Hair loss is a well documented and extremely common medical condition that afflicts millions of people with no discrimination of timing. Its impact is profound and far-reaching, across gender and age, and it is a stigma that has a significant bearing on an individual’s confidence and identity. The emotional strain and psychological effects can deeply affect the quality of life, because, in a society where one’s appearance informs personal and professional interactions, sufferers of hair loss may experience a sense of premature aging and diminished attractiveness, and social dynamics and opportunities are unduly influenced. If you’re wondering if hair loss treatment is possible without medication, the short answer is yes, with solutions that include the use of products like Advanced Hair System amongst others. 

Conventional, well-established solutions like Minoxidil and Finasteride are popular and safe medications that the hair care market has been offering as solutions. However, how well they work still depends on certain factors, and each medication has its own limitations, along with side effects that make them less appealing to many others. For example, many users experience side effects like scalp irritation and dizziness, and even then, the results can vary widely as there isn’t always a satisfying rate of hair regrowth. Additionally, long-term consistency is the key to these medications, and discontinuation often leads to a recurrence of hair loss for the individual. Given these issues, it’s no surprise that there is growing support for, and further research dedicated to, non-medicated solutions for alopecia.

These alternative treatments, be they mildly invasive procedures or topical applications, have been studied and trialled extensively by hair care professionals and dermatologists, and have been found to have higher efficacy rates with more consistent outcomes and favourable results. The treatments are created to be more targeted and to directly resolve the factors behind the loss of hair. For example, hormonal imbalances can trigger hair thinning and shedding, and dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a hormone derived from testosterone, is a main driver behind androgenetic alopecia (AGA). It binds to receptors in the hair follicles, shrinking them and producing brittle hair over time, which makes it susceptible to breakage, so reducing DHT levels helps to mitigate these effects.

More organic treatments like pumpkin seed oil and rosemary oil are natural DHT blockers, with the former having the ability to restrict an enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT, as found by a study published in the Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine journal. The patients who ingested pumpkin seed oil supplements measured for 40% more hair growth as opposed to those who took a placebo, after 24 weeks of treatment. As for rosemary oil, a 2015 study showed that topical applications of it were as effective as Minoxidil in treating AGA, with similar functions of improving blood circulation in the scalp to better promote hair growth. Melatonin is another hormone that can deter excessive DHT and its negative effects. Besides helping to regulate sleep, it is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent when topically applied to the scalp to treat alopecia. Studies have shown that it can boost the efficacy of Minoxidil, and a recent review found that eight out of eleven studies reported positive results with melatonin for hair growth.

Aside from natural treatments, several more invasive procedures can also treat hair loss with a good deal of success. Micrografting is the main technique used in hair transplants, which sources individual hair follicles from a donor area of the scalp to be injected into the balding area. The procedure itself is non-surgical, where the body’s own skin tissue is used to mimic the way that the hair is already growing naturally. Similarly, Plasma Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy is a mildly invasive process that draws a small amount of the patient’s blood out to process into a concentrated platelet mix before re-injecting it into the scalp. These platelets drive growth factors to the damaged hair follicles to restart the hair growth cycle and, as demonstrated in positive results from clinical tests, improve follicle thickness.

Last but not least, is the technique of microneedling, which has been popularised in recent years and involves the use of small needles to puncture microscopic wounds in the scalp. The purpose of this, counteractive though it may seem, is to actively trigger the production of collagen and elastin within the dermal papilla cells. This switches on the recovery and renewal processes while also increasing the absorption rate of topical applications like the professional microneedling serum into the scalp to better support the healing process. Microneedling can be combined with stem cell therapies, which incorporate potent stem cell extracts into the treatment, applying them in the form of serums and creams post-procedure. The ingredients present in the formulaic mix contain various bioactive proteins, growth factors, and exosomes that all work to boost follicle health and, in the case of skin care and hair care brand CALECIM® Professional, lead to a 30-fold reduction in inflammatory signals, a major cause of hair fall. Clinical research has shown that CALECIM®’s stem cell serum formulation, with a proprietary ingredient known as the PTT-6®, also increases the activity of the dermal papilla cells by 24%, and is considered a powerhouse component because of the type of stem cells used and the heavy concentration in it. Calecim’s stem cell hair growth serum, known as Advanced Hair System is an effective female and male hair loss treatment. 

There are multiple effective methods to treat hair loss without medication, ranging from natural oils, to non-surgical procedures, to more advanced therapies involving powerful stem cell extracts. Aesthetic practitioner Kelly Morell from Scalp Confidential notes how many individuals are now turning to stem cell treatments in recent times “because they’re drug and hormone-free, without the side effects of more traditional therapies like minoxidil”. Despite the number of choices available, it is still imperative that a hair care professional or a dermatologist is consulted before a drastic change is made to one’s hair care regimen and a solution is introduced. By understanding how the different types of alternative treatments can affect one’s scalp and follicle health, more informed decisions can be made to better address alopecia conditions and resolve the damage that hair loss causes.

Published by HOLR Magazine.