Ginger, vitamin B6, anti-dropping shampoo...
These "anti-stripping artifacts" can't stop the pain of "bald"
Refute rumors
◎Reporter Chen Xi
If there is a list of facial anxiety, the "killer" of appearance-hair loss is definitely on the list.
Related surveys show that the number of people with hair loss in my country has reached 300 million, of which 69.8% are people under the age of 30.
The higher and higher hairline not only has an impact on the appearance, but also brings about troubles: blind dates are rejected, interviews are picky... In order to get rid of the troubles of "baldness", "hair loss stars" have tried their best .
On many social networking platforms on the Internet, some netizens have exposed their own "artifacts": ginger, vitamin B6... can these "artifacts" really retain hair?
To this end, a reporter from Science and Technology Daily interviewed relevant experts to help you solve your puzzles one by one.
Folk remedies: not only ineffective but also harmful
Many people think that eating black sesame seeds or applying ginger and vitamin B6 to the hair loss area can prevent hair loss.
“Smearing ginger does have a hair growth effect in the records of traditional medicine, but modern scientific research has confirmed that if you want ginger to be effective for external use, you must adjust the ginger juice to an appropriate concentration. The concentration is too high or too low.” Tianjin Traditional Chinese Medicine Zhan Qingxia, chief physician of the Department of Dermatology and "Hair" Special Disease Clinic of the Affiliated Hospital of the Academy, said in an interview with a reporter from Science and Technology Daily that when the concentration of ginger juice is too high, its main active ingredients will cause the apoptosis of hair follicle dermal cells, thereby inhibiting hair. Growth.
Therefore, it is definitely unscientific for people with hair loss to apply ginger to the hair loss area at home.
Many people think that hair loss is related to the lack of certain vitamins in the body, so they hope to treat hair loss by supplementing with vitamins or applying vitamin B6.
In this regard, Zhan Qingxia said that oral B vitamins are helpful to the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis, but topical vitamin B6 treatment of hair loss does not have any scientific basis, and there will be no obvious curative effect.
"Among the various vitamins, vitamin C is an antioxidant. Maintaining its normal intake is effective in preventing and treating hair loss caused by iron deficiency; vitamin D has anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects, and is effective in promoting the health of hair follicles. Certain help." Zhan Qingxia said that although from a single study, maintaining a balanced vitamin level in the body is helpful to the treatment of hair loss, but there is no definite evidence to verify this, so everyone should not take a lot of vitamins to prevent hair loss.
Many "hair loss stars" also hope to achieve the purpose of preventing hair loss through dietary supplements. For example, the most common remedy is to consume black sesame seeds.
"Although there is no scientific basis for consuming black sesame seeds to prevent shedding, there are not a few patients who are clinically convinced of this." Zhan Qingxia said that black sesame seeds do not contain any anti-dropping ingredients, and they contain a lot of oils and fats. For patients with hair loss caused by seborrheic dermatitis, a large amount of consumption will increase sebum overflow and make the hair loss more serious.
Anti-dropping shampoo: it is difficult to take effect in short contact with hair
In the treatment of hair loss, many people also hope that some shampoos claim to have anti-dropping ingredients, trying to achieve the purpose of preventing hair loss and hair growth through daily shampoo.
"The so-called anti-hair loss shampoo is to add some drugs to treat hair loss in ordinary shampoo." Zhan Qingxia introduced that this kind of shampoo is cosmetic and may play a role in protecting the hair, but the shampoo is in contact with the hair and scalp. The time is very short, and the concentration of anti-dropping drugs added to the shampoo is generally low, so it is impossible to achieve the purpose of anti-dropping or hair growth only by using the anti-dropping shampoo.
In addition to shampoo, some people even buy topical medicines for hair loss from pharmacies and apply them at home.
Recently, some netizens posted the "minoxidil" that they found on the Internet, and provided them with experience.
Minoxidil is a vasodilator. If used locally for a long time, it can stimulate hair growth in patients with male pattern baldness and alopecia areata.
"Generally speaking, no matter what type of hair loss, external use of minoxidil is effective in principle." Zhan Qingxia said that the reason why it is effective in principle is that if you want to achieve a better use effect, it must be effective. One premise-the scalp and hair follicles have not been destroyed.
Minoxidil must rely on the sulfotransferase in the hair follicles to be converted into minoxidil sulfate, thereby stimulating hair growth.
The common minoxidil liniment has a concentration of 3% and 5%, and they are used in different types of hair loss.
"In our country, minoxidil is a prescription drug, and patients may have side effects during use, so be sure to understand the indications and contraindications before use." Zhan Qingxia suggested that it is best to go to a professional department of a regular hospital and have a doctor After the prescription is written, follow the doctor's advice to use, do not buy it by yourself, or apply it at will.
Expert Weapon: First analyze the cause of hair loss and then talk about treatment
So, what is the cause of hair loss?
The most common among men is androgenetic alopecia, commonly known as seborrheic alopecia, which is caused by abnormal male hormones in the body.
The cause of androgenic alopecia is unknown, and may be related to heredity, androgen metabolism disorders, and strong sebum secretion.
Women also have androgenetic alopecia, because women also secrete androgens in their bodies.
But fortunately, most female hair loss will not be as "particularly obvious" as men do.
The main types of female hair loss are aging alopecia and telogen alopecia.
Among them, aging alopecia mainly occurs in women a few years after menopause, and the hair density decreases.
"The cause of women's hair loss during perimenopause and menopause may be genetically related, or may be related to changes in systemic hormones." Zhan Qingxia explained.
Telogen hair loss mainly refers to the hair loss that occurs when a woman's body metabolism changes, such as pregnancy, malnutrition, and stress, which will cause a large number of hairs to enter the resting phase abnormally at the same time.
"In women's normal scalp, 90% to 95% of the hair follicles are in the growth phase, and the remaining 5% to 10% are in the resting phase, and about 50 to 100 hairs fall off every day." Zhan Qingxia introduced, fever, infection, severe and severe Long-term mental stress can cause telogen alopecia. Dieting is also a common cause of telogen alopecia. Endocrine diseases such as hypothyroidism and hyperparathyroidism are also one of the triggers. In addition, taking special drugs can also cause telogen alopecia. .
In addition, there is also a kind of alopecia areata (commonly known as "ghost shaving") related to the autoimmune system, which is also common in clinical practice. The incidence is about 2%. It can be expressed as oval hair loss patches or head hair. Total loss (total baldness), or hair loss all over the body (general baldness).
So, how should "hair loss stars" prevent hair loss scientifically?
"In the treatment of hair loss, you should not be eager to achieve success, and rush to the doctor. First, analyze the type of hair loss, the cause of the hair loss, and conduct a systematic inspection." Zhan Qingxia introduced that in clinical practice, the commonly used auxiliary inspections of the scalp and hair follicles include whole head photography and hair pulling. Tests and hair microscopy, etc.
For young female patients, sex hormone examination and ovarian ultrasound examination are also required.
If diffuse hair loss occurs, tests such as ferritin and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) can be performed to rule out hair loss due to anemia and abnormal thyroid function.
In terms of treatment, targeted treatment should be carried out based on the diagnosis.
For example, for patients whose hair follicles have not completely shrunk, external use of minoxidil and oral antiandrogen drugs can be used for treatment; for patients with complete atrophy and necrosis of hair follicles, hair transplantation can be performed to plant healthy occipital hair follicle resources in the hair loss area; For the early and mid-term hair follicle atrophy, photochemical, excimer laser, photodynamic and other treatments can be performed to promote hair follicle growth and improve the scalp environment.