How to Treat Your Medicine-Induced Hair Loss

Although medications can be used to treat a wide range of medical ailments, they can cause unintended side effects. Certain medications may factor in excessive hair growth, color or texture changes, or loss. Drug-induced hair loss might severely impact your life like any other kind of loss. Before learning how you may treat your hair loss from medication, let us go through the must-know facts about it.

Will Your Hair Grow Back?

Medication-related hair loss typically stops once a person stops taking the medication. Some might need hair transplant surgery if the medication affects them badly. Click on hair transplant in Turkey to explore permanent solutions to your hair problems. 

When a medicine is causing hair loss, you must consult a doctor before quitting it. After stopping the medicine, it may take up to six months for the hair to regrow. Although it might take 12–18 months for your hair to grow out normally, some people may experience hair growth in as little as 3–6 months. 

How Do Medicines Lead to Hair Loss?

Drugs disrupt the regular cycle of healthy scalp hair, resulting in hair loss. The hair develops for 2 to 7 years during the anagen stage. The hair rests for approximately three months during the telogen stage. The hair starts to fall out and then is replaced by new hair at the termination of the telogen stage. Telogen effluvium, as well as anagen effluvium, are two kinds of hair loss that medications can bring on. 

The most typical type of hair loss brought on by drugs is telogen effluvium. Typically, it occurs within two to four months after the medicine is first taken. The hair follicles in this disorder enter the resting stage (telogen) too early and start to fall out. The average number of hairs lost daily by individuals with telogen effluvium is between 30% to 70% which is more than the standard range.

Anagen effluvium is a type of hair loss that happens when your hair is actively growing or in the anagen stage of the hair cycle. It hinders proper cell division in the matrix cells that help create new hairs. After taking the drug for a few days or weeks, this kind of hair loss typically happens. 

It is most prevalent in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy treatments, and it is frequently severe, resulting in the loss of almost all of a person's head hair, eyelashes, eyebrows, and other body hairs. Medicine type, dosage, and susceptibility to the drug all affect how that drug causes hair loss.

Signs Indicating Medicine-Induced Hair Loss

You will know that you are suffering from hair loss from medication by

• seeing strands of hair on pillow covers
• haivng more hair in your combs as well as showers.
• noticing hair falling out of your temples (if you're a man) or part-line (in case you are a woman)

Before making a diagnosis of alopecia caused by medicine, your doctor will look at the following facts about your health history:

• Any new drugs you've started
• Dose or medication changes
• Any recent health issues or operations
• Hair loss in the family

How to Restore Your Hair Growth

People may be able to restore hair loss with the use of home remedies as well as natural therapies.

1. Diet and Supplements

A balanced diet can promote healthy hair and hair regeneration. A diet rich in omega-3, as well as omega-6 fatty acids, and antioxidants, may also be beneficial.

In a 2015 study, 120 healthy ladies were examined to determine the effect of omega-3 as well as omega-6 fatty acids and antioxidant supplements on hair growth. After six months, nearly 90% of the subjects who had taken the supplements experienced a reduction in hair loss and an improvement in hair thickness. 

It proved that if you are deficient in specific nutrients, it might affect your hair development. So, proper nutrition is necessary to restore your hair loss. You can undergo a blood test to detect deficiencies that may contribute to your hair loss, such as iron, zinc, and biotin. If you find a deficiency, taking a supplement can increase your levels, which will help promote hair growth.

2. Minoxidil Topical Solution

Minoxidil, often known as Rogaine, is available without a prescription and can be used directly on the scalp. Within three to six months of beginning treatment with minoxidil, you might start to notice the regrowth of your hair. You can get more information about minoxidil from a pharmacist or buy it over the internet.

3. Pumpkin Seeds Oil 

The enzyme known as 5-alpha reductase is one of the factors that plays a role in hair loss. Pumpkin seed oil can reduce its effects. Seventy-six males experiencing hair loss were examined by the researchers of a 2014 study on the impact of pumpkin seed oil. Those who took 400 mg of pumpkin seed oil daily for 24 weeks saw a 40% rise in hair count, whereas those who took a placebo saw a 10% decrease.

You may find pumpkin seed oil in health food stores as well as on the internet. You need to consult your physician about different treatment choices if, after a few months of trying natural and home remedies, you do not see any improvement in your condition.

Final Words

You can talk to your doctor about changing to an alternative if you are on medications that are making you lose your hair. Within six months of stopping the medicine, you can start to notice hair growing again. Most of the time, after you stop taking the medicine, your hair will regrow on its own. With at-home remedies, you might be able to promote hair growth.

After six months, if there are still no signs of regrowth, you might talk to your doctor about different treatment choices. To find out whether another underlying issue is causing your hair loss, consulting your doctor will also be the best decision.

This is a guest blog entry.