lot of factors that can damage the keratin structures in the hair. In rare cases, it is uncontrollable.

Also known as the loose anagen syndrome, loose anagen hair was first coined in 1984. It is a non-inflammatory and non-scarring balding condition mostly affecting children between 2–5 years old with blond hair.

It is characterized by diffuse or patchy loss of anagen hairs of abnormal morphology that are loose but which can easily be plucked from the follicles without pain. Hair becomes thin in the process and mostly affects the back of the scalp. The remaining hair is shorter and can be unmanageable.

Pathophysiology

There is no clear explanation as to how loose anagen syndrome occurs and why it causes such a poor hair regrowth condition. However, there are theories suggesting that it is related to the hair’s anchoring mechanism.

It is believed to be caused by an internal defect of the hair shaft. Specifically, the keratinization of the inner root sheath is said to be abnormal, leaving the hair shaft wrongly anchored within the follicle. By this manner, the anagen (hair growth) phase shortens and eventually ceases as the follicle miniaturizes. This would explain the growth of shorter and thinning hair.

Epidemiology

Loose anagen syndrome is only reported in white people, especially with blond hair. The incidence is unknown, however. Often, it is mistaken for alopecia areata and trichotillomania.

Treatment

Treatment for loose anagen syndrome is currently unavailable however. But while that is the case, hair regrowth usually gets better overtime although if it doesn’t improve on children aged 5 years or older, hair loss may become recurrent.

hair loss causes

On Hair Loss Causes: Protein in the Scalp Inhibits Hair Growth

March 28th, 2012 Kimberly Cambell

Androgenetic alopecia or male pattern baldness is referred to as common male baldness. Of the several potential hair loss causes, the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) plays a dominant role in AGA.

While it is widely accepted that DHT triggers hair loss in the vast majority of cases, a recent study presented an additional discovery—a discovery that could lead to new treatments. According to the study, a certain protein and its derivative in the scalp may be the main cause of male pattern baldness.

Prostaglandin Linked to Androgenetic Alopecia

In the March 21 issue of Science Translational Medicine, a team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania discovered that the protein called prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) plays a role in the occurrence of androgenetic alopecia.

Researchers discovered that, compared with scalp of men with mild AGA, the scalp of men with severe AGA has abnormal levels of PGD2 as well as prostaglandin D2 synthase (PTGDS). Believed to be a major addition to the many hair loss causes, authors describe PGD2 as an inhibitor of hair growth in AGA.

Initially, researchers detected the link while examining the causative factors of AGA in men. They substantiated their claims in mouse models. Under the normal hair growth cycle in mice, the regression or catagen phase was preceded with an increase in PTGDS and PGD2 levels, which the researchers believed to have inhibited hair growth. Hair growth also slowed down when PGD2 was added to cultured hair follicles which eventually miniaturized.

Paving the Way for New Treatments

AGA affects men as young as 25 years old. There is roughly 8 out of 10 Caucasian men who experience AGA before reaching their seventh decade. It is initially characterized by a receding hairline and an open patch on the vertex region. This would gradually progress into a horseshoe-pattern of hair loss.

Today, hair loss treatments abound, depending on the hair loss causes. Fortunately, in the management of AGA, there is a wide variety of options that come in the form of pills, topical solutions, laser therapy, hair transplantation, and herbal medicine.

In this subject matter, researchers indicated that if the protein is removed, men may be able to reverse hair loss and regrow hair but there is no absolute guarantee. Hair loss patients could only cross their fingers that new hair loss products and treatments are narrowed down to address these factors.

hair loss and hair loss treatment

The Different Types of Hair loss and Their Corresponding Hair Loss Treatment

March 17th, 2012 Kimberly Cambell

Each hair loss sufferer has his or her own story to tell. That is because hair loss can be a symptom or a reaction, permanent or temporary. Indeed, causes of hair loss are varied.

What follows are the different forms of hair loss in men and women with the corresponding hair loss treatment:

Telogen Effluvium

A condition to which women are most vulnerable, telogen effluvium is the condition caused by some form of “stressor” (e.g., a post-traumatic stress, a traumatic child delivery, and the like). This stressor compels the hair follicles to prematurely enter the shedding or telogen phase.

Hair loss can occur a few months after the stressful event but is only temporary. The treatment for telogen effluvium depends on the cause. There are also other medications and topical products that may be able to do the job.

