How to Buy Ways to Counter Hair Loss

The loss of one's hair can be a grievous blow to self-image and confidence. Medications, illness, heredity, pregnancy, menopause, changing hormone levels and stress can all contribute to hair loss. Other culprits are chemotherapy, hereditary baldness or alopecia.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Consult your doctor, dermatologist or an endocrinologist to eliminate medical causes such as thyroid issues or alopecia. Rule out any dietary contributors by making sure you're getting all the vitamins, protein and calories you need.

2. Apply over-the-counter minoxidil (Rogaine) to thinning or balding patches twice a day. The exact way this medicine works is not known, but it is thought to cause dilation of the blood vessels in the scalp. If you stop treatment once you've started, hair loss will resume within a few months.

3. Try prescription-only Propecia or Proscar, which have been found to work rather well for women. The active ingredient finasteride blocks the formation of active testosterone and allows those hairs predisposed to inactivity to become active again and make new hairs. The two brands have different dosages of finasteride.

4. Explore hair-replacement surgery options. Mini- or micrografting may offer the most natural results. A strip of scalp with hair is divided into a few hundred tiny grafts with just a few strands apiece, then inserted into minuscule slits in the scalp. Skilled surgeons ensure all hair is growing in the same direction. Make sure to see live examples of the surgeon's work before proceeding.

5. Discuss treatment options with your doctor for alopecia. While very little is known about the disorder, there is evidence of a genetic component as well as a link to autoimmune problems. Depending on the variety (areata: spots on the head; totalis: the entire head; or universalis: all body hair), there's a good chance that cortisone injections on the head and eyebrows will spur hair growth. Injections can be painful but may offer a huge morale boost for people who would do just about anything to look the way they used to.

Tips & Warnings

• Talking to other people who've lost their hair can be enormously helpful, as are supportive friends and family. Contact the National Alopecia Areata Foundation at alopeciaareata.com for information and to subscribe to their newsletter.
• Be aware that 5 percent minoxidil is not recommended for use by women, due to the potential for greater drug penetration. Women using this percentage in clinical trials were inclined to grow hair in areas where minoxidil was not applied.

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on 8/8/2006 I have thin hair and have found by taking Biotin(1000mcg) and Evening Primrose Oil(1000 m) daily that it really has helped with my hair in general, and my skin. Go to a health food store or do a search for natural supplements. I also love hats and keep my hair on the shorter side to give the illusion on thicker hair.

on 11/22/2005 Instinct tells you to fluff your hair up, but I've found that it only makes hair loss more obvious because you can see right through it! I grow my hair long enough to wear back in a barrette. A stylist told me to keep it shoulder length and in layers. That seems to help, too. All my life, I'd had a wonderful head full of thick hair. I was horrified when it became see-through thin after I had my second child. It was especially hard for me because I'd never had thin hair, and didn't know how to treat it or style it. My sister, on the other hand, had always had fine, thin hair. I asked for her advice.

I don't have money for monthly trips to the salon, prescription medication, or surgical treatments. My sister told me she'd tried a lot of volumizing and hair growth treatments over the years and had minimal success with them (she lost some hair after childbirth, too). She told me her best advice would be to keep a smile on your face, keep your hair blonde, and stay out of direct light.

After Rogaine, Nioxin, and vitamin B-12, I've found that her advice is the best for now. Most people are too busy worrying about their own appearance to care much about mine, anyway. I'm getting a good collection of snappy hats, too!