Hair’s to your crowning glory
A beautiful mane is a woman’s crowning glory, often adding volumes to her charms, confidence and looks. If cinema is a reflection of life, Alizeh (Anushka Sharma's character in Karan Johar’s recent movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) flaunts a wavy attractive hairstyle in the first half, but her confidence takes a beating when she loses her hair due to chemotherapy, often hiding her bald scalp under caps. According to a recent study by Quan Q Dinh and Rodney Sinclair (Department of Dermatology, Australia), more than 55% women experience hair loss, and at least 25%of these are suffering from severe hair loss or Female Pattern Hair Loss (FPHL) as it is called. Hence, balding is not just a man’s issue, as commonly perceived. It affects a woman’s confidence, self –esteem and social life greatly.Leading dermatologist, Dr Deepali Bhardwaj, suggests some safe ways for a woman if she is experiencing severe hair loss.
Men Vs. Women
In terms of hair, men and women are wired differently. While a man loses hair from the front, hair loss in a woman is mostly from the sides (Temporal Region). This is nature’s way to ensure that a woman always has some hair on her head that she can style to cover the scalp. Another major difference is in the way donor hairs(that can be transplanted) are placed on a man and woman’s scalp. While men have donor hair on the back of their scalp, women have them scattered all over their scalp. So, there is no way for a doctor to be sure whether a hair is of donor quality or not in a woman till now, across the world. This means that Hair Transplant is not a scientifically advisable option for women.
Women-Friendly Techniques
However, science has come out with other safe and promising options for women. Life the PRP (platelet-rich plasma). In this option, blood is taken from the patient's body, infused with growth factors and then injected back to the woman’s scalp. It is very safe, as it is your own blood that is injected and gives 100 percent results. This process can be done once a month and results begin to show just after one sitting. Another popular option is the Hair Vitamin injection. Through this process, we inject Biotin (Vitamin H) into the scalp and it helps the hair to grow back. This is also very safe and can be done once in three months.
Lifestyle Change
A lot of women in their 30s and 40s are experiencing pre-mature hair loss these days because of excessive stress, pollution and unhealthy diet,” shares Dr.Bhardwaj. So, along with medical treatments, it is also important to take care of one's diet. It is important for women to include vitamins (especially D and H) in their diet along with minerals like iron, magnesium, zinc and calcium in their diet. So, increase foods like fish, egg white, spinach, broccoli and lotus stem in raw orsauté form to get maximum nutrition for your hair. It is also important to use a mild shampoo once or twice a week. “The fancy Keratin based spas and hair smoothening treatments are actually damaging your hair in the long run and increasing balding. So opt for simple home remedies like a curd mask for smooth hair instead. A mix of onion juice and mustard seed powder applied overnight also decreases hair fall,” she advises. “But do not oil your hair as oiling can block the pores and increase dandruff, thereby increasing hair fall,” she says, breaking one of the oldest myths related to hair care.