Where did my hair go?
Your scalp and hair growth are so sensitive to what’s going on in your life and body. Probably the most common cause of hair loss is physical or emotional stress on the body. There are genetics in play for some, scalp conditions and infection for others that can cause hair loss. The latter two are localized or systemic conditions where the hair is likely to grow back.
The following are conditions and events you may relate to:
- Childbirth
- Emotional stress
- Physical illness
- Surgery
- Bad hair treatment or products
- Iron Deficient Anemia
- Low thyroid levels
- Medications
- COVID-19 Stress
First, in my practice I want to identify what’s happening and get at the root cause then develop the best treatment plan. For instance, if your healthcare provider diagnosed you with iron deficient anemia then iron and biotin supplementation could not only correct your anemia but also help restore your hair.
Once a big physical or emotional event is over or treated then moving on with a hair restoration plan is easier to get to goal of fuller hair. If for instance, the illness or emotional stress is persisting, getting treatment by your healthcare provider needs to take place.
Restoring your health and ultimately your scalp health needs to begin from within. We literally are what we eat and for hair restoration we are reminded it starts with your health from the inside out. Your skin, hair and nails are a reflection of what is going on in the body.
Things you can control include a healthy lifestyle including your nutrition. These days you can enhance your health with supplements like the multivitamin, fish oil and vitamin D can help you handle the stress better and recover quicker. I introduced our Immune Blend Injections to boost the restoring of health and a strong immune system. It is loaded with zinc and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) and Glutathione which are strong antioxidants. These antioxidants can combat and reverse the damage from oxidative stress. Our B-Complete Injection takes it to a whole new level. A side benefit is you feel great, your skin looks better and healthy scalp.
Now are you ready? Personally and professionally, I believe you can speed the return of your beautiful lush hair starting with the well-known low glycemic Mediterranean diet and often vitamin therapy...Get your health back from the inside out and it’s as simple as A, B, C, D and E.
The easiest place to start is the low glycemic Mediterranean diet. It is well studied and shown to be the best diet for hair, skin, heart and brain health. You can’t beat the tried and true. It is based on whole, “clean” foods and their preparation so as not to spike your blood sugar and are full of whole food to provide your body the adequate micronutrients and macronutrients, like protein and omega3-rich fat. Now if you have a true gluten allergy or intolerance or other food intolerances avoid those foods as they can contribute to inflammation in your body.
Key Vitamins for Hair Restoration is as simple as A, B’s, C, and E.
A good, bioavailable multivitamin with phytonutrients like the Metagenics PhytoMultigen is designed to be absorbable so your body can utilize the ingredients. This is important because there are supplements out there that your body can’t even break down to an absorbable state. Also, they may not have therapeutic doses of the vitamins to get the job done.
I didn’t used to care where patients got their supplements, but when I noticed no improvement or worsening Vitamin D blood levels of patients on 5-10,000IU/day and increased in LDL-cholesterol levels in patient on fish oil, I started to inquire. The patients were getting common brand and bulk supplements that weren’t doing anything to measurably improve their health status and maybe worsening it. For instance, the bulk fish oil capsules had not been purified and had 400mg saturated fat per 1000mg EPA/DHA.
I suggested these patients give the Metagenics supplements a try and let’s see what happens. Well 3 months later, they all improved their numbers. As a result of experiences like this and years of practice, I believe ingesting supplements, food and drink that is not contributing to your good health can be harmful and is a waste of money, that’s when “cheap” supplements become “expensive “. There are probably other good vitamin sources but Metagenics is the one I chose for my practice after great scrutiny, besides their local.
The best-known vitamins to help restore your nutritional status and support good return of your hair is the vitamin B-complex, particularly biotin. These B vitamins help support red blood cell production needed to carry oxygen and nutrients to the hungry scalp and hair follicles. B vitamins can be found in many of the foods you are likely eating like whole grains, almonds, meat, fish, seafood and dark, leafy greens. I have to say organic foods are richer in nutrients.
Boosting the return of your hair can be helped with adding a B-Complex oral tablet or our B-Complete (has it all) shot. This may improve your energy too. I personally and professionally felt the phytonutrients (plant sterols and stanols) in fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds and the supplement mentioned above takes the hair restoration to another level.
Additional tools in my “Hair Regrowth Toolbox” are red light therapy like the Thermadome Laser Helmet, HydraFacial(HF) scalp treatment, meloxicam and for our PRP (platelet rich plasma scalp) Hair Restoration.
For more information about my Family Practice or Medispa, please visit our websites LarsonFamilyMedicine.com and LarsonMedicalAesthetics.com.
Respectively,
Margaret L Larson, MSN, ARNP, FNP-C