Shortly:
Table of Contents
- Hair is a biological luxury: it grows when Energy, nutrients and hormonal signals are present in abundance.
- The loss of up to 100 hairs per day is considered normal – if there are more, a critical look is required.
- That hair loss often just as “cosmetic nuisance” is treated says a lot about our view of health.
- hair growth can be stimulated again, but not just through shampoos.
Hair is considered an expression of youth, vitality and attractiveness. Their loss is dramatized accordingly, especially in advertising, and sometimes in doctors’ offices. Hair loss itself is rarely the actual problem. Ultimately, it is only what becomes visible when the body has long since decided to save money in this area.
The fact that we still treat hair loss almost exclusively as a “cosmetic nuisance” says a lot about our attitude to health. And as with many things in medicine, we once again only pay attention to the symptom and less to the causes.
Shampoo, serum, hope
“Stress-related” almost sounds like a calming formula. It ends the search for causes and shifts responsibility into the vague. Work a little less, sleep a little better – then you’ll be fine.
Some hair loss is considered normal.
Photo: towfiqu ahamed/iStock
Hair as a luxury
However, the classification also includes: A certain amount of hair loss is normal. Up to around 70, or for some people even 100 hairs per day are considered physiological. Only when significantly more hair falls out over a longer period of time or the hair visibly thins does a natural cycle become a signal.
Men: When “genetic” falls short
When it comes to male hair loss, people often quickly point to genes. This is not wrong, but it is incomplete. The so-called androgenic alopecia is not a simple testosterone problem.
Alopecia refers to hairlessness in areas of the body where there should actually be strong, long hair.
Women: diffusely explained, diffusely treated
Medical automatism
In many cases, a familiar process follows: the blood values are normal, the cause remains unclear, and therapy is symptom-oriented. Minoxidil, topical or oral, finasteride in men. Sometimes both. This is not fundamentally wrong. These agents can be effective by extending the growth phase or dampening hormonal influences.
What is often missing from a naturopathic perspective – and what makes sense instead
Anyone who takes hair loss seriously cannot avoid an uncomfortable realization: There is no one solution. There is only one interaction – local, systemic and delayed in time.
Optical and mechanical stimulation
Let’s start where many people start: at the scalp. Procedures such as low-level laser therapy, usually used in the form of a red light or laser cap, aim to improve blood circulation and re-stimulate dormant hair follicles. It’s not a miracle cure, but it’s biologically plausible.
The situation is similar with the simple, often ridiculed scalp massage. Mechanical stimulation improves local blood circulation, influences the tension of the scalp and, if carried out consistently, can be part of a functioning overall concept. The same applies here: The effect is not created by intensity, but by continuity.
Help in a can
Topical measures such as stimulating shampoos primarily fulfill a supporting role. They do not replace clarification of the cause, but they can create an environment in which hair roots are at least not additionally hindered. Anyone who uses them should know what they do – and what they don’t.
Pharmacologically, you can hardly avoid minoxidil. Used topically for decades, now also available in low doses orally – although the latter requires a prescription. Both can be effective, both have side effects. The classification is important: Minoxidil extends the growth phase of the hair. It does not address nutrient deficiencies, hormonal dysregulation, or chronic inflammation.
Stimulating shampoos and serums can be used to support but do not address the root cause.
Photo: Elena Nechaeva/iStock
Nutrients
One point is often left out: not everything grows back. Hair follicles that have been inactive for years cannot be reactivated at will. Biology also has limits. Anyone expecting quick results will be disappointed – regardless of the method or budget. So patience is part of therapy. Anyone who doesn’t do this will be seduced again by every new product.
Conclusion: Hair does not fall out to annoy us
Hair loss is not fate. It is also not a cosmetic defect that needs to be treated like a dry spot on the back of the hand. It is a kind of protocol that runs. The body carries out this protocol without regard to vanity. He notes where resources are missing and where the controls are out of sync.
The hair doesn’t fall out to annoy us. They fall out because the body has to do something other than show off its own hair. If you don’t want to hear that, you can keep looking for shampoos. If you understand it, you should start asking the right questions.
This article represents exclusively the opinion of the author or the interviewee. It does not necessarily have to reflect the perspective of Epoch Times Germany.
