7 Tips To Deal With Hair Loss in Women
Hair loss in men is pretty much expected as they age, it can even be said to add character. However, hair loss in women is a completely different story. For a woman, losing hair can be absolutely devastating. There are multiple reasons to blame for a woman losing her hair, age, disease and nutrition are just a few. What most women want to know is how to recover from this loss, either by being able to re-grow the hair or at least cover up the loss.
1- When you first notice that you are beginning to lose hair, it is important to rule out any explainable reasons such as pregnancy (up to 50% of women lose hair after giving birth), age or nutrition (not getting enough protein, vitamins or calories could cause hair loss).
2- If these issues to not seem to be factors in your hair loss, you need to seek the professional opinion of your physician. The doctor will run tests to rule out any thyroid or alopecia issues.
3- The most common treatment option for hair loss in women is the use of an over-the-counter drug, Minoxilil, commonly known as Rogain. This treatment has been shown to work to prevent further hair loss in women and men. It is recommended that women use a two percent solution only and to never use the five percent which may also be available (this dosage can cause birth defects), but hasn’t been shown to be more effective. Minoxilil is applied two times per day when the hair is dry. However, be advised that if this treatment is stopped, hair loss will resume.
4- Another drug-Propecia is only available with a prescription, but has been found to be successful in women. Propecia works in much the same way as Minoxilil, in that it needs to be applied to the scalp everyday. If the use of Procpecia is halted, so are the results and the hair loss will continue.
5- If none of the non-surgical treatments seem to work in your situation, and you are losing you hair due to age, you might be interested in hair replacement surgery. Hair loss in women can be treated using this method because it utilizes hair from your own scalp that is not “programmed” by nature to fall out. In short, the doctor removes hair from the back of your head and transplants the individual follicles into the hairline at the front of your scalp. This process may need to be completed several times over the course of a couple of years as hair progressively falls out. It can also take up to a year to see any real new growth from this procedure. Your physician will be able to answer any specific questions that you may have in regards to this option.
6- Many women want to cover up the fact that they are losing hair, even if they are trying to reverse the situation. Women have many more options available to them than men do. For example, a woman can wear a variety of pretty hats or scarves, have a weave or hairpiece placed into the remaining hair or a wig to cover it all up.
7- If you do not want anyone to know that you are losing hair, for whatever reason, a wig might be the right choice. Wigs have made tremendous strides in the recent past; they look natural and can be styled just like natural hair. It is important however, to find a hair stylist that is accustomed to working with wigs. A wig may even be covered under your medical insurance as a cranial hair prosthesis; your doctor can help you determine if this is your case.
John Mancini has been writing about Hair Loss online and offline for a long time. Visit http://hair-loss-expert.info or http://hair-loss-net.info to read more about matters like hair loss prevention and hair loss.
Nutritional Supplements The Amazing Benefits of Vitamin E
The real benefits of Vitamin E may surprise you. First of all, what is Vitamin E? Vitamin E is not one nutrient but actually a group of eight nutrients known as tocopherols and tocotrienols. Each one of these groups is further broken down into alpha, beta, gamma and delta.
Alpha-tocopherol is the most active and common form. This is the form most often found in vitamin supplements. This is also the only form of Vitamin E given an RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance). Folks who eat lots of fruits and vegetables and not much fat in their diet, probably don’t get their RDA of alpha-tocopherol. Although alpha-tocopherol is the only Vitamin E component given an RDA, Gamma tocopherol is an important component as well.
Vitamin E is an oil soluble vitamin and is stored by your body.
Benefits of Vitamin E and What It Does For You
What does Vitamin E do? Vitamin E acts as what’s called an antioxidant. If you’ve read the section of my site on Health Supplements, you’ve no doubt read about what an antioxidant does. If not we can review quickly.
The cells of your body are under a lot of stress… oxidative stress. Oxidative stress occurs when highly unstable molecules called free radicals roam freely throughout your body. Free radicals are a by-product of not only the normal metabolic processes of your cells but also your environment. Things such as air pollution, sun exposure, ozone, nitrous oxide (from auto exhaust), cigarette smoke, alcohol consumption and so on.
Free radicals damage cell membranes and can result in changes to your cells that cause chronic diseases down the road. When your cells are being damaged by these free radicals, we say your cells are experiencing oxidative stress… and one of the benefits of Vitamin E is that it is an antioxidant and can significantly neutralize the free radicals that cause oxidative stress.
Benefits of Vitamin E and Heart Disease
Does Vitamin E aid in the prevention of heart disease? Well, the jury’s still out on this one. Theoretically, the benefits of Vitamin E and its ability to significantly reduce the progression of atherosclerotic plaque (buildup on the inside of your artery walls), says yes, without a doubt.
An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association says so also. Using angiography, a correlation was found between taking Vitamin E supplements and a reduction in coronary artery atherosclerosis. Remember the above benefits of Vitamin E and how Vitamin E acts as an antioxidant? Well this is the same mechanism.
As Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., F.A.C.N. of Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts states “… surveys of over 200,000 people in different communities around the world have provided compelling evidence that diets high in vitamin E and/or use of vitamin E supplements reduce the risk of heart disease.”
Dr. Blumberg stresses the importance of making the distinction between what he calls primary and secondary prevention. Primary prevention focuses on groups of healthy people and testing for new heart disease against different levels of Vitamin E intake over many years. Secondary prevention is taking groups of folks with existing heart disease and testing for a short duration using Vitamin E supplements along with placebos.
