Do “Natural” or Herbal Hair Loss Remedies Really Work?
If you ask the majority of doctors, they will cringe at the mention of “natural” or “herbal” remedies and then say something to the effect of “there isn’t enough evidence to support those claims.” In other words, they think they’re probably snake oil, but cannot confirm that to a medical certainty. In some cases, there may not be enough science there to bolster claims, but the fact that they’re coming from online marketing campaigns that are trying to sell a product casts a great deal of doubt on their efficacy.
Firstly though, the most successful drugs to treat male pattern baldness do so by inhibiting the conversion of testosterone into another chemical known as dihydrotestosterone. Dihydrotestosterone is largely what is believed to cause male pattern baldness and drugs such a propecia have been shown to effectively stimulate hair growth in the majority of men. On the other hand, because it’s a hormone inhibitor that was originally prescribed for the purpose of reducing the size of prostates, propecia is also known to cause some sexual disturbances in some men.
But what about the natural hair loss remedies? Are they worth looking into?
“In most cases the answer will be no,” says one doctor who performs hair transplant surgery in Palo Alto. “But on the other hand there are a lot of factors that can influence hair loss as well. Some include the over usage of hair care products, vitamin deficiencies, and other things of that nature. So if the problem is there, these methods may sometimes be effective, but it’s largely a shot in the dark.”
For most patients, the best options will still be the “big 3”. Those are hair transplant surgery, minoxidil based medications, and finasteride, also known as propecia. These treatments are proven to work for cases of male pattern baldness that does not have any outside mitigating factors like nutrition or hair treatment.
“When you’re talking about male pattern baldness, you’re talking about a genetic predisposition. It’s related to hormone production, so natural remedies that don’t inhibit the production of certain hormones have no reason to be effective against hair loss. The problem is that a lot of folks are very sensitive about their hair line so there’s a huge market for playing into their fear. But the results are almost always going to be disappointing,” continued the doctor. “That being said, if you want to rub liquorice root or natural oils on your head you should do that. It shouldn’t be overly expensive to try and if it works, that’s great, but at least you didn’t dump a ton of money into the process. On top of that it probably feels pretty good. I don’t see why it would regrow your hair though.”
Disclaimer: We are unable to guarantee any result, even though most of our patients do see success. The results of our services will vary greatly to each patient’s level of commitment and compliance with the program.
hair transplant palo alto
