Hair Loss

The best known and the most frequently prescribed medications for male pattern baldness are Propecia, or some other form of finasteride, such as Proscar, and Rogaine, or its generic form - minoxidil. Some doctors will also recommend you to use supplementary vitamin and mineral pills, some anti-dandruff shampoos, such as Nizoral, and a laser comb. But very few dermatologists and hair loss clinics will recommend their patients buy herbal hair loss treatments. But there are so many of them out there and most of them claim that they work better than Propecia or any other medicinal treatment prescribed by your doctor, while being free of potential negative side effects so typical of prescription medicine. And some of the manufacturers seem to be so much convinced about the effectiveness of their product as to offer you a full money back guarantee. Or is it a catch?

First, one needs to differentiate between medical practice and the pharmaceutical industry on one hand and the cosmetics industry on the other. The medicinal and pharmaceuticals industries are strictly regulated in any civilised country in the world, ensuring patient’s safety. Doctors can only prescribe certain medications for certain conditions and the safety and efficacy of such medications has to be approved by the national health supervisory authorities. Such products are considered safe and clinically proven to help treat the given condition. If your doctor recommends you some other, unproven herbal hair loss remedy, they will be taking the risk of supporting a treatment that has not been subjected to any rigorous clinical testing. Most doctors would not do that since they have no guarantee that such a product would be beneficial to their patients and recommending a bad treatment could hurt their reputation and lead to withdrawing their licence.

Although some of the active ingredients in herbal hair loss products may pose a health risk, despite the common belief that they are safe, this is not their main controversy. The principal question is whether the herbal hair loss remedies are effective in treating baldness. They might be effective to a certain degree since many of them also contain generic minoxidil, the only existing, clinically-proven and FDA-approved topical medicine for treating hereditary hair loss. Additional components, besides herbal extracts, usually include minerals, vitamins, essential fatty acids and amino acids. Most of these substances are either essential to ensuring healthy growth of hair and skin or they have been shown to promote hair growth, mostly in small studies conducted on rodents. They have never been clinically tested for treating hereditary baldness and thus their effectiveness and mechanism of action are unknown. They may or may not help promote hair growth but since no clinical proof of their efficacy exists, the only way to find out is to buy them and try for yourself. And should they fail to work as promised, you may find out that the generous money-back guarantee, after deducting the marketer’s incurred costs, only applies to a small percentage of the original price. This is the way some herbal hair loss product manufacturers and their distributors earn their money.

In summary, no herbal hair loss remedy has ever been clinically proven and independently verified to treat hereditary baldness. This does not necessarily mean that all herbal hair loss remedies are ineffective as they might work for some of us. However, they are usually overrated and should at best be expected to maintain your existing hair rather than grow new hair from a bald spot.

Propecia, or generic finasteride and Rogaine, or its generic form - minoxidil are the most frequently prescribed treatments for hereditary pattern baldness by dermatologists and hair loss clinics around the world. Some doctors may also recommend you to use supplementary vitamin and mineral pills, some special shampoo, such as Nizoral, and a laser comb. But very few dermatologists and hair loss clinics will recommend their patients to buy natural hair loss treatments despite the fact that many of them out there claim that they work better than Propecia or any other medicinal treatment, while being free of potential negative side effects so typical of prescription medicine. And some of the manufacturers seem to be so much convinced about the effectiveness of their product as to offer you a full money back guarantee. Or is it a catch?

First, one needs to differentiate between medical practice and the pharmaceutical industry on one hand and the cosmetics industry on the other. The medicinal and pharmaceuticals fields are strictly regulated in almost every country in the world, ensuring patient’s safety. Doctors are only allowed to prescribe certain medications for certain conditions and the safety and efficacy of such medications has to be evaluated and approved by the national health supervisory authorities. Such products are considered safe and clinically proven to help treat the given condition. If your doctor recommends you some other, unproven cosmetic hair loss product, they will be taking the risk of prescribing a treatment that has not been subjected to any rigorous clinical testing. Most doctors would not do that since they have no guarantee that such a product would be beneficial to their patients and recommending a bad product could hurt their reputation.

Although many of the active ingredients in natural hair loss remedies may pose a health risk, despite the common belief that they are safe, this is not their main controversy. The principal question is whether the natural hair loss remedies are effective in treating hereditary forms of hair loss. They might be effective to a certain degree since many of them contain minoxidil, the only existing, clinically-proven and FDA-approved, topical medicine for treating hereditary baldness. Additional components usually include minerals, vitamins, proteins, essential fatty acids and herbal extracts. Most of these substances are either essential to ensuring healthy growth of hair and skin or they have been shown to promote hair growth, mostly in small studies conducted on rodents. They have never been clinically tested for treating baldness in men and thus their effectiveness and mechanism of action remain unknown. They may or may not help promote hair growth but since no clinical proof of their efficacy exists, the only way to find out is by trial and error, hence you have to buy them and try for yourself. And should they fail to work as promised, you may find out that the generous money back guarantee, after deducting their incurred costs, only applies to a small percentage of the original price. This is the way some natural hair loss product manufacturers and their distributors earn their money.

Despite all the aforementioned claims no natural hair loss remedy has ever been clinically proven and independently verified to treat hereditary baldness. This does not necessarily imply that all natural hair loss remedies are ineffective as they might work for some of us. However, they are usually overpriced and should at best be expected to maintain your existing hair rather than grow new hair from a bald patch.