BALDNESS

Baldness involves the complete or partial loss of hair, usually from scalp, but sometimes other places as well. Normally, we shed 50 to 100 hairs per day as a part of natural growth, resting and renewal process. When a hair is in the resting stage, it loosens gradually from it's root and is shed. A few months later, a new hair begins to grow in its place.
With aging, it is normal for hair to thin in women and men. But many men experience more extensive hair loss due to hereditary condition called male pattern baldness, or androgenic alopecia, which can occur anytime after the teen years. Typically, it begins with a slow thinning of hair

TREATMENT:

Drug Therapy:
Hair loss due to male pattern baldness may be treated with MINOXIDIL, A reformulation of a blood pressure medication that causes excessive growth of a scalp, and body hair in side effect. It is now prescribed as a topical lotion which is applied daily on scalp.
It takes several months to show the results, and only about 1/3 of men experience significant hair re-growth. The new hair ll be finer and thinner than normal, and the drug must be used continously to show great results.
Alopecia areata can sometimes be halted by applying a topical STEROID or injecting it into the scalp to lower the immune system attack on hair follicles.

PLASTIC SURGERY:
Two procedures are now available. The oldest is HAIR TRANSPLANTATION, in which small circles, or plugs, of skin containing healthy hair follicles are transplanted from the back and sides of the head to the balding site. If plugs take, they continue to grow hair. Surgery is usually done in stages, but sometimes entire strips of skin with hair can be moved.
The second approach is scalp reduction, in which a surgeon removes an oval-shaped piece of scalp from the top of the head, then pulls the part of the scalp that still contains hair upward to fill in the missing piece.

HERBAL TREATMENT:
Balding process can be treated by rubbing an onion juice on the scalp and then exposing it under sun.


MEASURES FOR REDUCING BALDNESS:
Never brush your wet hair
comb gently by using a large tooth comb
always use a mild shampoo
use warm water, never hot
rinse with cool water
avoid gels, sprays
avoid perming, blow dry, colouring

OTHER CAUSES OF HAIR LOSS:
diseases that often produce hair loss include lupus, thyroid insufficiency, and scleroderma, a hardening of the skin.
A high fever, radiation exposure, and certain drugs, especially cancer chemotherapy, also produce hair loss.