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Suggest Treatment For Thinning Of Hair

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Posted on Wed, 23 Jul 2014
Question: Experiencing hair fall due to which my hair is thinning. What can I do to stop hairfall and more importantly increase hair volume.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Sanjay Kumar Kanodia (13 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
Kindly elaborate your query

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Welcome and thanks for posting your query to the forum.

I can understand your concern for hair fall with hair thinning and I am quite empathic for the same.

To help you better kindly elaborate your concern in terms of :

- how many hair fall everyday.

- Do you see any bald patches on scalp or is it a diffuse hair fall all over the scalp.

- Any illness or any stressful event in last 1 year.

- tell me more about your occupation, daily routine and dietary routine.

- Any substance abuse like alcohol or smoking.

If at all you see any bald patches then kindly send good resolution pictures of both the sides focusing the area of concern which can be seen on higher magnification. For uploading the pictures you have a facility on the right side of the page or can send on:

YYYY@YYYY

with "attention:Dr Sanjay Kumar Kanodia"

Hope to hear soon from your side.

With regards,

Dr Sanjay Kumar Kanodia
MD- Dermatology
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Sanjay Kumar Kanodia (20 hours later)
Daily Hair fall trend is approx 30-40
There are no bald patches, it is rather a diffuse hair fall specially on of the scalp, the hair on the sides and back of the head is still quite thick.
My scalp is pretty itchy and the maximum hairfall is happening in the middle of the scalp.
No one in my family is bald, my father at the age of 60 still has thick mop of hair on his head.

In terms of illness, in Dec 2012 i had undergone a surgery for cyst formation on my jaws for which i was under serious medication for a month.
Other than than there has been no illness in the last year or so.
My job profile is pretty stressful as I am in the telecom industry and that too in the Marketing Department. My work hours are pretty long (arnd 11-12 hrs)
Dietary routine is pretty simple- I have home made food mostly during the week, only on weekends do I go out with my family and eat out.

As for substance abuse- I used to smoke till a year back, but now I am in the process of quitting. In the last 6 mths I have been having not more than 1 cigarette a week.
I do consume alcohol but not more than 1-2 days a week, and that too mostly beer.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Sanjay Kumar Kanodia (12 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Telogen effluvium; Diet+ daily and dietary routine

Detailed Answer:
Hello young man,

Welcome again and thanks for posting your important details of the query.

After analyzing your query completely, I can make out two problems:

I can make out that you are suffering from the problem of "Telogen effluvium" with itching due to mild dandruff.

To tell you simply about "Telogen effluvium" let me explain you some medical facts regarding this type of hair fall.

We have a hair cycle divided into three parts:

1. Growing phase (Anagen): more than 85 -90 % of hair are in this phase.

2. Senescence phase(Catagen): around less than 10 % of hair are in this phase and is the phase before falling.

3. Falling phase (Telogen ): a very few percentage of hair. We have almost 1 lac hair on our scalp and amongst them few percent of hair are in falling phase and then another 0.1% (around 50-100) of hair can fall everyday.

In certain conditions such as long term illness or any stressful event and medications, some more of the hair may come in falling phase. These extra of the hair which comes in senescence are actually visible as falling hair and we call this condition as telogen effluvium.

The reason for the acute turning of growing hair to telogen hair is due to the complete changes in body after illness or stress. This can start any time after 3-6 months of illness and remains for few months after its beginning.

Additionally there is mild itching which might be due slight dandruff or poor scalp hygiene.

Now regarding the part of treatment: For the betterment kindly follow the suggestions below:

1. Eat at least 3-4 different fruits saplings per day. Every fruit is good but you can make a combination of sour with sweet fruits such as oranges, papaya and other of seasonal fruits.

2. Pulses are good source of proteins. So everyday have a small bowel full of mixed pulses. Add green leafy vegetables additionally in the pulses which contain lot of iron and vitamins in it.

3. Sprouts are the best source of fibres, minerals especially iron, vitamins and proteins too. So add it at-least alternate day if you cannot make in every-day's part of meal.

4. Overnight soaked and peeled almonds will give you good vitamin E which is good for the hair growth.

5. Milk and milk products should be included in every-day's schedule.

6. Do light exercises, reduce your stress as all these have bit impact on skin so also on scalp skin.

If I were your dermatologist then would have prescribed you tablet containing Acetylcysteine, Calcium Pantothenate, Selenium, Zinc, Biotin, Copper as active ingredients. You can take these vitamins in the form of biotin, calicium pantothenate and other vitamin B complexes . Other than this an iron supplementation in diet and in tablet form is also helpful.

Additionally there can be an impact of "male pattern baldness" due to our male hormones but this issue appears to be less as you are getting diffuse hair loss and not a pattern hair loss form the front of scalp.

Itching problem can be due mild dandruff. I suggest you certain important tips for good hair routine:

For the remedy part follow the things below:

1.Wash your scalp daily. I guide my patients to wash twice in a single bath. It means when you are washing your scalp apply first time shampoo for washing the hair part only, then rinse it off immediately with water. Reapply the shampoo again immediately, leave it for around 5 minutes, do a good gentle massage by your fingers for around 2 minutes and then wash it off. By doing so for around 7 days you will get good benefit in itching.

2. Stick to one good shampoo which is suiting your hair, don’t change the shampoos frequently. If you are using any conditioner also then to be used over the strands of hair only and not over the scalp skin. There is no difference of shampoos, the only part is to use good company shampoos such as Laureal or Tresemme shampoo. IF the dandruff is too high then you can use any medicated shampoo containing Ketoconazole in it.

3.Do not use any kind of scented hair oil or any oily or creamy stuff any time on your scalp.

4.Comb your hair at least 3-4 times a day and most importantly at night time so that the dust particle and other of dead skin is taken off.

Hair fall control takes atleast minimum 3 months so have patience and follow good diet and daily routine to get best hair growth again.

Hope these informations will help you. If you have further queries I will be happy to help.

"Wish you good health"

Regards,
Dr Sanjay Kumar Kanodia
MD (Dermatology)
Note: Hope the answers resolves your concerns, however for further guidance of skin related queries consult our Dermatologist.Click here to book a consultation

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
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Answered by
Dr.
Dr. Sanjay Kumar Kanodia

Dermatologist

Practicing since :2002

Answered : 4165 Questions

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Suggest Treatment For Thinning Of Hair

Brief Answer: Kindly elaborate your query Detailed Answer: Hello, Welcome and thanks for posting your query to the forum. I can understand your concern for hair fall with hair thinning and I am quite empathic for the same. To help you better kindly elaborate your concern in terms of : - how many hair fall everyday. - Do you see any bald patches on scalp or is it a diffuse hair fall all over the scalp. - Any illness or any stressful event in last 1 year. - tell me more about your occupation, daily routine and dietary routine. - Any substance abuse like alcohol or smoking. If at all you see any bald patches then kindly send good resolution pictures of both the sides focusing the area of concern which can be seen on higher magnification. For uploading the pictures you have a facility on the right side of the page or can send on: YYYY@YYYY with "attention:Dr Sanjay Kumar Kanodia" Hope to hear soon from your side. With regards, Dr Sanjay Kumar Kanodia MD- Dermatology