Hair Loss Prevention -Hair Loss Prevention Tips You Need To Know To Get Your Hair Growth Back on Track
Hair loss prevention requires taking a proactive change in lifestyle in order to save your hair. The loss of hair can be a distressing and humiliating experience and you may feel helpless. Fortunately, there are actions you can take to ensure the prevention of losing your hair.
This article will discuss some of the most common causes of hair loss, the effect of diet on hair loss, hair loss prevention products, and natural supplements for hair loss.
Contents at a Glance
Common Causes of Hair Loss
In order to treat thinning hair or hair loss, you have to understand the underlying cause of the condition. There are many reasons why you may experience hair loss, including hereditary genes, stress, hormone imbalance, scalp infections, illnesses, and pregnancy. Some medical conditions such as ringworm, fungal infections and hypothyroidism can contribute to hair loss. In addition to medical conditions, some medications such as blood thinners, gout medication, birth control pills and excessive vitamin A can cause sudden or abnormal hair loss. Crash diets, hormonal changes and/or imbalances, chemotherapy, and radiation can all contribute to hair loss as well.
Another way in which individuals experience hair loss is due to mechanical stressors on the hair and scalp. Wearing tight braids, ponytails, cornrows or rollers that pulls the hair can scar the scalp and cause permanent hair loss. Hair products such as hot oil treatments and chemical dyes, perms and relaxers can cause inflammation to the hair follicles which can also lead to scarring and hair loss.
How To Prevent Hair Loss With Diet
Unless hereditary, hair loss may be an indication of an imbalance in your body. Eliminating high fat, sodium and sugary junk foods with nutritionally dense whole foods can assist with slowing down hair loss.
Eating more protein can assist with preventing hair loss since protein is one of the main ingredients in which our hair is made up of. Eliminating or greatly reducing processed sugar and carbohydrates can reduce your blood sugar, which in turn will help reduce hair loss.
Eat whole foods that contain iron and silica. Iron is important to combat anemia which is a leading cause of hair loss, and silica helps strengthen the hair follicles and re-grow hair. Green leafy vegetables, cherries, eggs, fruit, and whole grain cereals are rich in iron. Raw oats are rich in silica.
Most importantly, limit sugary and caffeinated drinks and increase your water intake. Sodas and juices with caffeine can cause additional stress on your adrenal glands because they reduce the amount of vitamins B, C, zinc, potassium, and folic acid. The over-working of the adrenals can create a testosterone imbalance that can increase your prostate growth and contribute to hair loss.
Hair Loss Prevention Products
Although there are many products on the market that claim miraculous hair loss prevention results, there are only two FDA-approved ingredients: minoxidil and finasteride. These two products have not only proven to be effective in hair loss prevention, but also helps re-grow any lost hair. The drawback of using these products is that you must continue to use these products regularly for an indefinite period of time; otherwise you may experience hair loss again.
Minoxidil 5% is the only FDA approved topical ingredient clinically shown to help re-grow your own natural hair. It works as a blood vessel dilator and has anti-androgen properties. The most popular hair loss products that contain minoxidil are Rogaine® and Provillus. Rogaine® is a topical treatment that comes in form of a topical solution or foam. Provillus is a two part system that uses both a monoxidil topical treatment and herbal capsule supplements. Both products instruct to use twice a day. It is important to note that even though these products work immediately, it takes an average of four months to see visible results.
Finasteride (brand name Propecia®) is an oral medication for male pattern hair loss. Finasteride's effects in slowing hair loss and stimulating new hair growth work best for early to moderate degrees of hair loss.
Less expensive alternatives to minoxdil and finasteride treatments are hair loss shampoos and conditioners. Products such as Nisim and Nioxin work by neutralizing DHT on the scalp (DHT is the most common cause of hair loss).
Preventing Hair Loss-Natural Supplements
If you find that using conventional hair loss treatments too costly, or if you’re suffering from side effects, you may want to try using natural herbal supplements. There are no guarantees that these remedies may work, but it’s worth a try if you are sensitive to chemicals.
In addition to eating a healthy diet, several natural herbs are known to be very good in the prevention and treatment of hair loss. In most cases, these herbs are inexpensive, don’t cause harmful side effects and are relatively safe. Some common herbs used for hair loss include:
- Aloe Vera- The leaves of this plant produce a gel substance that is well-known for calming irritated, itchy, and burned skin. Aloe Vera also promotes scalp health by cleansing the pores and balancing the scalp’s natural ph.
- Burdock- Contains phytosterols and essential fatty acids which help strengthen hair, and increase its shine and body. This herb is especially helpful for reversing hair thinning caused by alopecia. It is also known to reverse itching and alleviate dandruff.
- Capsicum- The main ingredient found in hot chili peppers, this herb is great for stimulating hair growth. It improves and accelerates blood flow to the scalp, and protects the hair follicles from the effects of DHT.
- Dong Quai- This traditional Chinese herb contains phytoestrogens which prevent and reduce the formation of DHT. This herb is also believed to have the ability to re-grow hair.
- Ginger – This herb is rich in fatty acids which help to thicken the hair shaft. Ginger also has circulatory agents that help stimulate the hair follicle growth cycle.
- Nettles- Rich in vitamins A and C, which assists with inhibiting DHT production and promotes hair growth.
- Rosemary- Increases blood circulation and helps to remove accumulated sebum and dandruff from the scalp.
- Saw Palmetto- contains free fatty acids and phytosterols, which effectively blocks the formation of DHT and inhibits the enzyme 5-alpha reductase that contributes to androgenetic alopecia.
For best results, it’s best to consult with a professional natural health care practitioner who can evaluate your condition and recommend herbal combinations and doses.
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Comments
very good suggestion
Simply a great article on hair loss, it is very beautifully presented and the ease of language used simply is amazing. A must read article for all people looking for useful information on controlling hair loss.
This is a very interesting article. There are some great supplements and products on the market such as propecia and the laser comb and other products. They are all very good at preventing hair loss, but most of these programs are lifetime plans. Once you stop using the products, your hair will continue to fall out at the normal rate. For more information visit
www.greathairtransplants.com
Very interesting piece. What are they ways in which you can consume Dong Quai?
If it's possible to get raw dong guai and other herbs to boil chicken soup, the nutritious value of the soup will provide nourishment for the whole family
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