Alopecia Areata

Alopecia areata is immediately suspected when the patient suffers from hair loss in smooth and round patches, not only in the scalp but also anywhere in the body (i.e., eyebrows).

Alopecia areata is widely described as an autoimmune disorder wherein the T-cells attack the hair follicles for some uncertain reason. The condition is often chronic and usually affects children.

The common treatments are corticosteroids, immunotherapy, Psoralen and UV-A, and topical minoxidil hair loss treatment.

Androgenetic Alopecia

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a hereditary type of hair loss that accounts for over than 80% of hair loss cases. Men and women are prone to this condition but experience different patterns of balding. In men, it is characterized by a U-shaped pattern whereas in women, it is diffuse.

AGA has always been known to be caused by dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the chemical cousin of testosterone, that blocks the blood flow to the hair follicles.

The most popular treatments for AGA are minoxidil, finasteride (for men only), spironolactone (for women only), low level laser therapy, and surgical hair restoration.

Traction Alopecia

Also called tension or traumatic hair loss, traction alopecia is caused by excessive pulling or tension on the hair through several hairstyling habits and choices. Traction alopecia is often characterized by incomplete hair loss with 1–2cm-short hairs at the perimeter of the affected area.

Anagen Effluvium

Anagen effluvium is often used to refer to hair loss due to chemotherapy. Chemotherapy drugs go into the bloodstream en route to the follicles. Since hair cells in the follicles are also fast-growing like cancer cells, these drugs also kill these cells as well.

Hair loss due to chemotherapy can happen abruptly, usually within the first to third week of treatment. Scalp cooling is often used to reduce the loss of hair.

Trichotillomania

Trichotillomania is a mental disorder in which patients tend to pull their hair, causing hair loss in the process. It is considered a behavioral problem that a cognitive behavioral therapy is the common hair loss treatment.

Alopecia Totalis

Alopecia totalis is the total loss of hair in the scalp. Like alopecia areata, this condition is often suspected to be an autoimmune disorder. Conventional methods of treatments for alopecia totalis include immunomodulation that is basically the use of immune system–related medications.

Alopecia Universalis

A much more serious condition than alopecia totalis, alopecia universalis is the total loss of body hair. Some specialists believe that genetics play a role in the occurrence of this condition. Others also choose to assume that it is similarly autoimmune.

Treatments for alopecia universalis include steroids, immunosuppressive medications, and Psoralen and UV-A.

Related Blogs

    hair loss prevention

    Summer Hair Care Tips to Prevent Hair Loss

    March 12th, 2012 Selene

    Summer is a great time to indulge in the hot weather and soak in the sun. But before getting too excited to get suntanned, you have to be ready for the sun’s harmful UV rays.

    Like your skin, you will need to pamper your hair all the more as it is prone to damage from too much exposure to the heat despite the fact that hair grows fastest during summer.

    Hair damage is usually a precursor to hair loss and hair fall. Prevent hair loss during summer by following some of these tips.

    Wear a stylish hat

    A hat, cap, or a scarf is your hair’s primary protection against the sun’s harmful rays. But avoid wearing one too tight so as not to disrupt proper circulation to the scalp. You can also use a leave-on conditioner before going out.

    A good everyday shampoo

    Both synthetic- and natural-based shampoos are good depending on the type of hair you have. If you have oily hair, you may have to shampoo more often. If you have a dry hair, mild shampoos (containing natural essences such as shea butter) work best.

    Natural-based shampoos that contain lanolin work efficiently as a the perfect cleansing agent. Lanolin reduces the overefficiency of the natural-based shampoos although it doesn’t provide a smoothing or soothing effect.

    Castor and olive oil hair conditioner

    The properties of these oils make them a good everyday moisturizing and deep conditioner. Use these oils before every shampoo, as part of your everyday hair care regimen.

    Brush regularly   

    Brushing regularly is very healthy for the hair. Besides removing dirt, chemical residues, and environmental pollutants, it also improves the circulation to the scalp and stimulates the oil glands. Use a brush with a combination of synthetic and natural bristles especially for a dry hair.

    Keep things in moderation

    Although it is has been proven that hair grows fastest during summer, you must still keep your exposure in moderation. The hair stays fine with moderate exposure to sunshine and fresh air. This holds true with your exposure to salted or chlorinated water. As a general rule, too much exposure can make your hair and scalp dry which is a perfect time for other problems to develop.

    male pattern baldness

    Male Pattern Baldness: How Bad Is Your Hair Loss?

