Dr Farhat Kamal
Abstract:-
Hair fall has become a very concerning issue in current generations. Due to multiple factors, like genetic predisposition, Stressful life, and inadequate diet, many people lose their hair in a very young age.Also the efficacy of hair fall treatment is not satisfactory, and expensive. In such conditions,Homeopathy has proved to be very effective and cheap, if holistic approach is chosen. In this article I will discuss the major cause of hair fall with some effective remedy from J.H.Clarkes materia medica,with suggestion on diet and lifestyle changes.
Causes of hair fall:-
- Heridatory Hair loss:-Also known as “Androgenic Alopecia”. It’s the most common cause of hair loss. It can start as early as in teen ages, but usually starts later in life.
- Age:- With the advancement of age, hair growth slows down. Hair follicles stop growing hair which makes hair on scalp thin.
- Hormonal Cause:- A major cause of hair loss is hormonal imbalance. Various disease conditions such as in polycystic ovarian disease(PCOD), leads to increase level of testosterone (DHT) .Increase DHT level causes hair fall in both male and females.
- Alopecia areata:- It is a disease that develops when the body’s immune system attacks hair follicles (what holds the hair in place), causing hair loss. You can lose hair anywhere on your body, including your scalp, inside your nose, and in your ears. Some people lose their eyelashes or eyebrows.
- Poor Diet:-Poor maintenance of diet especially that is low in proteins, Vitamin C Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin B7 (Biotin), OMEGA-3, OMEGA-6 and ZINC can lead to Hair Loss.
- Medical conditions:- Scalp Psoriasis, STDs, Thyroid disease, Cancer treatment,Depression, Stress, COVID, Ring worm & Dandruff etc can lead to loss of scalp and body hair.
- POST Delivery:- Due to decrease in level of oestrogen women may face hair
loss post delivery. - Hair styles:- tying your hair too tightly may also results into hair loss.
Types of hair fall:-
- Involutional alopecia:- It’s a natural condition in which the hair gradually thins with age. More hair follicles go into the resting phase, and the remaining hairs become shorter and fewer in number.
- Androgenic alopecia:- It is a genetic condition that can affect both men and women. In Men It’s characterized by a receding hairline and gradual disappearance of hair from the crown and frontal scalp.While Women experience a general thinning over the entire scalp, with the most extensive hair loss at the crown.
- Alopecia areata :- It often starts suddenly and causes patchy hair loss in children and young adults.In about 90% of people with the condition, the hair returns within a few years.
- Alopecia universalis:- It causes all body hair to fall out, including the eyebrows, eyelashes, and pubic hair.
- Trichotillomania:- Its a psychological disorder seen most frequently in children, in which a person pulls out one’s own hair.
- Telogen effluvium:- It is temporary hair thinning over the scalp that occurs because of changes in the growth cycle of hair.
Some leading remedies for Hair fall from Dr J. H. Clarke’s Materia Medica:-
Although Homoeopathy always use the holistic approach in every disease conditions,considering the man as a whole,on every dimension of his health.Treatment should never be done on only the name of disease conditions but with the individualization of case.With following medicine taken from Clarke’s Materia Medica, the general features of the medicine must be kept in mind.Only then the treatment will be fruitful.
- Alumina:-Hairs fall out all over body. Dryness of the hair. Itching in the scalp, with profuse desquamation. Eyelashes fall out. With all these symptoms the general picture of Alumina must be considered while selection of medicine.
- Ammonium Muriaticum:-Itching in the scalp, which forces to scratch constantly. The hair falls out, often with dandruff.
- Arundo Mauritanica:-Vertigo on getting out of bed. Roots of hairs painful. Hair falls off entirely in children. Scurf.
- Carlsbad:- Hair falls out. Smoothing down hair is very painful. Sensation as if something cold ran over whole head, and hair bristled up.
- Chelidonium:- Hair falls out, especially on occiput. Scald-head.
