Hair growth treatment

 

Hair is the asset of an individual personality. It adds beauty to the appearance of an individual and has greater psychological and social importance. A person puts his efforts to maintain the beauty of his hair, but many of them face a real problem of hair loss. Alopecia affects both men and women and 0.2 to 2% of the world’s population is affected by it. People affected by alopecia seek different hair growth treatments, many of them have an effect on hair cycle. So, it is necessary to know the hair cycle.

Cycle of hair growth

Hair cycles are a complex process. It includes three phases

Anagen phase: It is the phase in which growth of hair occurs. The anagen phase of the hair present in scalp ranges from 2 to 5 years

Catagen phase: The hair enters the catagen phase and remains there from few days to months. It is also known as degenerative phase

Telogen phase: It lasts approximately 3 months and is known as resting phase

The last stage is exogen or shedding phase.

Hair growth cycle

The disturbances in the hair cycle affects the hair growth. If any damage occurred to cells of anagen that cause the premature termination of anagen phase and catagen phase occurs before time then effluvium occurs leading to alopecia. The skin  where this disturbance in hair cycles has occurred tend to reverse the normal anagen to telogen ratio i.e. roughly estimated 1/4  normally. As a result of which shedding of hair occurred due to large catagen and telogen follicles proportion.

Manipulating the hair cycle therapeutically is important to manage hair loss. The hair growth treatment strategies include:

         i.            Reducing the development of catagen and lengthening the anagen i.e. growth phase

       ii.            In telogen follicles inducting the anagen

      iii.            Exogen inhibition

Hair loss classification

Various factors lead to hair loss and on the basis of these factors it is classified as:

Anagen effluvium: This type of hair loss is associated with intake of medications e.g. chemotherapeutic drugs, medicines for hypertension and excessive intake of vitamin A.

Telogen effluvium: Emotional and physical stress cause alopecia and this type occurs when excess hair follicles enter the dead stage.

Pharmaceutical drugs

Many pharmaceutical drugs are known for hair growth treatment. But no radical improvement is seen in developing more precise therapeutic drugs. The drugs failed to explain the exact mechanism by which growth promoters of hair act to perform. Currently two drugs are approved by the U.S. FDA one of them is minoxidil and the other is finasteride.

Minoxidil is the synthetic drug that helps to promote hair development in both males and females.

Finasteride is used to treat male pattern baldness and is a drug of choice to treat alopecia in males.

These drugs enhance or stimulate hair but they came with many side effects that limit their usage. Androgen antagonism e.g. Spironolactone, an aldosterone antagonist taken at dosage 75-150 mg daily, can promote hair growth besides this angiogenesis, inhibition of 5-alpha reductase and vasodilation are drug-induced strategies for hair growth treatment.

Stimulation of hair growth by drugs cause increase in rate of growth of hair and fiber diameter, manipulating hair  cycle

Surgical treatment includes FUT & Fue hair transplant procedures.

Nutrients, vitamins and minerals

 They mainly contain vitamin C and Vitamin H/ biotin, Vitamin B complex, niacin, Vitamin E, zinc, essential fatty acids, amino acid are the best hair growth treatment options available  that  act to increase blood flow to the scalp and improve hair texture and growth.

Natural products

Natural products including herbal drugs are more effective than pharmaceutical drugs and greater numbers of evidence from literature are present in their support. Common herbal drugs are ginkgo biloba, rosemary oil, grape seeds, green tea, nettles, aloe Vera, sage, bee pollen. They increase blood supply to the scalp, stimulate hair roots, hair follicles and thus the hair growth and play an integral role in hair growth treatment.

Patient education:

Due to slow response of hair growth treatment by drug-induced method or cosmetic method, there is a need to educate the patient about the effect of treatment given, this will reduce the patient’s psychological discomforts. The key points to consider for treatment of patients are reported by Fielder. They include patient understanding of disease, sharing his experiences with his relatives and friends and maintaining a sense of hope for future results in treatment of alopecia. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

What is the cost of hair growth treatment in Lahore Pakistan?

Normally medicines are available over the counter from any pharmacy however some advance level treatments are available at our cheap hair clinic in Lahore.

How to get an appointment for free hair analysis from an expert in Lahore?

You can get an appointment through web/ phone/ WhatsApp +92-333-430-9999

[contact-form-7 id=”4564″ title=”Contact form 1″]