Cinnamon Concoctions to Stop Hair Loss

If you are suffering from hair loss, like so many millions of people around the world, there are three things you need to do:

1. Determine what is causing the loss of your hair. There are many things that can cause your hair to fall out such as stress, medication and heredity.

2. Next you want to find a way to stop your hair loss by removing the cause. For example, you can remove the stress and change medicines. But it is a little more tricky if it is caused by heredity. In this case, you can use one of two FDA-approved medicines to stop hair loss, minoxidil or finasteride.

3. Last, you want to re-grow your hair after you have stopped your hair loss. There are many herbal supplements and vitamins on the market that you can use to re-grow the hair you have lost.

Cinnamon for Hair Growth

Did you know that one method used by people to re-grow their hair is cinnamon? Some people swear by it and here are some methods they use cinnamon to re-grow their hair:

• Cinnamon and Honey - This method requires you to mix a couple of tablespoons of honey with a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon powder in enough olive oil to make a paste. You then apply this to your scalp and let set on your scalp for fifteen minutes. Then using a shampoo, rinse the mixture off.

• Cinnamon Oil - Cinnamon oil can be found in some commercial product shampoos. So rather than using cinnamon oil directly, which you can if you want, use a shampoo that contains this type of oil.

• Chinese Remedy - There is an ancient Chinese drink that mixes cinnamon with various other ingredients to help promote hair growth. Some of the ingredients used in the concoction besides cinnamon are oyster shells and licorice.

How It Works

Not much research has been done on cinnamon and hair growth. But people who have used cinnamon and claim it has grown their hair believe it allows more blood flow to the scalp. This is similar to how minoxidil works. It too increases the flow of blood to the scalp allowing for more nutrients to the hair and hair follicles.

2 Scalp Care Tips to Treat Hair Loss

It only makes sense that because hair grows out of your scalp, nurturing your scalp is an essential part of hair care. The scalp must be nurtured to create a hair-growing environment. On the other hand, you would be surprised how many hair treatment experts miss that point.

So-called experts will advise you to saturate your scalp in harsh chemicals hoping to somehow fertilize the hair follicle. Instead, they increase the existing toxins in your hair follicles which were causing the problem in the first place. They also damage the scalp, causing swelling and restricting hair growth. Instead of chemical solutions, the best hair loss treatments focus on improving scalp health naturally and soothingly.

A healthy scalp means having healthy hair follicles that are capable of growing hair. If you want a healthy scalp, here are tips to get you started:

1. Find a Balance between a Clean and Too-Clean Scalp

Cleaning the scalp is an important part of the treatment for hair loss. It strips away the excess oil which contains the damaging toxins. It also removes germs which deteriorate the follicle’s overall health.

You should clean your hair regularly. Nevertheless, cleaning too frequently will wash away too much of your skin’s conditioning oils and cause excessive drying. When this occurs, tiny dead skin cells will cover your scalp and clog the hair follicle. This restricts growth and limits the effectiveness of other scalp treatments.

You’re the only one familiar with your scalp’s sensitivity. You know how oily your hair gets and how long you can comfortably leave on scalp treatments. It’s important you find a healthy balance which keeps your scalp clean but doesn’t over-dry the skin.

2. Increase Room Humidity at Night

This is actually a very popular treatment for other skin issues like psoriasis and eczema. Those patients know that a warm, moist environment promotes healing within the skin. Your scalp will respond the same way.

In your bedroom, the easiest way to create a moist healing environment is by buying a warm-heat humidifier. This won’t only increase the moisture in your bedroom’s air, but will raise the temperature. This should create a ‘growing atmosphere’ which will help restore and revitalize your scalp.

Treatments for the Top 3 Types of Female Hair Loss

Even in severe cases, hair can spontaneously start to grow again even after years of loss.

Much have been said and written about modern-day hair loss treatments but this tends to relate almost exclusively to men. Do these same treatments offer solutions to women suffering from hair loss or is there a completely different category of remedies available?

It really depends on what is causing hair loss in the first place and as the most common causes of hair loss are the same as those that affect men, the treatments available are pretty similar.

The three most common types of hair loss in women are androgenic alopecia (female pattern baldness), telogen effluvium and alopecia areata. We’ll now look at each of these in turn and examine the best treatments available, bearing in mind the specific needs of women experiencing hair loss:

1. Treatments for Androgenic Alopecia (Female Pattern Baldness)

In most instances, minoxidil is the first treatment used. This is one of only two FDA-approved hair loss products and it remains the only one approved for use by women. Minoxidil comes in the form of a topical solution that works by tackling the symptoms of hair loss and helping to generate new hair growth. It does not target the causes of hair loss and will not work for everyone. The women’s version of minoxidil is a 2% solution but the 5% version marketed for men can be used if necessary (and with a physician’s approval).

In some cases of female hair loss, doctors may prescribe a different androgen blocker called spironolactone as a means of stopping the hormone activity that is causing hair loss. Spironolactone is normally used as a diuretic and results may vary.

There is a bewildering range of commercial products available, most of which are aimed squarely at men but many are also suitable for women to use. Whether they work or not is another question but some products containing ingredients like saw palmetto, stinging nettle, pygeum and green tea have shown their value.

