stop hair loss

Although the hair loss industry generates worldwide revenues of several billion US dollars, there seem to be only a few options proven to deliver measurable results. One such option is hair transplantation. Hair transplant surgery alone is estimated to make revenues of three billion dollars from the nearly 300,000 hair transplants that are expected to be performed around the world this year. In addition to that, there are billions of dollars to be made annually from the sales of diverse hair loss products. But how many of them really work? One would not be exaggerating to suggest that 90% of all non-surgical, hair loss treatments are a scam. Having said that, billions of dollars are spent every year wastefully on useless rubbish. One thing is wasting money and the other no less important thing is losing the battle against time while the hair loss continues to advance, most likely becoming irreversible. But how can you tell which treatment is a waste of time and money without trying it out?

Once you have pinpointed the product you are considering trying, check the independent consumer reviews to get a basic understanding of its effectiveness. Do not use testimonials at the manufacturer’s website, they are most likely fake. It is best-advised to use references from large independent websites such as Folica, Amazon, GreyHairLoss or RateItAll and crosscheck with reviews at various hair loss forums. Since it is difficult to recognise right away who is telling the truth and who is cheating, you will need to come back and check again here once you have done your research and gained a better understanding of the product and its individual components.

As a second step, you should look at the composition of the remedy you are considering buying. If you cannot find the list of individual active substances, ask the manufacturer to provide it. If they fail to provide you the required breakdown, consider it a scam. You need to check the stories behind active substances and if you wish to get a really good insight into their science, you must verify references to clinical trials and peer studies. This is probably the most difficult and the most time-consuming part of this job.

The third thing you will need to do is to check the manufacturer’s claims of effectiveness. If they sound unsubstantiated and too good to be true or the before and after pictures look unrealistic, be careful. And lastly, if the product you are looking at is promoted on the web, as most of them these days are, check on the site and in the whois directory who is behind the website promoting it. If the name of the owner is hidden behind a whois guard, apply a deep discount to your valuation. Any person or company that truly believes in its product will be proud to have its name and address attached to that product.

Though these tips may not be completely exhaustive, they should help you in assessing the potential of the hair loss product you are considering buying and might save you frustration with wasting time and money on useless rubbish. If you have tried certain hair loss products already and want to share you experience, there are several places where you can have your word spread and heard by other hair loss sufferers, such as the aforementioned Amazon, Folica, GreyHairLoss and RateItAll, to name just a few.

Alopecia areata happens to be an unpredictable hair disease affecting about two percent of the world’s population and is the second most common type of hair loss after hereditary baldness. It is often called spot baldness or patch baldness due to its patchy, balding pattern. In severe cases, it can affect the whole scalp (alopecia totalis) or the entire body (alopecia universalis). It is not known what causes alopecia areata. It is thought to be an autoimmune disease triggered by a person’s autoimmune system, which decides to attack its own hair follicles. Sometimes the hair grows back a few years later and stays and sometimes it falls out again. Although there is no treatment for alopecia areata that works completely, some treatments have been proven to improve this condition. The most popular treatment option, which does not require a doctor’s prescription, is topical minoxidil, such as Rogaine. It can be used alone or in combination with other medicinal treatments that will be discussed later.

The best known prescription treatments for alopecia areata are corticosteroid shots, injected straight into the bald spot, and steroid gels and creams. Corticosteroid injections are a more effective but also the more painful option of the two. The objective of this approach is to suppress the autoimmune reaction but it has been proven to work only on small bald spots. Another common treatment for small bald spots, which is believed to affect the autoimmune reaction, is the application of topical anthralin. Anthralin is a tar-like substance used to treat psoriasis.

Topical immunotherapy is the most common form of treatment for extensive alopecia areata. It employs an immunosuppressant such as cyclosporine that is applied to the skin to cause a skin reaction similar to mild eczema, which in some cases leads to hair re-growth. This method is also the most radical form of treatment, causing an array of negative side effects.

Another existing treatment for extensive alopecia areata is PUVA, which stands for "psoralen plus ultraviolet A radiation", consisting of a topical or oral application of psoralen, followed by ultraviolet radiation treatment. This method is better tolerated than topical immunotherapy but is also less effective.

A recently conducted study with sulfasalazine also spells some promise for patients with severe cases of alopecia areata. Sulfasalazine is an anti-inflammatory medication used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and is hoped to be soon used to treat alopecia areata.

This is the list of the most commonly prescribed medicinal treatments for alopecia areata. There obviously is a number of other alternative therapies that are claimed to improve this condition and do not require a doctor’s visit. Consumers should be aware that none of such products has ever been clinically shown to be effective in treating alopecia areata and such claims are possible only because these products are not regulated pharmaceuticals but non-regulated cosmetics.