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Acupuncture treatment for Baldness

It is strongly believe that acupuncture can cure the baldness, athough the successful rate of this t
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http://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1643-acupuncture-combats-baldness-out
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Hair loss, also known as alopecia or baldness, refers to a loss of hair from parts of the head or body. Typically at least the head is involved. The severity of hair loss can vary from a small area to the entire body. Typically inflammation or scarring is not present. Hair loss causes psychological distress in some people.1

 

CONTENTS


SYMPTOMS

CAUSES

TREATMENTS

 

SYMPTOMS


Symptoms of hair loss include hair loss in patches usually in circular patterns, dandruff, skin lesions, and scarring. Alopecia areata (mild – medium level) usually shows in unusual hair loss areas e.g. eyebrows, backside of the head or above the ears where usually the male pattern baldness does not affect. In male-pattern hair loss, loss and thinning begin at the temples and the crown and either thins out or falls out. Female-pattern hair loss occurs at the frontal and parietal.2 Sometimes people confuse between baldness and shedding hair. Shedding hair is a condition when we loss hair because of particular stressful events and usually it will grow back, while baldness is a condition that hair loss will not grow back.3

 

CAUSES


Everyday certain amount of hair is lost, which is normal. However, baldness is a condition which the hair lost is more than the new growth of hair. Although not completely understood hair loss can have many causes. Male pattern hair loss is believed to be due to a combination of genetics and the male hormone dihydrotestosterone. Whereas, the cause in female pattern hair remains unclear. Fungal infections are also a cause of hair loss, as well as dissecting cellulitis. In addition, temporary or permanent hair loss can be caused by several medications, including those for blood pressure problems, diabetes, heart disease and cholesterol. Anything that affect the body’s hormone balance can have a pronounced effect: these include contraceptive pills, hormone replacement therapy, steroids and acne medications.4

Traumas such as childbirth, major surgery, poisoning, and severe stress may cause a hair loss condition, in which a large number of hairs enter the resting phase at the same time, causing shedding and subsequent thinning. The condition also presents as a side effect of chemotherapy – while targeting dividing cancer cells, this treatment also affects hair’s growth phase with the result that almost 90% of hairs fall out soon after chemotherapy starts. Radiation to the scalp, as when radiotherapy is applied to the head for the treatment of certain cancers there, can cause baldness of the irradiated areas.5

 

TREATMENTS


It is believed that acupuncture cures baldness, although the success rate of this treatment varies from person to person. Acupuncture treats this condition by promoting blood circulation in the head. If blood circulation in the head is good, hair should grow healthier. Recent studies show promising results stimulating the following acupoints: Baihui (GV-20), Touwei (ST-8), Shuaigu (GB-8), Tongtian (BL-7), Fengchi (GB-20), Quchi (LI-11), Hegu (LI-4), Zhongwan (CV-12), Tianshu (ST-25), Xuehai (SP-10), Taichong (LV-3), Zusanli (ST-36), Fenglong (ST-40), Sanyinjiao (SP-6). This treatment is to be conducted twice a week by an acupuncturist and self-administered by patients once per week. One full treatment course is comprised of 12 weeks of patient care. Inclusion criteria for this study included the Traditional Chinese Medicinal (TCM) differential diagnostic pattern differentiation of spleen and stomach damp-heat. In TCM, heat and dampness may lead to obstruction of meridians. For this reason, alopecia patients with heat and dampness in the spleen and stomach typically have obstructed meridians. This impedes qi and blood circulation to the head, leading to hair follicle malnourishment because vital energy and nutrients are not delivered to the hair. Alopecia treatment in TCM focuses on dredging the meridians and improving qi and blood circulation.6

Footnotes

  1. Definition of Baldness – medicinenet.com – 2017, http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2421
  2. Hair Loss and Balding: Causes, Symptoms & Treatments – livescience.com – 2017, http://www.livescience.com/34731-hair-loss-alopecia-treatment.html
  3. Male Pattern Baldness – nytimes.com – 2017, http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/male-pattern-baldness/overview.html
  4. Diseases and Conditions Hair loss – mayoclinic.org – 2017, http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hair-loss/basics/causes/con-20027666
  5. Diseases and Conditions Hair loss – mayoclinic.org – 2017, http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hair-loss/basics/causes/con-20027666
  6. Acupuncture Combats Baldness, Outperforms Drug Therapy – healthcmi.com – 2017, http://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1643-acupuncture-combats-baldness-outperforms-drug-therapy