2. Treatments for Telogen Effluvium

This is a hair loss condition that generally does not require any specific treatment. Once the effects of the trauma that caused hair loss in the first place have subsided, the hair will regrow of its own accord. Some patients like to encourage the regrowth process by using minoxidil but this isn’t necessary. Implementing a good nutritional regime and supplementing with B-vitamins help to create a scalp environment conducive for healthy hair growth.

3. Treatments for Alopecia Areata

This is another hair loss condition that may resolve itself spontaneously. In some cases, one of the following treatments may prove useful:

• Daily application of minoxidil.

• Injection of cortisone into patchy areas of the scalp (this must be administered by a physician).

• Creams and lotions containing cortisone can also be used but results vary.

• Dithranol can be applied to the scalp in mild or early cases.

• Application of 100% aloe vera gel.

• Massage the scalp with rosemary and lavender essential oils in a jojoba base.

• Use of a hair loss product containing the Chinese herb He Shou Wu.

Please note, however, that none of these is guaranteed to work due to the unpredictable nature of alopecia areata. It is this uncertainty that offers opportunities for scammers to make outlandish claims. The fact remains that there is no miracle cure for advanced forms of alopecia areata so sufferers may wish to consider other options such as head coverings and wigs.

This does not mean that patients are without hope because, even in severe cases, hair can spontaneously start to grow again even after years of loss, depending on the treatment used.

Prescription Drugs for Pattern Baldness

Hair loss is a common problem among many men. While there are many treatments that can control hair loss, there isn’t a cure yet for baldness. However, it is wise for you to control hair loss and maintain whatever hair you have with effective hair loss treatments till a cure is developed. I will list down a few such treatments that you can use to control and possibly reverse your hair loss.

For many individuals, the beginning of early baldness or excessive hair loss represents a stressful development that causes untold anxiety and despair.

There are numerous kinds of useful baldness treatments they could benefit from, depending on the nature of their baldness.

At present, basically two prescription drugs are actually approved as baldness treatment procedures by the FDA standards. They’re minoxidil and finasteride. A number of other meds have shown to be successful for combating hair loss, dutasteride in particular, but unfortunately haven’t been permitted by FDA for this particular application.

Finasteride was basically made to minimize enlarged prostate; later, a small dosage variety had been approved for the treatment of hair loss in adult males. The product fights the cause of hair loss by inhibiting 5-alpha reductase from converting testosterone to DHT (dihydrotestosterone). Dihydrotestosterone stands out as the major factor in baldness, restricting hair growth by sixty-six per cent; hence, finasteride has a significant impact on dealing with DHT.

Studies have shown that 83% of adult men (test subjects) were actually able to retain their hair count and 64% attained regrowth by the end of a two-year span. It needs to be mentioned that finasteride is approved for use by males strictly as the drug could have truly serious consequences on unborn male babies. Adult females should only look into applying this drug under the direction of a medical physician.

Dutasteride is a medicinal drug used in treating prostate-related ailments, and while not yet authorized for the treatment of hair loss, it definitely does present interesting options. It does the job in a similar fashion as finasteride but reduces total dihydrotestosterone production by over 93%. As in the way it is with finasteride, women must discuss with their physician about using dutasteride.

Minoxidil is the next hair loss drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration as well as being the sole hair loss drug permitted for women. Put on topically, its major benefit is its capability to promote regrowth, consequently reversing the effects of male pattern baldness. Many individuals combine the use of minoxidil with some other hair loss treatment options such as herbal hair loss remedies to quickly attain maximum results, but many others experience satisfactory results applying minoxidil alone.

A number of experiments indicate that certain remedies promote new hair growth but not one of them have, until now, been approved by the FDA. This could be partly because of the high costs involved in carrying out studies to confirm that these treatments are helpful for the purpose of endorsing them as hair loss treatments. Many people and even medical professionals advise making use of selected non-drug remedies as a substitute or complement to drug therapy.

Hair Loss Cases among Teenagers and Young Adults on the Rise

It seems the problem of hair loss is no longer only confined to middle-aged and aging men.

Dermatologists said teenagers are also facing such problems and the numbers are rising — from an average of one to two cases a month, to a week.

And the youngest patient is reportedly only six years old. In such case, the usual cause is the lack of nutrient intake or malnourishment. Excessive hair loss experienced by children can also be caused to scalp bacteria and fungi; these scalp conditions clog the pores and affect the health of the inner cells, tissues, and hair follicles, hence disrupting proper hair growth.

For hair loss in teenagers and young adults, stress is said to be a major cause.

Dermatologists said environmental factors could be a cause too, such as smoking or dieting, or even inappropriate hair care habits. Lifestyle of teenagers and young adults that include smoking, constant alcohol consumption, and stress from work can take their toll on the health of the hair follicles. These suppress the proper circulation in the scalp; hence, nutrients are not able to reach the hair follicles and hair growth is greatly disrupted.

Hair loss treatment for teens is different from that for adults.

Doctors rarely use medicine; instead, they use counselling to help patients understand the importance of good health.

For more severe cases, doctors may work with psychiatrists to help patients overcome their obsessive compulsive disorders.

Doctors in Singapore are considering a new form of treatment that is based on embryonic stem cells.

A solution is injected directly into the scalp to stimulate hair growth.

According to Dr. Eileen Tan from Eileen Tan Skin, Laser and Hair Transplant Clinic, the benefit of such treatment is that there is no need to ingest or apply any medicine every day.

Industry players are working with the National Skin Centre to conduct tests. If the results are favourable, they may import this technology.