Siddha Medicine For Hair Loss.

Hair loss is a symptom which gives rise to a lot of stress and people try to find a cause and ways to prevent it.  Hair loss is seen more often in men than in women, but today even younger people are falling prey to this problem. Baldness due to Hair fall has serious implications in both personal and professional life.

In siddha Medicine, for hair loss a holistic approach is taken to break down health problems as per individual’s constitution.  There are no fixed single drug formulae for treating hair fall but combination of many. Before delving into treatments understanding the hair loss process is important. In Tamil hair loss or hair fall is colloqeuly called as  தலை முடி உதிர்தல் , முடி கொட்டுதல்.

What is hair?

Hair is an appendage of your skin. The shaft we see consists of dead cells containing keratin, a protein found in the skin. It is mixed with two pigments — eumelanin and pheomelanin — the ratio of which gives hair its colour.

The life cycle of hair.

Each strand grows from a hair follicle, where the new cells produced are added on to the root causing the hair to grow. On an average, hair grows at half an inch per month. Hair grows more quickly in summer and between the ages of 16-24. Normally, each hair has a life span–a single strand lives for seven years, and is then replaced by a new one. But when the rate of hair fall overtakes the rate of replacement, or hair loss becomes obvious.

Causative Factors for Hair Loss.

There are several causes for hair loss. Between the ages of 40-50 women tend to lose about 20 per cent of their hair, though at a slower rate when compared to men. In men, the hereditary pattern of hair fall is observed.

Childbirth, contraceptive pills, menopause and related hormonal changes and hysterectomy result in hair fall among women. “Women too complain of diffused hair loss, thinning in the top frontal part or localised baldness, Alopecia. This is due to over and improper use of hair styling and colouring products. Dietary deficiencies and stress are the major lifestyle causes of hair loss today. Hair loss can also result from several reasons ranging from hormonal imbalance to an improper diet.

What are the other diseases that produce hair loss?

Hypothyroidism, hyperandrogenism, anaemia, hepatitis and connective tissue diseases, psoriasis, lupus etc

What is alopecia areata?

Alopecia areata is thought to be a systemic autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks its own anagen hair follicles and suppresses or stops hair growth

It is a common and treatable cause of patchy hair loss. The patches are well circumscribed and smooth. Most cases are resolved without any treatment, some require medication. Advanced cases in which all hair roots and papillae are destroyed may not recover.

Alopecia Areata is different from  tinea capitis, which is of fungal origin, but both have similar type of Hair loss.

Does dandruff cause hair loss?

Dandruff is a disease of the scalp caused by a fungus. The overgrowth of this fungus stimulates scaling called dandruff.

It does not directly cause hair loss. However, it may aggravate hair loss due to other factors like in male pattern hair loss.

Siddha Treatment for Hair loss or Hair fall.

To arrive at the best hair loss solution, it is equally important to understand the causes of hair fall, more from a medical point of view rather than mere belief on cosmetic alterations.

Siddha Medicines challenge in addressing hair loss begins with not only understanding the cause of the ailment, but also on how it differs from one individual to the other. Under the holistic approach, causes can be categorized as genetic, physical, emotional and hormonal or place under other stress-related patterns. The rate of cure depends on this factor which again varies from one individual to the other.

Accordingly therapy is induced. Topical medicines like Medicated essential oils of single or compound pure herbal or herbo-mineral extracts are prescribed when required but primarily through internal medicines like karpam, Choranam, paspam, chendooram.

It is important to note that siddha medicines and treatments can help reduce or arrest the progression of the condition in most cases only if diagnosed early and treated before the condition becomes irreversible.

Siddha medicine can sometimes help in regeneration or regrowth of hair where hair follicles remain active and are not scarred.

There are plenty of hair fall solutions available in siddha system of medicine so an experienced siddha physician needs to analyze each patient’s case systematically in order to choose the right remedy for hair loss.

Siddha Treatment for Alopecia.

In Tamil Siddha Medicine Alopecia areata is called as மயிர் புழு வெட்டு  puzhu vettu or பூச்சிவெட்டு poochi vettu. Before proceeding to the treatment, the physician has to identify if it is alopecia areata or tinea capitis, as both have similar symptoms but different mode of cause. As described above alopecia areata is an autoimmune disorder, so identifying underlying cause for systemic inflammation like Hidden allergens, infections, environmental toxins, an inflammatory diet, and stress are important. Siddha detoxification therapy is administered to balance the ratio of vatam pitham and kapham. Other siddha medicines of higher order potency of metallic or mineral origin are prescribed along with lifestyle modifications.

In case of hair loss fungal or bacterial infections are addressed with topical applications like Medicated oil, pure herbal bath powders etc.

Addressing genetically induced male pattern baldness or common baldness or permanent pattern baldness is a challenge for any medical practitioner. This is also referred as androgenetic alopecia.