3 Over The Counter Solutions To Combat Female Hair Loss
Female hair loss can be triggered by multiple events in a women’s life. Perhaps you’re stressed out at a new job, experience hair loss during a pregnancy, or have momentarily hair loss due to an iron deficiency. When your body undergoes a traumatic experience such as depression, malnutrition, or childbirth, it impacts your hair growth.
What happens during these traumas is that 90% of the hair on your scalp immediately goes from the growing stage or transitional stage to the resting phase. This prevents additional growth and if your hair follicles are resting, your hair tends to thin out. Once you come out on the other side of one of these particular stages in your life, however, your hair growth could potentially get healthier in the few months following.
All it takes in the case of an iron deficiency, perhaps, is months of taking iron supplements. Even after a pregnancy, as long as you take care of yourself and maintain a balanced diet, your hair growth will go back to normal in no time.
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple for women who experience chronic female hair loss. Since it’s not just a moment in time for many women, they may be diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia, the medical term for diffuse thinning all over your scalp. This condition stems from a hormonal imbalance in your body, which may increase the action of androgens or testosterone, which are normally present but at lower levels. While female hair loss can be hereditary, it’s not always mom or dad’s fault if you start to lose hair.
Rather than blaming your parents for bad genes, consider trying these over the counter solutions in your struggle before you resort to hairpieces for women:
- Minoxidil
Originally developed to treat high blood pressure, Minoxidil is the only FDA hair loss treatment approved by the FDA for women. The most well-known product with this ingredient on the market is Rogaine, which helps generate hair growth for both men and women. In fact, the product has an 85% chance to stimulate new hair growth over a 2 year period.
The medical world once believed that minoxidil increases blood flow to your hair follicles to stimulate and prolong hair growth cycles. However, a more recent study conducted by L’Oreal suggests that minoxidil activates prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase-1, which helps promote hair growth. The actual reality of how the solution stimulates hair growth is still a bit of a mystery, but most women trust the product’s results when it comes to female hair loss.
In tests carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of topical minoxidil on women, 2 out of 3 women were evaluated by physicians to have shown some level of regrowth. While it may take four to six months of daily use for most women to see noticeable results, it’s a solution many women try because there aren’t any serious side effects. Like any hair growth product, however, results vary for each person.
Typically, minoxidil will cause women to shed hair for the first two weeks to 1 month after they start using the product. After this initial shedding, a new hair growth cycle begins. New growth may be soft and light at first, but as long as you continue to use the treatment daily, it will increase the number of follicles in the growth phase and eventually result in thicker, fuller hair.
The thing about using this treatment is that you have to keep it up. If you stop using the treatment after seeing results within 6 months, your newly grown hair will begin to thin out and shed. Therefore, this treatment requires you to be consistent with its use. While hairpieces for women are a one-time solution to hair loss, treatments with minoxidil only work if you permanently integrate its application into your daily routine.
As the name suggests, this dermatologically-tested hair loss solution aims at reviving hair growth. This product uses all-natural ingredients to prevent your hair from falling out and promote new hair growth as the shedding slows down. The three part solution includes scalp therapy, bio-cleansing shampoo, and a thickening conditioner which makes it easy to integrate into your daily hair care routine.
A direct response to treat genetic hair loss for women, this solution blocks the androgen receptors and prevents testosterone from making it to the hair follicles. High levels of testosterone produce dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is the main contributing hormone that results in chronic hair loss in women. Revivogen stimulates hair follicles by activating and lengthening their growth phase, effectively stimulating hair growth because it blocks the conversion of testosterone to DHT.
Typically, the solution will stop female hair loss within a month of regular use. Within 3 months, most women notice a significant amount of regrowth. Over time, women that see positive results find their hair becomes thicker and healthier.
Another three part solution, Nioxin includes a cleanser shampoo, scalp therapy conditioner and scalp treatment, which is left in the hair after the use of the shampoo and conditioner. The brand offers a range of other products as well including a hair masque, deep conditioner, and styling products that reduce hair loss due to breakage and guarantee denser looking hair.
What the products do is remove the excess sebum, dirt and debris that clog hair follicles. This creates a healthy scalp environment, which is necessary for healthy hair growth. The solution focuses on the hair strands and has proteins that strengthen your hair and produce thicker hair growth.
According to their site, 70% of users notice thicker, denser hair in just four weeks, as long as they use the 3-part solution on a daily basis. Results can take up to 3 months to show and like the other solutions mentioned, it must be used consistently if you want it to keep working.
These topical solutions may not have provided you the results you hoped for, or maybe they require a strict level of commitment to ensure steady results that seems intensive. An easier alternative to topical solutions are hairpieces for women. If you have tried these solutions to treat your female hair loss and are considering a hair replacement system instead, contact our team of stylists at 3rd Dimension. We offer consultations with our stylists to ensure that you are comfortable, and we have a range of style choices if you decide to try hair replacement solutions for women.