    March 8th, 2012 Selene

    Baldness has a social stigma that continues to mock men’s self-esteem and virility. Pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia is the name for that very common hair loss condition suffered by 40 percent of men in their mid-20s and which remains to affect nearly half of the world’s male adult population.

    Although androgenic alopecia affects women too, pattern baldness in men is more drastic in a way it allows more than 75% of scalp hair to be completely gone, leaving only a smooth, barren target for other people to poke fun at.

    Male pattern baldness (MPB) usually runs in the family. This genetic factor makes the scalp hair follicles sensitive to the build-up of an aggressive androgen metabolite called dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Excessive DHT block the bloodstream that carry food and oxygen to the hair follicles.

    MPB is progressive by nature. The Hamilton-Norwood Scale is the standard scale that classifies seven stages of MPB. The Hamilton-Norwood Scale was initially introduced by Dr. James Hamilton sometime in the 1950s and was later reviewed and modified by Dr. O’Tar Norwood at least two decades later, hence the name.

    Clinical Features: The Hamilton-Norwood Scale

    Type 1

    There aren’t any visible signs of hair loss at all yet. Recession in the frontal hairline is very minimal as well.

    Type 2

    Visible signs of temporal recession is occurring during this stage. This stage is often considered as the earliest stage of male pattern baldness. Typically, the symmetrical recession extend no more than 2 centimeters from the hairline. Beyond the naked eyed, vellus (finer, shorter) hair begin to replace terminal (stronger, thicker) hair in the temporal areas.

    Type 3

    Hair loss is already drastic throughout this stage as temporal recession continues while hair loss in the crown also turns into a visibly small bald patch.

    Type 4

    Hair loss is slowly affecting the mid-scalp as the vertex balding increases, thus leaving a band of averagely dense hair on the top of the head.

    Type 5

    This stage marks a drastic hair loss in the frontal region. Balding has now reached the vertex region where a striking bald patch is very visible.

    Type 6

    Only surgical hair replacement will be viable at this stage. The balding has gone severe. The frontal, mid-scalp, and vertex regions are devoid of hair, leaving a horshoe pattern of hair loss. Only the hair on the back and the sides remain.

    Type 7

    The band of hair in the sides and occiput have gradually became sparse. Total frontal recession has occurred as well as hair loss in the mid-scalp and vertex.

    ancient hairstyles

    Hair Loss Facts: The Importance of Hair, Then and Now

    February 27th, 2012 Selene

    Imagine if humans were born without hair, that growing hair on the head is considered abnormal? That the term “hair” did not even exist at all? Or that there is no solution, permanent or temporary, to remove or hide it? Wouldn’t just this freakish outgrowth incite psychological and social anxiety? True, that is only theoretical. But when it happens to you, anxiety in all forms will be a certainty because you deviate from the definition of being “normal.”

    The point is, this  leaves us fully aware of the social pressures we were introduced to and how we unconsciously succumbed to them. Now they are fully embedded in our system and we cannot simply escape them — because living without hair is the exact opposite of the reality we are living today. How important, then, has hair become?

    Even during the metal ages, people already considered hair an essential structure. Evidences from well-preserved graves suggest that people have a high regard for their physical appearance and hair was their primary instrument to a change in appearance. Their hairstyles were quite refined. Women used braids, hairnets, and ornaments. They also kept their hair at a shoulder length or in a bob. In the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age graves, a hair dress was a common equipment.

    Aside from that, people were very well-groomed. They shaved regularly and braided their hair. Cut it and used tweezers to pluck facial hairs. The evidences also suggest that their hair ornaments were a work of great craftsmanship.

    It’s probably man’s nature to use the hair to imply that beauty and power are of great importance. The hair is elemental in one’s appearance which is why grooming, styling, embellishing, and getting rid of it have always been common practices in all societies. Also, this indicates how hair loss is considered by society to be a worrisome condition.

    Indeed, overtime, hairstyles were a product of the preceding cultures, religion, politics, and various aspects of lifestyles including personal expression, fashion, and sports.  Aside from that, hair was also used to imply social status, identify gender, conceal the signs of aging, and even show nonconformity.

    Today, only the endless possibilities of what we can do to our hair has changed — in fact, evolved. The importance remains the same. Hair is still the same structure in the upper part of our body that can serve as an avenue for personal expression besides the fact that it can gauge a person’s health. The rise of photography and film has put increasing stress on hairstyles and the hair at large, as depicted by the mass media.

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