It is felt that the results of some secondary trials (the ones that claim no beneficial relationship between Vitamin E and heart disease) may be skewed by other factors in these heart patients such as smoking and diabetes. Also the drugs that these folks are taking along with the Vitamin E supplements could also affect the outcome of the research.
Concerning the benefits of Vitamin E, Dr. Blumberg goes on to state, “In thinking about the value of vitamin E supplementation, particularly in primary prevention, it is important to appreciate not only its potential benefit in heart disease but also in a variety of other chronic diseases associated with oxidative stress, including age-related macular degeneration, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, cataract, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and rheumatoid arthritis.”
Two other studies were reported on in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. These two studies followed thousands of women and men. The researchers found a significant reduction in heart disease of the folks taking Vitamin E supplements.
Benefits of Vitamin E and Alzheimer’s
Can Vitamin E help cut your risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia? New studies seem to suggest so. A recent report found in the Archives of Neurology showed that vitamin E taken together with Vitamin C had significant benefits.
The study’s author, Peter Zandi PhD with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health stated, “These results are extremely exciting. Our findings suggest that vitamins E and C may offer protection against Alzheimer’s disease when taken together in the higher doses available from individual supplements.”
Another study also in the Archives of Neurology found that Vitamin E intake may slow the progression of cognitive decline as we grow older.
How does Vitamin E do this? Well, remember some of the benefits of Vitamin E cited above and how Vitamin E acts as an antioxidant? It is widely accepted that oxidative stress plays a role in the bringing about Alzheimer’s. And by its antioxidant properties, Vitamin E is able to reduce this oxidative stress to the cells of your brain.
More Benefits of Vitamin E
Because of Vitamin E’s antioxidant properties, it has been shown effective in helping treat osteoarthritis. Vitamin E has also shown to be helpful in preventing the formation of cataracts in your eyes. And it might also help in protecting your eyes against ARMD (age related macular degeneration) as you get older. ARMD is the major cause of blindness in the U.S.
In folks with diabetes, Vitamin E and other antioxidants have been effective in controlling blood sugar levels. There has also been found to be a relationship between low levels of Vitamin E and an increased risk of getting diabetes.
Vitamin E has also been found to reduce hot flashes for women going through menopause. And for male smokers, it has been shown to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
Is Vitamin E Safe
A recent article appearing in the Council for Responsible Nutrition stated that Vitamin E is safe for folks in the general population at doses up to 1600 IU daily. With most of the daily doses you’ll find out there being in the 200 – 400 IU range there should be no concern.
You can learn much more than just the facts about Vitamin E at our content rich site called Health Supplements Advisor.
What Causes Female Hair Loss
While there are many culprits to blame balding on, there are several key factors to examine when determining the reason for a woman’s loss of hair. Stress, pregnancy, medications, hormonal problems, and thyroid disease are some of the most common causes of hair loss in women. Have you been under a lot of stress lately? Are you pregnant or taking medications? Is your hair loss minimal or excessive? In order to find a solution to your hair loss problem, you have to ask yourself these questions. Your family physician may be able to target the cause and find an easy solution for you.
Illness
Your body has a way of telling you when something is wrong. This is not to say that all hair-loss experiences determine that you’re ill. You may be perfectly healthy. Nevertheless, hair-loss and balding can and should be taken as a serious warning. You should consult your family physician and go for any necessary tests and/or procedures that he/she may recommend.
Did you know that hormonal imbalances can be the cause of your hair loss? This is very correctible with medications and/or estrogen shots. Your hair-loss is very likely to stop once the problem is treated. Women’s thyroid glands, that are overactive or underactive, commonly ‘warn’ the body of possible thyroid disease. The body will shed hair as a result of this ‘warning.’ Since hair loss has been noted as a an early sign of many diseases, it’s important to find the cause so doctors can find a solution.
Pregnancy
Many women experience hair loss approximately two or three 3 months after they’ve delivered their babies. This loss form of hair-loss is directly related to hormones. During a woman’s pregnancy, high levels of specific hormones can cause the female body to retain hair that (under normal circumstances) would normally fall out. When a pregnant woman’s hormones return to pre-pregnancy hormone levels, that retained hair falls out. Although it may seem odd, it’s usually nothing to worry about, as the hair will grow back in a short period of time.
Young Women
The most common cause of hair-loss in teenage women is stress. Nevertheless, stress is not the only cause. Hair loss in young women can also be a warning sign of the following: Infection, poor hygiene habits, excessive dye in hair, medication intake, lupus, and or diabetes.
Improper Care of Hair
Tight pony-tails, pigtails, braids, cornrows, and curlers can cause a type of her loss known as Alopecia. If scarring occurs on the delicate skin on your scalp, your hair may never grow back. Scarring, unfortunately, results in permanent hair loss. How does this ’scarring’ occur, you may ask. Hot oil treatment, chemicals for perms, bleach, and metallic dyes may cause inflammation to the hair follicles on your scalp. These inflammations, which first appear as swelling, often turn into scars. The final result can be hair-loss.
About Inhairit
Raj Pandey is the creator of a female and female hair loss treatment program at http://www.inhairit.com, and has written hundreds of articles and tips about dealing with hair loss. For more hair care tips and articles, visit http://www.inhairit.com