ALOPECIA & HAIR GROWTH

Everyone looks for ways to better grow their hair or just make it softer or remove the split ends and many other things. What would happen if your hair suddenly starts falling off in patches? Guaranteed you would lose it and you’d probably not want to go out for the rest of your life. Well, this happens and it usually has a tremendous emotional effect on the people that are affected.

The condition is called alopecia and it includes hair falling off from the root in patches. Now, this is as scary as it sounds because this could lead to forms of depression.

Causes

So alopecia occurs when your immune system(white blood cell) attacks your hair follicles making them shrink and in the process slow hair production. This is a nightmare because why would something meant to protect you turn against you?

Scientists have no empirical explanation for this, but they seem to think it is genetically engineered. They believe one in five people with this condition have a family member with the same condition.

Others think it may be related to stress, and while extreme stress could cause alopecia, there are however no scientific reasons to believe so as scientists are tilting towards a genetic cause.

Symptoms

The most common symptom of alopecia is hair loss. Patches of hair begin to fall off. It could affect every site where there’s hair including the eyelashes, beards, and nostrils.

The hair loss could be suddenly occurring over a period of days or even weeks. Sometimes the area itches and burns before the hair falls off. However, the hair follicles are not destroyed and the hair can grow back. People with this condition usually experience a spontaneous full recovery even without treatment.

The condition could become grave as in the case of alopecia total is (losing all the hair on the head) or alopecia universal is (losing all the hair on the body) or it could just remain a constant cycle of hair growth and loss. Some people who have alopecia and recover may experience a recurrence between a year.

The condition also affects the finger and toenails and sometimes these may be the first symptoms that are noticed. You could notice that your nails become rough or may lose their shine. You may also experience white spots on the nails or nails that are thin and split.

Diagnosis

Like every other disease, it can be diagnosed by clinical examination of the symptoms. Where this is impossible they could resort to a skin biopsy or a blood test, so they could rule out autoimmune diseases.

Treatment / Home Remedies

There is currently no cure for alopecia but the treatments recommended are to regrow the hair quickly.

One treatment is the use of anti-inflammatory drugs that can suppress the immune system so the hair can grow back. Other treatments that may subdue the immune system are anthralin, minoxidil, and DPCP. Some of these may help regrow hair but cannot prevent them from falling off again.

People with this condition may decide to

•   Wear sunscreen whenever they go out.
•   Use head warmers and scarfs when outside.
•   Use sunglasses to protect the eyes from dust that would have been taken
    care of eyelashes.

•   Use ointment inside the nose to protect against organisms that would have
    otherwise been trapped by the nose hairs.

Home remedies for this condition include rubbing almond oil, rosemary oil, onion or garlic juice, honey or coconut milk into the scalp. While this is probably harmless, the effects haven’t been proven scientifically.

Some other people turn to acupuncture and aromatherapy though these haven’t been proven. While there is no explanation of why this condition occurs, it is possible to live with it but it will probably take some getting used to.