If you’ve searched the Internet for hair loss solutions, you’ve seen page after page of promising-sounding solutions. You’ve been bombarded with opportunities to buy shampoos, medications, supplements, and treatments. Some do something, but most do very little. To understand why, let’s take a quick look at what actually happens when hair stops growing.
Hair loss is almost always a follicle problem, not a hair problem. Read that again: it’s probably a FOLLICLE problem.
So what does that mean to a person who wants to have more hair? The actual hair itself is dead tissue! It’s keratin pushed out from beneath the skin by a living structure called….the follicle. When we say “hair loss” we’re really talking about follicle dysfunction. In the most common form of hair loss (called androgenic alopecia, if you want to sound fancy), a hormone called DHT causes follicles to gradually shrink over several growth cycles, producing hairs that are thinner and shorter each cycle, until they eventually stop altogether. The follicle is still there, it’s just dormant. Once this happens, reversing it becomes significantly harder. This is why timing is so important.
Most hair treatments work to improve symptoms after the fact. Minoxidil improves blood flow and extends the hair growth cycle, which may slow hair loss for some people, but it doesn’t address the underlying cause. DHT blockers can slow miniaturization, but like minoxidil, when you stop using it the results reverse. Red Light Therapy is gaining traction in the hair loss world, there is more and more legitimate evidence of its effectiveness, particularly for early stage loss. It stimulates cellular energy production in the follicle, which can strengthen struggling follicles (that aren’t dormant yet). It doesn’t actually reverse advanced loss, but it’s a legitimate tool in the struggle for hair superiority.
Regenerative approaches (think stem cells) approach the issue a different way. In regenerative care, we ask: what does the follicle need to function, and how do we provide that? Follicles depend on being surrounded by a group of support cells and signaling molecules. When that environment degrades, the follicles degrade with it. Stem cell therapy restores that environment, rather than just manage symptoms. They support and restore follicles that are miniaturized or dormant.
Here’s the straight-up truth. The most important factor in hair loss treatment is how early you start paying attention.The earlier you start, the better your follicle density will be. This will give you and your provider more options, and better expected outcomes. If you are noticing changes, the right time to understand what’s actually happening is now!
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