Does Ayurveda treat hair fall better than Allopathic medicine?

Is Ayurveda for hair fall superior to allopathic medicine? Let’s settle the debate about what works better at treating hair fall.
Ayurveda for hair fall
Can Ayurvedic remedies for hair fall beat allopathy? Image courtesy: Shutterstock
Dr Shefali Saini Published: 22 Feb 2022, 08:00 am IST
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Hair loss can be one of the most widely stated hair problems. While there are thousands of boastful remedies for hair fall doing the rounds on the internet, what’s the real deal with it? Allopathic treatments for hair loss may be diverse, however, Ayurveda for hair fall is still fancied by many. But what wins the bet? Let’s know it here.

What is hair loss?

Hair loss is used as an umbrella term for any kind of hair shedding. But in reality, some amount of hair fall is completely normal. In women, it is about 80-100 strands and in men, about 50-70 strands. It is alarming only if this number increases or your scalp starts to become visible over time. Then, you are probably suffering from hair loss condition.

What are the different hair loss conditions?

1. Androgenic Alopecia

Also known as Male Pattern Baldness or Female Pattern Hair Loss. This type of hair loss condition is very gradual and starts with hair thinning. In men, it presents as a receding hairline or thinning around the vortex. In women it results in widening in the partition or poor hair growth. It progresses in stages and there are 7 stages of progression. It is genetic but it can be triggered by diet, stress, lifestyle, sleep and health issues.

2. Telogen Effluvium

This hair loss is triggered when your body undergoes significant physical and mental stress. This can be due to multiple causes such as sudden weight loss, pregnancy, illness (Covid-19, malaria, dengue, thyroid) and mental trauma. This presents as rapid and heavy hair loss. Thus people can end up losing 200-300 strands in a day.

3. Alopecia Areata

This hair loss condition is an autoimmune disorder. It presents as a round bald patch on the scalp and in some cases even on the rest of the body as well. This requires treatment with corticosteroids and must be taken only with the supervision and prescription from a dermatologist. While there is no conclusive evidence, research suggests that stress can be one of the triggers.

Now that you know about hair loss conditions, it is time to compare treatment options – Allopathy vs Ayurveda.

Allopathy vs Ayurveda : Which one is a better treatment for Hair fall?

Allopathy and Ayurveda are two different types of sciences widely used in hair loss treatments. Both of them work towards managing hair loss, but the approach is quite different. Allopathy treats hair loss as a result of hormonal imbalance, stress, illnesses, vitamin deficiency and genes. According to Ayurveda, hair loss can be a result of internal health issues such as digestion, sleep, metabolism, lack of nourishment to follicles among others.

Ayurveda doesn’t directly treat hair loss but takes a bottom’s up approach, where it treats hair loss by improving your internal health. Whereas, allopathy works directly by blocking DHT, reversing the effect of DHT on follicles and elongating the growth phase of the hair cycle using clinically approved treatments. So what works better?

Allopathy and Ayurveda both offer promising results when it comes to combatting hair fall. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

What causes hair loss?

Hair loss can be due to several reasons, some of the major reasons are listed below :

1. Genetic

Androgenic Alopecia or male or female pattern baldness, which is one of the most common causes of hair loss. When your genes carry the genetic predisposition to hair loss, it is termed as genetic hair loss. It is best managed at an early stage or during the onset of the condition.

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2. Stress

Hair fall is triggered due to physical or mental strain or stress that pushes the majority of hair in the telogen shedding phase and this is also called Telogen Effluvium. You notice more than desired shedding during this period of time.

3. Nutritional deficiencies

Diets that lack sufficient amounts of proteins, iron and certain vitamins and minerals can make hair structurally weak, causing them to fall out easily.

4. Unhealthy lifestyle

Disturbed sleep cycles, lack of physical activities, alcohol abuse and smoking interferes with the body’s normal functioning causing hormonal imbalances and leads to hair loss.

5. Health conditions

Health conditions such as PCOS, thyroid, depression, covid, dengue, typhoid can trigger hair loss conditions. By either aggravating pattern hair loss or triggering telogen effluvium. Not only do health conditions directly affect hair loss but certain medications you might be on also increase hair loss.

6. Internal Health

Poor digestion, metabolism and absorption can affect nutrition levels, hormonal imbalance, dosha balance and bone health all of which can contribute to hair loss by aggravating existing hair loss conditions.

6. Environment

Exposure to constant pollution, elements and hard water can also aggravate hair loss by deteriorating scalp health.

hair fall remedies
Let Ayurveda rescue you from hair fall. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

How does Allopathy treat hair loss?

Allopathy treats hair loss with clinically proven prescription medication such as Minoxidil, Finasteride, Redensyl. Allopathy solutions help inhibit or block DHT production, increase blood flow to follicles and increase the duration of anagen (growth) phase. While these products are quite effective they don’t guarantee sustainable results because they don’t resolve the triggers that are aggravating the hair loss conditions. Therefore, allopathic treatments cannot be seen as a complete solution for hair loss.

How does Ayurveda for hair fall works?

On the other hand, Ayurveda aims at bringing about healing from within. It targets root causes of hair loss such as indigestion, stress, sleep and metabolism. and aims at improving internal health. Ayurvedic science uses traditional herb mixes, therapeutic techniques and dietary modifications to address these issues. Certain potent herbs like Shatavari, Ashwagandha, Guduchi, Amalaki and Bhringraj are useful in the treatment of hair problems. They target different root causes thereby improving overall health, delaying premature greying, controlling hair loss, improving scalp health and boosting hair regrowth.

How combining both can reap better results?

Ayurveda and Allopathy have previously been used as individual treatments to solve hair loss. But combining the two can actually result in speedy and sustainable hair growth. Both sciences complement each other, each targeting individual root causes and providing effective solutions. On one hand, Allopathy has clinically tested solutions, Ayurveda is completely natural and treatment does not have any side effects. A holistic treatment which works on internal and external factors that affect hair loss with both oral and topical application is what the hair loss industry needs right now rather than a single product which more or less acts superficially on hair loss. A complex problem like hair loss requires a holistic and customized solution. With a melody of these sciences, fix your health and hair loss with just one solution.

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M.D Dermatology, Traya Health ...Read More

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