One of the most important things to grasp about hair regrowth products is that the majority of them just don’t work.
OK, perhaps that’s a little harsh and should be expressed more correctly as “may not work for you” – but the core message is the same. There is no guaranteed 100% effective treatment for hair loss and many of the products offered for sale have no proven benefit whatsoever in terms of clinical trials.
However, some are generally accepted to work in certain situations – that’s the good news!
What is hair loss?
People can suffer this at just about any age but it becomes much more common in:
• Males in their 30s-40s onwards;
• Females after pregnancy (sometimes during);
• Females in their 50s and upwards (though typically not to the same extent as males);
• Anyone suffering an illness or undergoing some forms of medical treatment including, at times, chemotherapy – and at any age in those circumstances.
What can be done about it?
That depends to some extent upon the cause – and the bad news is that some causes of hair thinning and loss remain poorly understood.
It’s possible to cut directly to the chase here. Some conditions may be understandable and treatable – but the only person likely to be able to diagnose and decide for sure is a physician. So don’t hesitate to consult one rather than sit worrying and trying to self-diagnose.
The basics of hair regrowth products
Hair grows out of hair follicles just below the scalp and the processes involved are relatively well understood.
The follicles go through growth, loss, resting and new growth phases as part of their natural cycle.
For a variety of reasons, not all of which are fully understood, the follicles can start to ‘die’ and no longer produce hair.
Hair regrowth products virtually all claim, directly or indirectly, to have some effect on this process by one or more of:
• Increasing blood and nutrient flows to the follicles thereby increasing their ‘health’;
• Blocking the action of those naturally occurring agents that are known to have a detrimental effect on the hair;
• Stimulating overall body health and well-being with the presumption that somehow that will also lead to reductions in hair loss or increased hair re-growth;
• Reducing the amount of time that the follicle spends in its resting phase before re-commencing hair production.
Regowth and reducing the rate of loss
In the USA, there are currently two products formally licensed as being proven to promote hair regrowth:
• Minoxidil
• Finasteride.
In both cases, it’s important to note that there may be a distinction between being able to slow the rate of hair loss, improve hair regrowth from areas that have become ‘dormant’ and regenerating hair in areas that have become profoundly bald over time.
As a crude and general rule, these treatments may be less effective where the hair loss is severe. They may also, in perhaps 25% of successful use cases, only lead to a fuzzy down-like growth of hair
These treatments may be beneficial to only a proportion of those treated and Finasteride is potentially harmful for fertile females (whether actually pregnant or not).
Other products
Due to the sensitivity of many people to their appearance and the effects on that arising from hair loss, the hair regrowth products market is a global multi-billion dollar industry.
There are now so many different products available (including some that are based upon Minoxidil) that it is virtually impossible to list them all in any one place.
It is probably advisable to retain a degree of healthy skepticism insofar as the efficacy of most of them is concerned. That is not to say that they may not be effective, just that the seller’s claims may be hard to check against objective sources and clinical trials.
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