Live Life Team
Did you know that around 35 million American men and 21 million American women suffer from some degree of hair loss? It can be a traumatic thing to go through and can severely damage your confidence and self-image. Sometimes hair loss is caused by stress or short term illness and can be reversed, but hair loss caused by age is, at present, incurable. There are, however, a number of ways to slow it down and restore the appearance of your hair without resorting to wigs or weaves. Some are available over the counter from your local drugstore or herbalist.
Minoxidil
The only FDA licensed hair restoring treatment that’s available without a prescription, minoxidil is also the only such project that’s suitable for women, who can suffer serious harm if they come into contact with ingredients in some prescription treatments designed for men. Minoxidil can’t repair dead hair follicles but it can revive ailing ones. It works by improving blood flow in the scalp so that nutrients are carried to follicles more efficiently. Properly nourished follicles increase in size so individual strands of hair are thicker, healthier and less brittle. Follicles themselves remain healthy and active for longer. There are many different shampoos and conditioners that contain minoxidil as an active ingredient. As your pharmacist to help you find the best one for your hair type.
Scalp conditioners
Sometimes hair loss occurs because hair follicles are not getting all the nutrients they need to stay healthy. You can resolve this by changing your diet, taking supplements in pill form or using hair care products enriched with vitamins and minerals. Increasing your intake of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids can improve scalp health and support healthy follicles. Try to eat more fish, soy, flaxseed, walnuts and olives or olive oil. If you’re getting too little folic acid, pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) or biotin, the health or your scalp could suffer. Supplements are easily available for all of these but you can’t take both pantothenic acid and biotin or you won’t absorb either properly. Shampoo containing zinc pyrithione, which helps to fight dandruff, has been found to be helpful in reconditioning the scalp so that follicles produce hair more efficiently.
Hair protectors and volumizers
These products work by penetrating individual hairs and plumping them up with moisture from the inside. This makes hair look fuller and shinier and makes each strand more elastic so it’s less likely to break. Illipe butter is found in many organic hair care products and is very effective at moisturising hair strands as well as coating them with a protective sheen. This makes them look glossy, feel softer and resist damage more effectively. A product called filloxane has emerged as the first of a new generation of volumizing ingredients which work by bonding to the hair and adding additional fibres to it, making it look thicker and helping it to trap healthy moisture. Some products use hydrolyzed wheat, rice or oat proteins to form a supportive structure around individual strands of hair. This makes them stronger and more resilient as well as making hair look fuller overall.
https://www.pharmacytimes.com/publications/issue/2012/november2012/a-pharmacists-guide-to-otc-hair-loss-products
https://www.healthline.com/health/thinning-hair#home-remedies
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30586264