- Dulcamara:- Unpleasant sensation of chilliness in the cerebellum and over the back, with the sensation as if the hair were standing on end, returning every day in the evening. Thick crusts on the scalp, causing the hair to fall off.
- Helleborus niger:-Moist scabs on the scalp. Falling off the hair (on the head and on the whole body), with pricking pain on the scalp, especially on the occiput, with pale dropsical swelling of the face and body.The hair and nails fall off.
- Kali-Iod:- Pain in scalp on scratching, as if ulcerated. Hard lumps on skull with headache. Hair changes colour and falls out.
- Mancinella:- Whole head feels as if bruised, or as after exposure to sun. Itching of scalp, hair falls out after severe acute diseases.
- Petroleum:- Seborrhoea of scalp. Eruption on head and nape of neck. Oedematous swelling and scabs on scalp. Hair falls off.
- Phosphoricum Acidum:- Drawing pains in bones of occiput. Grey, lank hair, like two. The hair becomes grey early or flaxen, and very greasy, falls off, also hair of beard, especially after grief and sorrow.
- Selenium:- Falling off of the hair when combing it, also of eyebrows, whiskers, and genitals, with tingling-itching on scalp in evening, oozing after scratching, and with tension and sensation of contraction of scalp, with emaciation of face and hands. Pain in scalp, as if hair were pulled out.
- Skookum Chuck:- Great dryness of skin, especially of scalp. Hair falling out to such an extent that baldness was feared. Skoo. 3x every four hours. Hair ceased to fall out. The heated, congested feeling of head and face disappeared, and the patient became well. Skoo. has also cured vaccinal eczema.
- Sphingurus:- Falling out of the hair, of whiskers especially, pain in the jaw-joint and right zygoma.
- Spiranthes:- Pain in roots of hair. Hair falls out.
- Sulphuricum Acidum:- Sensation in exterior of head as if suppurating, or ulcerated, painful to touch. Itching and eruption in scalp. Hair turns grey andfalls off. Pimples on forehead and side of nose.
- Teplitz:- Aching in occiput. Hair falls out. Large movable lumps on head with erysipelas of face. Vesicles on scalp. Soreness of hairy scalp, every hair causing pain when touched.
- Vinca Minor:- The hairs are entangled, as in plica polonica. Hair falls out and is replaced by grey hair. Bald spots, covered with short, woolly hair. Humid eruptions on the head, with much vermin, and nightly itching, with burning after scratching.
- Wiesbaden:- Hair: grows much more rapidly than usual, falls out and grows again rapidly, new growth darker, formerly soft, becomes hard and brittle. On scalp: large boils, desquamation, itching, as from vermin, intolerable, incessant.
- Zincum:- Sensation as it hair were standing on end. The hair falls off from the vertex causing complete baldness, with sensation of soreness of the scalp.Profuse falling off of hair of genitals
Do’s and dont’s:-
Remove stress from your life. Recognize stress triggers,use mindfulness techniques, meditations, and yoga.
Take balanced diet with food rich in proteins, Vitamin C Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin B7 (Biotin), OMEGA-3, OMEGA-6 and ZINC.
Avoid using dyes, bleaching and perming hair.
Avoid tight hair styles or elastic hair bands.
Do not use heated spiked rollers frequently and never hold the hair dryer too close to scalp. Keep it at least 15cm away.
Never comb in wet hair.
Avoid washing hair too frequently. Conclusion:-
Hair fall treatment can be very effective when using holistic approach of Homeopathy, considering all the phenomena which caused the derangement of vital force.With proper individualization of case, it can do miraculous work. But in the course of treatment other factors should be considered equally.Lifestyle modifications,proper diet, and removal of stress factors are as important as taking medicine.
Bibliography:-
- Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica by J.H.Clarke.
- Harrison’s Principal of Internal Medicine.
- WebMd.
- Moha.co.in
Dr Farhat Kamal
Maharshi Menhi Homeopathic Medical College And Hospital, Katihar.
