Sunday 29 March 2009

Natural Remedies for Baldness

Before embarking on medical prescription remedies for baldness, it is always worth exploring natural remedies you can perform in the home first.

Most male pattern baldness is believed to be caused by the hormone DiHydroTestosterone (DHT), which attaches itself to the hair follicle and prevents it from producing new hair.

However, studies have also shown that males with male pattern balding have 2.6 times less blood flow to their scalps than the control group of males of a similar age who had no baldness. Follicles that don't get an adequate supply of blood die (indeed any part of your body that doesn't get adequate supply of blood dies - that's why lack of blood circulation caused by frost-bite causes extremities to blacken and fall off).

Remedy 1: Increase blood circulation to the scalp. You can do this by getting a regular scalp massage (get your wife, girlfriend or significant other to do it for you, or go to a hairdresser that offers a head massage service). You can also do it yourself - place your fingers at your temples and gently move the scalp in a circular motion. Move methodically backwards so that the entire head gets the circular motion treatment. Don't scratch your scalp and don't rub hard - you don't want to damage the follicles. Try to do this at least once a day for 10 minutes.

Another way is to lower the head below heart level so that the blood rushes to the head - headstands for the athletic, or using a slant board to lie on, or simply hanging over the side of the bed with the head down.

Some herbs increase blood circulation, the most famous of which is cayenne. Don't bother with cayenne capsules - swallowing it in capsule form has proved ineffective. The circulation effect seems to be based on how your mouth reacts to it - making you feel all hot, flushed, nose running etc. Therefore the best way to take it in is to cook with fresh cayenne.


A group of Japanese researchers also found a correlation between excess sebum on the scalp and baldness. The sebum hardened in the follicles, blocking them, causing the surrounding tissue to harden and thus cutting off circulation. You can tell if you have an excess sebum problem - you will have oily hair, a ring around your collar (greasy neck) or greasy forehead. Excess sebum production also causes dandruff (yeast feeds on the sebum and produces oeilic acid, which irritates the scalp causing it to flake).

Remedy 2: Remove sebum from the scalp The best way to do this is by shampooing, paying particular attention to the scalp. Always shampoo in warm water (the heat will melt sebum that is hardening).

How many times should you shampoo? Quick tip: you can tell by the foam. If the shampoo is encountering large amounts of oil/sebum, it will not foam. So reapply shampoo and shampoo again. Once it foams, the bulk of the sebum has gone. Therefore you don't need to use a harsh shampoo, a mild one that won't cause irritation will do. You just need to shampoo daily and while you are at it, simply reapply the shampoo till it foams. Don't use a conditioner (conditioners add oil and you already have enough). You can use an anti-dandruff shampoo if you wish, but note that anti-dandruff shampoos are designed to kill the yeast on scalps rather than get rid of sebum.

The Japanese researchers also found that diet affects how much sebum you have on your head. When the Japanese changed to an animal fat and protein based diet from their previous rice based one after WW2, more Japanese men started to lose their hair. A study done by the University of Illinois in the 1950's also showed that if you reduced the animal fat and protein in your diet you reduced the sebum chloresterol produced. Therefore reduce the number of burgers, steaks, hot dogs etc that you consume. Instead try beans and rice for a few days a week.

Most men facing baldness tend to try every solution all at once. But exert patience and systematically try one remedy at a time to eliminate causes. If you have oily hair, try to reduce sebum production first. If you don't have oily hair problems, try increasing blood circulation to the scalp first.

No comments:

Post a Comment