Hair Loss

Premature onset of gray hair is often associated with excessive stress, bad diet, vitamin B deficiency, thyroid disorder and smoking. The fact is, however, that the main cause for premature graying hair is our genetics. The pigment that determines the color of our hair is produced by special cells at the root of our hair called melanocytes. It is the lifespan of melanocytes that determines the onset of the graying process. Once these cells die, the hair turns white.

No essential difference between a premature and a normal, age-related graying process exists. It is by virtue of nature that some people will experience their first gray hair in their teens and turn completely gray in their early thirties, while others will keep their original hair color for many decades. If more than 50% of a person’s hair is white by the age of 40, it is considered premature.

There are many commercial products out there that claim to be able to rejuvenate the dead pigment-producing cells and reverse the graying process. Such claims, however, are largely unsubstantiated. The sad truth is that at this point in time no remedy exists that can reverse the graying process. Most of the anti-gray hair products either use Fo-Ti, referring to the centuries old legend of Mr He, who recovered his original hair color, youthful appearance and vitality thanks to this traditional Chinese medicinal herb, also known as He Shou Wu or use vitamins B (mostly PABA and folic acid) as their main active ingredients, since some forms of premature graying can be caused by chronic vitamin B deficiency. However, such products are ineffective for the majority of gray hair sufferers.

Therefore, the only option for treating gray hair that delivers guaranteed results is camouflage. Women use various types of permanent, semi-permanent and demi-permanent hair dyes but men usually prefer a subtle and less noticeable change in their hair color that does not cover all their gray. Such products are usually called progressive hair colorants. It is obvious that none of these products can make the dead cells produce pigmented hair and thus they must be used continuously to cover the gray of fresh hair. Although there are some natural hair dyes that claim to effectively cover your gray hair, the products that really work well all use certain chemicals. When deciding about hair dyes or progressive hair colorants, you should always consider the potential health risks, as most of them contain toxic substances that can cause poisoning if used inappropriately or can lead to severe allergic reactions. You should always use a patch test before applying any such substance and follow the application guidelines in order to minimize exposure to aggressive chemicals.

The two main techniques of non-surgical hair replacement today involve the use of hair systems and hair loss concealers. Various types of hair systems such as full wigs, hairpieces, hair extensions, toupees and weaves can look extremely authentic and have been used for ages to cover bald spots, typically with good rates of success. However, their main weaknesses are high maintenance costs and, in many situations, the discomfort of wearing them. Hair loss concealers on the other hand have been around for a shorter period of time and have often been looked down upon for being incapable of withstanding adverse external conditions and for appearing unnatural. This no longer appears to be true as many of them have greatly improved recently, both in terms of their authentic appearance and their resistance.

There are three types of hair loss concealers: those that simply paint your scalp to match your hair colour, then there are hair thickeners that thicken your hair by coating and penetrating the hair and trapping moisture and volume-building proteins inside the hair shaft and, lastly, there are bald spot concealers that apply microfibers that cling to your hair like branches to the trunk of a tree, increasing the hair density. Some products combine two of the aforementioned approaches and paint your scalp and thicken your hair at the same time. All of these products come in various forms, such as a powder, cream or a spray. Hair loss concealers do not contain any ingredients that would combat hair loss but some of them allow you to continue with a topical hair loss treatment such as minoxidil.

Microfibre-based hair loss concealers can be typically applied in as little as 30 seconds versus a minimum of five minutes required for hair thickeners. However, microfibres are less water-resistant and it is quite difficult to apply them precisely and so they are not very good for creating an authentic-looking frontal hairline. Their biggest advantage is that they are unrecognisable in your hair, even with a very close inspection. Hair thickeners, especially those that also colour your scalp, are extremely water-resistant and excellent for frontal hairlines but they take longer to apply. They cover your scalp with a layer of colouring substance, which makes it impossible to apply any topical hair loss treatment. Their greatest weakness in comparison to microfibres is that in direct sunlight it can become visible to the sharp eye that the scalp has been painted.

The common weakness of all kinds of substances used for concealing hair loss seems to be the limited choice of available shades. Some hair loss sufferers use a combination of two products simultaneously to overcome the weaknesses of individual products and to achieve the most authentic looking shade and appearance. Most often a combination of a hair thickener and a microfibrous concealer is used. The results of such combinations are typically excellent. If you wish to try any such combinations, make sure that you apply the scalp-painting, hair loss thickener first and then use the microfibres to mask the remaining imperfections. There are many products in all three categories of hair loss concealers out there and you may want to test several of them in order to identify those that best match you hair colour, type and style of application.