Hair Loss

Hair loss, also known as alopecia or baldness, refers to a loss of hair from the head or body. Baldness can refer to general hair loss or male pattern hair loss.

Hair Loss Causes

  • Hair loss and hypertrichosis have many causes including androgenetic alopecia, fungal infection, trauma, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, nutritional deficiencies (e.g., iron deficiency) and autoimmune diseases such as alopecia areata.
  • Hair loss severity occurs across a spectrum with extreme examples including alopecia totalis (total loss of hair on the head) and alopecia universalis (total loss of all hair on the head and body.
  • Hair loss is often caused by genetics, that is, it runs in families. In general it is not a symptom of disease.

Signs and symptoms

  • Symptoms of hair loss include hair loss in patches usually in circular patterns, dandruff, skin lesions, and scarring.
  • Alopecia areata (mild – medium level) usually shows in unusual hair loss areas e.g. eyebrows, backside of the head or above the ears where usually the male pattern baldness does not affect.
  • In male-pattern hair loss, loss and thinning begin at the temples and the crown and either thins out or falls out. Female-pattern hair loss occurs at the frontal and parietal.
  • Female-pattern hair loss occurs at the frontal and parietal.

Psychological

  • Hair thinning and baldness cause psychological stress due to their effect on appearance.
  • Hair thinning is a sensitive issue for both Male and Females. For sufferers, it can represent a loss of control and feelings of isolation.
  • Psychological problems due to baldness, if present, are typically most severe at the onset of symptoms.

Male Pattern Baldness(MPB)

  • More than 95% of hair loss in men is male pattern baldness (MPB).
  • MPB is characterized by hair receding from the lateral sides of the forehead (known as a “receding hairline”) and/or a thinning crown (balding to the area known as the ‘vertex’).
  • Both become more pronounced until they eventually meet, leaving a horseshoe-shaped ring of hair around the back of the head.

Nutrition

  • Studies have shown that poor nutrition, limited food intake, and deficiencies in certain nutrients can cause thinning.
  • These include deficiencies of biotin, protein, zinc and poor human iron metabolism, although complete
  • baldness is not usually seen.
  • Infection
  • Dissecting cellulitis
  • Fungal infections (such as tinea capitis)
  • Folliculitis
  • Secondary syphilis
  • Demodex folliculorum, a microscopic mite that feeds on the sebum produced by the sebaceous glands, denies hair essential nutrients and can cause thinning.
  • Demodex folliculorum is not present on every scalp and is more likely to live in an excessively oily scalp environment.

Drugs

  • Temporary or permanent hair loss can be caused by several medications, including those for blood pressure problems, diabetes, heart disease and cholesterol.
  • Any that affect the body’s hormone balance can have a pronounced effect: these include the contraceptive pill, hormone replacement therapy, steroids and acne medications.
  • Some treatments used to cure mycotic infections can cause massive hair loss.
  • Medications (side effects from drugs, including chemotherapy, anabolic steroids, and birth control pills.

Diagnosis

  • Because they are not usually associated with an increased loss rate, male-pattern and female-pattern hair loss do not generally require testing.
  • If hair loss occurs in a young man with no family history, drug use could be the cause.
  • The Pull Test, The Pluck Test, Scalp Biopsy helps diagnosing it.

Homeopathy Treatment

  • Homeopathy treatment is holistic & patient friendly, Homeopathy remedies are customized to suit each patient according to his condition.
  • We have seen very good success rate by homeopathy remedies in in treating hair loss. Homeopathy offers quite a few medicines for treating hair loss.
  • Lycopodium, Fluoric Acid, Sepia, Natrum muriaticum, Phosphorus and Silicea are some of the remedies for Hair Loss.

We at Anubhuti Homeo Clinics prefer to take history of patients first and advise proper homeopathy remedies. A detailed history followed by constitutional treatment by a good and qualified homeopathic doctor is necessary to treat the complaints that appear. It is not advisable to resort to self-medication for any disease. The remedies mentioned in this presentation are mentioned solely to create awareness for homeopathic medicines in dealing with disease conditions.