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Natural Awakenings Lehigh Valley

Holistic Hair Regrowth Therapy

Hair loss is a distressing health condition affecting our appearance and the way we relate to ourselves. A period of distress, aging, or an underlying health condition can result in the body’s inability to allocate its finite resources to grow hair.

Hair growth is an extension of what Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) calls Blood. Different from western medicine’s “blood”, it carries nourishment, which all cells (including hair follicles) need to grow and divide.

Your body is shedding hair in an act of conservation. It has limited Blood and is diverting it to the most essential organs: heart, liver, lungs, etc. Those are more important than hair.

Hair loss can be a warning sign of a body’s developing imbalance. Scalp can be irritated and full of dandruff, or pale and lacking vigor, indicating toxic or deficient Blood. Neither scalp type provides hair follicles with an adequate Blood supply.

To regrow hair naturally and safely, focus on correcting the underlying body imbalance. Acupuncture, herbs, nutrition and lifestyle changes clean and nourish. After the imbalance is corrected, scalp-specific treatments may regrow hair.

An acupuncture needle roller (dermaroller) directs blood flow to the scalp by creating micro-irritations. The body responds by creating a micro-bruise increasing blood flow to that area. The dermaroller uses our body’s natural healing response to direct blood to the scalp. Its effectiveness can be increased by applying minoxidil (Rogaine). A pilot study showed 82% of patients experienced greater than 50% regrowth after three months.

The conventional medical community also uses finasteride (Propecia). One third of patients have found them both effective, but Rogaine has a better safety profile. Rogaine, originally developed for hypertension, increases blood flow to hair follicles by relaxing the smooth muscle in the local blood vessels. It acts locally on the scalp and generally does not affect the rest of the body. Propecia is a pill that acts on the whole body. It inhibits DHT, a byproduct of testosterone. Potential side effects include depression and sexual dysfunction.

Regrowth treatment is most effective if hair loss is in the early to moderate stages. If the hair follicles are inactive for more than five years, reactivation is less likely.

For more information Dr. Mikael Brucker, ND., Lac. Can be contacted at Lehigh Valley Acupuncture.