Hair Loss – Causes, Types and Prevention

According to data from the American Hair Loss Association, nearly 95% of American men experience hair loss, with over eight million seeking treatment for it. Among women, approximately one-third worldwide suffer from female pattern hair loss. Hair loss has become a prevalent issue affecting the majority of people. Faced with clumps of falling hair, what should one do? Below, we will guide you through understanding how to salvage hair loss from the perspectives of causes, types, and treatments.

Why Does Hair Loss Occur?

In Western medicine, common and well-known hair loss conditions include male pattern baldness and alopecia areata. The main reasons include genetic predisposition, the influence of androgens, immune system disorders, as well as significant psychological stress, allergic predisposition, and environmental and lifestyle factors. Commonly used medications for treating hair loss, such as finasteride and minoxidil, have certain efficacy in preventing hair loss, but long-term use may lead to side effects. Additionally, treatments such as injections, laser therapy, microneedling, and surgical procedures like hair transplantation are often employed based on the patient’s condition and desired outcomes.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), hair is considered a surplus of blood, and hair loss is related to deficiency of qi and blood in the body. The “kidneys store essence, govern bones, produce marrow, and their luster is reflected in the hair.” Thus, the growth and shedding of hair are closely related to the abundance or decline of kidney essence. TCM has a history of understanding hair loss for thousands of years. Ancient scholars left behind a wealth of classic prescriptions for treating hair diseases, as well as various treatment methods.

Through in-depth exploration by modern TCM practitioners, repeated summarization, and extraction of TCM treatment schemes for hair diseases, a combination of various traditional techniques such as Chinese herbal medicine, moxibustion, acupuncture and gua sha is organically integrated. Combined with acupuncture and medication, internal and external treatments are combined, personalized treatment and overall regulation are emphasized, fully utilizing the treatment characteristics of TCM targeting multiple aspects and balancing the overall and local conditions.

What Type of Hair Loss Do You Have?

Based on symptoms, there are several subtypes to consider, but specific diagnosis should be confirmed by a qualified physician:
Qi and blood deficiency type:
Includes post-illness hair loss, long-term hair loss, and alopecia totalis or universalis. Often accompanied by fatigue, dizziness, pale complexion, thin body, swollen and tender tongue, and thin and rapid pulse.
Damp-heat internal accumulation type:
Mainly male pattern baldness, often accompanied by oily scalp, itching, fatigue, constipation, yellowish urine, greasy tongue coating, and slippery pulse.
Liver and kidney deficiency type:
Long-standing or recurrent alopecia areata, totalis, and post-illness hair loss, etc. Often accompanied by lumbago, dizziness, tinnitus, spermatorrhea, reddish tongue with scanty saliva, thin tongue coating, and deep, thin, and rapid pulse.
Qi stagnation and blood stasis type:
Includes some cases of alopecia areata and totalis, and mid-term male pattern baldness. Often accompanied by chest stuffiness, pain and distention in the scalp and chest, numbness, purplish tongue or ecchymosis, thin tongue coating, and taut, thin, and rapid pulse.

How to Identify If You Have a Hair Loss Problem?

• If you experience the following symptoms, you should be alert to hair loss problems:
• Suddenly shedding hair in patches
• Receding hairline
• Exposing the scalp on the top of the head
• Widening part line
• Thinning ponytail

Self-test for hair loss (Hair-pulling test):
The standard procedure is to not wash your hair for 5 days, then grab a bunch of hair close to the scalp and gently pull it from the root to the tip. Repeat several times in different areas of the scalp. Normally, one or two hairs may fall out, but if there are consistently five or six hairs or more, it may indicate a problem. Of course, it’s challenging to go 5 days without washing your hair in real life, so randomly pulling hair and noticing more than 2 hairs each time should raise concerns.

How to Prevent Hair Loss in Daily Life?

Scalp massage:
Combing the hair is something we do every day, but many people simply comb their hair without really massaging the scalp. In fact, scalp massage is very helpful for promoting hair growth and improving scalp blood circulation. The correct method of scalp massage should be: combing 100-200 times a day, starting from the forehead, passing through the hairline, all the way to the back of the neck and the hair roots. By stimulating the hair follicles, scalp blood vessel flow can be improved, thereby promoting hair growth.

Early to bed and early to rise:
“The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon” says: “In the autumn, this is called collecting and consolidating, the weather is urgent, the earth is clear. Go to bed and get up early, rise with the chickens, keep the mind peaceful, and mitigate autumn punishment.” This sentence tells us that autumn is a season of consolidating and replenishing qi and essence. We should learn from the habits of chickens, go to bed and get up early, and maintain adequate sleep to allow the body’s qi and blood to recover and replenish. Although going to bed and getting up early may not directly result in more hair growth, staying up late for a long time can lead to inadequate qi and blood, which affects hair growth. Therefore, cultivating good daily routines is essential for hair care.

Dietary supplementation:
The nutrients for hair come from qi and blood, and the foundation of qi and blood lies in the kidneys. Therefore, nourishing the kidneys is essential for hair growth. We can supplement the kidney qi through dietary means to make the hair thicker and shinier. One method is to drink a concoction called “Five Black Soy Milk,” which includes black soybeans, black sesame seeds, black rice, walnut kernels, and black goji berries. These ingredients can be blended together with water using a soy milk machine to create the drink. Five Black Soy Milk is not only nutritious but also enhances kidney qi, promoting hair growth.

Hair washing method:
Instead of using regular shampoo, I use a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) hair washing method. This method effectively improves the scalp environment and promotes hair growth. The specific herbs used include Cypress leaf, prepared Polygonum multiflorum, dried ginger, Artemisia leaf, and tea seed powder. These herbs can be purchased online and then combined in certain proportions. Boil them in water and use the resulting solution to wash the hair. (Cypress leaf can remove local grease and improve scalp blood circulation; Polygonum multiflorum has the function of tonifying the liver and kidneys, promoting hair growth; ginger can stimulate scalp congestion, accelerate blood circulation, and provide sufficient nutrients for hair; tea seed powder and Artemisia leaf can remove oil, cleanse, relieve itching, and repair hair quality, and remove dandruff.)

Avoid excessive stress and tension:
Excessive stress and tension can affect the balance of the body’s hormones, thereby affecting hair growth. Therefore, in daily life and work, we need to learn to regulate our emotions, maintain a calm mood, and avoid excessive stress.

Moderate exercise:
Moderate exercise can promote blood circulation and enhance physical fitness, which is beneficial for hair growth. We can choose suitable forms of exercise such as walking, yoga, swimming, etc., and engage in moderate exercise every day.

Avoid excessive perming and dyeing:
Excessive perming and dyeing can damage the hair, causing it to become dry, brittle, and even fall out. Therefore, we should try to avoid frequent perming and dyeing to protect the health of the hair.

Regular hair trimming:
Regular hair trimming can remove split ends and damaged hair, promoting healthy hair growth. At the same time, it can stimulate the scalp and promote hair growth.

Use natural hair care products:
Many shampoos and conditioners on the market contain chemical ingredients that can harm the hair and scalp. Therefore, we can choose natural, additive-free hair care products to protect the health of the hair and scalp.

By understanding the causes, types, and prevention methods of hair loss, we can better protect the health of our hair and reduce the troubles caused by hair loss. Whether it’s Western medicine or traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment methods, it requires us to fundamentally adjust our lifestyle, pay attention to the balance of diet, rest, mentality, and other aspects, in order to truly achieve the prevention and treatment of hair loss. I hope everyone can have a healthy and thick head of hair, and confidently face various challenges in life.