Hair loss (alopecia) can affect just your scalp or your entire body, and it can be temporary or permanent. People typically lose 50 to 100 hairs a day. This usually isn’t noticeable because new hair is growing in at the same time.
Hair loss occurs when new hair doesn’t replace the hair that has fallen out. It can be either inherited, or a result of hormonal changes, medical conditions or a normal part of aging.
About Hair regrowth
Hair loss can be a side effect of certain drugs, such as those used for cancer, depression, and high blood pressure.
Many people experience a general thinning of hair several months after a physical or emotional shock.
This type of hair loss is temporary. Hereditary hair loss with age is the most common cause of baldness.
Baldness typically refers to excessive hair loss from your scalp.
Anyone can lose hair on their head, but it’s more common in men. Some people prefer to let their hair loss run its course untreated and unhidden.
Others try very hard to cover it up with hairstyles, makeup, hats, or scarves.
Another group of people chooses treatment to prevent further hair loss or restore growth.
It is, however, necessary before pursuing hair loss treatment to talk with your doctor about the cause and your options.
Read: Can Castor Oil Help Hair Regrowth
HAIR LOSS TREATMENT
Hair loss and thinning hair are common problems across all genders. About 50 million men and 30 million women have experienced some kind of hair loss. It’s especially common after reaching age 50 or as a result of stress.
Effective treatments for some types of hair loss are available. There are hundreds of different hair loss treatments with varying levels of reliability and success.
With a different treatment approach, you might be able to reverse hair loss or at least slow it.
Prevention is better than cure! This applies to hair loss as well. Most baldness is caused by genetics (male-pattern baldness and female-pattern baldness).
This type of hair loss is not preventable. However, these tips may help you avoid preventable types of hair loss:
- Be gentle with your hair.
- Ask your doctor about medications and supplements you take that might cause hair loss.
- Stop smoking. Some studies show an association between smoking and baldness in men.
- If you’re being treated with chemotherapy, ask your doctor about a cooling cap. This cap can reduce your risk of losing hair during chemotherapy.
Hair loss can appear in many different ways, depending on what’s causing it. It can come on suddenly or gradually and affect just your scalp or your whole body.
Signs and symptoms of hair loss may include:
- Sudden loosening of hair caused by physical or emotional shock. Handfuls of hair may come out when combing or washing your hair or even after gentle tugging. This type of hair loss usually causes overall hair thinning but is temporary.
- Full-body hair loss is caused by conditions and medical treatments, such as chemotherapy for cancer. It can result in the loss of hair all over your body. The hair usually grows back.
- Gradual thinning on the top of the head is the most common type of hair loss, affecting people as they age. In men, hair often begins to recede at the hairline on the forehead. Women typically have a broadening of the part in their hair. An increasingly common hair loss pattern in older women is a receding hairline (frontal fibrosing alopecia).
- Circular or patchy bald spots. Some people lose hair in circular or patchy bald spots on the scalp, beard, or eyebrows. Your skin may become itchy or painful before the hair falls out.
Treatments for hair loss include but are not limited to medications and surgery.
Medication
If your hair loss is caused by an underlying disease, treatment for that disease will be necessary. If a certain medication is causing hair loss, your doctor may advise you to stop using it for a few months.
Medications are available to treat pattern (hereditary) baldness. The most common options include Minoxidil, Finasteride, spironolactone (Carospir, Aldactone), and oral dutasteride (Avodart).
Hair Transplant Surgery
In the most common type of permanent hair loss, only the top of the head is affected.
Hair transplant, or restoration surgery, can make the most of the hair you have left.
During a hair transplant procedure, a dermatologist or cosmetic surgeon removes hair from a part of the head that has hair and transplants it to a bald spot.
You may need more than one surgery to get the effect you want. Hereditary hair loss will eventually progress despite surgery.
PRP Hair Treatment: How Does It Work?
One of the treatments for hair loss is Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP). PRP is a substance drawn from your blood and injected into your scalp.
It can purportedly help heal bodily tissues, including follicles from which your hairs grow.
PRP is extracted from your blood using a centrifuge-like mechanism.
It separates the substance from your blood and increases the concentration of specific proteins that promote healing; Platelets.
Platelet-rich plasma consists of two elements: plasma or the liquid portion of blood. A platelet is a type of blood cell that plays an important role in healing throughout the body.
Platelets are well-known for their clotting abilities, but they also contain growth factors. It can trigger cell reproduction and stimulate tissue regeneration or healing in the treated area.
Platelet-rich plasma is simply blood that contains more platelets than normal.
This makes PRP potentially usable on its own for the treatment of tendon injuries and osteoarthritis.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections are gaining popularity for a variety of conditions, from sports injuries to hair loss. The treatment uses a patient’s own blood cells to accelerate healing in a specific area.
It’s thought that PRP contains proteins that serve several main functions that are thought to help hair regrow:
- helping your blood clot
- encouraging cell growth
PRP has some possible side effects from injections and from the procedure itself, including:
- blood vessel injury on the scalp
- infection at the injection site
- side effects from the anesthesia used during the procedure, such as muscle aches, confusion, or bladder control issues
- injury to the nerves
- calcification or scar tissue where the injections are done.
Keep in mind that results will look different for everyone based on overall health, level of blood platelet level, and hair health.
Is PRP Hair Treatment Permanent
First, to properly treat hair loss, you need to understand the cause. Thinning hair is incredibly common, but it does not happen overnight.
On average, most of us lose about 50 to 100 strands of hair per day. When you start losing more significant amounts of hair, you might need to look at the reasons why.
Losing your hair can be devastating, as your hair is a big part of your identity.
It’s what others notice first, and those first impressions are important! PRP can help you maintain a thicker, healthier head of hair.
It can ward off hair loss or the onset of balding in the early stages.
PRP is amazing, but it is not a permanent solution for hair loss.
The first round of treatments takes a few visits to see initial results. And after the results start to appear, you’ll still need to get touch-ups at least once a year to maintain new hair regrowth.