What to Look for in a Natural Hair Loss Treatment

Natural hair loss treatments are rising quickly in popularity over some of the more “traditional” hair loss formulas that are largely chemical-based. Some of today’s products are being touted as “miracle” solutions. Others appear to be little more than “snake oil.” It can be confusing at best and difficult at worst to find a natural hair loss treatment that really produces results. To understand how a natural hair loss treatment should work, it’s important to understand how hair grows, and what causes it to stop growing.

Every person, regardless of race, sex or genetics, is born with a certain number of hair follicles. That number does not change with time, age or disease. What does change is how those follicles continue to work (or stop working) over time.

Each hair follicle produces cells which become hair. As more cells are produced, the cells group together and get pushed up and out through the individual follicles. Once the cells burst through the surface of the skin, they are considered to be “dead.” (This is why hair does not hurt when it is cut.) The only part of the hair that actually contains live cells is the root, the part that lies underneath the surface of the skin.

Baldness occurs when a number of hair follicles stop producing new hair cells. The existing live cells eventually get pushed up and out, and then quickly fall out altogether because they are dead. No new hair takes its place.

Follicles can stop producing new cells for a number of reasons. They may temporarily stop manufacturing due to illness or environmental factors, or to extenuating circumstances, such as chemotherapy treatment for cancer.

More often, they cease production because of hormonal and/or genetic factors. Many men experience a type of permanent baldness known as androgenic alopecia, also known as Male Pattern Baldness, or MPB. Women can also suffer permanent baldness known as Female Pattern Baldness, or FPB, though it is less common than MPB in men.

MPB is believed to have its roots in genetics. All men tend to lose hair over time, but men with male family members who experience MPB moderately to severely are more prone to experience it themselves. The causes of FPB are less clear, and probably relate more to environmental factors and hormonal changes than genetics.

MPB and FPB were once thought to be permanent conditions. However, drug treatments have been developed over the years that have been successful at reversing MPB and FPB. Until recently, most of these treatments have been chemically-based, making many users wary of taking or applying them.

Today, newer treatments have been and are being developed that are more herbal-based. These treatments use various combinations of herbs and natural ingredients that have historically been associated with hair re-growth.

An effective natural hair loss treatment does not cause new hair follicles to grow. Instead, it works by “waking up” dormant existing hair follicles, causing them to begin producing hair cells again as they once did.

To find a natural hair loss treatment that works, look for ingredients that have been known to be used successfully for re-growing hair. Some of these ingredients include saw palmetto, stinging nettle, henna and even vitamin B6. These herbs, when balanced correctly with one another and with other proven hair re-growth supplements, have been reported by many users to successfully re-stimulate growth in follicles.