There are many pitfalls on the road to treating hair loss. Why is it so difficult to grow hair?

Author: Zhang Jianzhong, Chief Physician, Peking University People's Hospital

The 13th Chairman of the Chinese Medical Association Dermatology and Venereology Branch

Reviewer: Wang Aiping, Chief Physician, Peking University First Hospital

If you are suffering from hair loss, have you ever listened to some wrong opinions or done some useless work on the road of treating or preventing hair loss? Today we will discuss five points together.

1. “It’s not a lot, don’t worry!”

Hair loss should be treated as early as possible. If men go to the hospital for treatment in the early stages of hair loss, such as stage three or stage four hair loss, then with current medical methods, such as taking the special drug finasteride, we can at least guarantee that about 85%-90% of patients will stop losing their hair, and not only will their hair not decrease, but it will even increase.

For women, the treatment is different from that for men. They mainly use minoxidil or take some anti-androgen drugs orally. The efficacy of the drugs is relatively low. About 60%-70% of patients can stop losing their hair or grow new hair. Therefore, early treatment is likely to save more hair.

Figure 1 Original copyright image, no permission to reprint

In addition, although the treatment effect on women may not be as obvious as that on men, fortunately, the severity of hair loss in women is usually milder than that in men.

Women tend not to become "bald" like men, with hair loss that makes them look like light bulbs. Often the hairline on the forehead remains unchanged, but the hair on the top of the head decreases, starting from the hairline. Even if the hair is sparse and the scalp is visible, there will still be hair.

2. “A lot of hair falls out when I wash my hair”

People with hair loss always wonder, why is my hair falling out? Why is it me and not others? How should I wash my hair to prevent hair loss? What shampoo should I choose?

In fact, before answering these questions, we first need to understand a truth. Our hair is like a tree. It is well rooted in the soil through its roots. Similarly, our hair grows from the hair follicles, is deeply rooted in the scalp, and remains firmly on the head. Therefore, regular shampooing has no effect on hair loss. Hair is not washed away.

So why do some people still experience hair loss when washing their hair? In fact, this is because your hair is not strong, so it will fall out when washing your hair. This may be because you have androgenic alopecia, abnormalities in the scalp and hair follicles, and loose hair. So if you want to avoid hair loss or reduce hair loss when washing your hair, what we need to do is to actively treat the primary disease, rather than just paying attention to the posture of washing your hair and choosing shampoo.

Moreover, those shampoos that claim to have a hair growth effect can often only prevent hair loss at best. It is impossible to achieve the purpose of hair growth by simply using a certain shampoo. We should also be careful to keep our eyes open when purchasing.

3. “Come to my shop for a scalp massage, it can prevent hair loss!”

In my country, there are a large number of people suffering from hair loss, so corresponding anti-hair loss and hair growth institutions have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. Among them, there are many businesses that, in order to achieve better benefits, will launch some anti-hair loss and hair growth treatment methods to attract customers.

For example, some stores will advertise that scalp massage can prevent hair loss and even promote hair growth. But in fact, so far, there is no evidence-based medicine to show that massage can prevent hair loss and promote hair growth, so scientifically speaking, scalp massage cannot be used as a formal treatment method and included in the treatment system for hair loss.

But at the same time, we also admit that scalp massage is at least not harmful. Scalp massage can improve scalp blood circulation and reduce fatigue, so we can also use it as a health care method or enjoyment of life, as long as we don't believe in the gimmicks of anti-hair loss and hair growth.

4. “The more you perm your hair, the more hair you lose”

Many people, especially girls who love beauty, have this question: if their hair is thin and cannot cover their scalp, can they make their hair look thicker by perming it? Will perming aggravate hair loss?

In fact, perming has nothing to do with hair loss. Perming only affects the hair shafts exposed on the scalp surface, which will at most damage the hair quality and will not affect the hair follicles. Therefore, patients with hair loss can perm their hair, and after the hair is curled and fluffy, it can indeed play a certain decorative role.

Figure 2 Original copyright image, no permission to reprint

5. “Dietary precautions to prevent hair loss”

There is some folk saying that people with hair loss should not eat sour, spicy food, drink alcohol, or eat beef or mutton.

But from a medical point of view, any form of hair loss, whether it is hereditary, immune, or infectious, has little to do with diet, so there is often no need to avoid certain foods.

Hair is composed of protein and also needs to absorb nutrients, so the protein, sugar, fat, water, and electrolytes we need every day are indispensable. Sometimes, if we avoid certain nutrients, it will cause more problems.