Every man dreams of having thick luscious hair as long as they live. Who doesn’t love a head full of hair? Who doesn’t want to style hair every time they go out and slick fingers through their hair?
However, that only remains a fantasy. Once your hair follicles weaken, you start balding. It is natural. Still, there is nothing worse in a man’s life than thinning hair. It shakes your confidence from the very core. And, you are not the only one who is going through it. It is one of many common problems that many men face.
Every man loses 100 hair strands every day which is normal. The problem starts when the number of strands increases. That could be the signs of balding or the early stage of hair loss. If you’re facing the same problem, then you should do something about it before it is too late. You should act as soon as possible.
Before dealing with balding, you should know the signs of balding first. So, let’s start with it.
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Signs of balding
Excessive hair fall
Like said earlier, losing 100 hair strands a day is normal. However, more than that is an early sign of balding.
Still, remember that sometimes more than 100 is expected as well. But, if it is occurring every day, then it is something to be concerned about. If you have started to notice your hair is falling too much, then consult a doctor fast. It is better than regretting later.
Receding hairline
Another sign of balding is the receding hairline. If you observe carefully, then you will notice that your hairline at the temples and forehead is declining. Once your small forehead now seems too big. Slowly, your hairline looks like the letter M or C from the front.
Thinning on top of the head
It is the most common sign of balding. You will start noticing that your hair is thinning on top of your head without any signs of regrowth.
Visibility of scalp over time
Another sign of balding is the visibility of the scalp over time. As time passes, the density of hair will decrease, making your scalp visible. You used to have long and thick hair. Now, when you see yourself in the mirror, you will notice that the thickness of your hair is slowly fading away.
At the moment, you are even afraid to see yourself in the mirror.
Bald spots
After losing too much hair, you will notice bald spots on your head. Some people only have bald spots. They don’t lose all their hair entirely.
Bald spots don’t have any fixed patterns. They can occur at any random place on your head.
Slow hair growth
Your hair used to grow faster before. But, now, if your hair is taking a long time to grow, then it is one of the signs of balding. Once you start experiencing excessive hair fall, your hair growth cycle shortens.
Frequent itching of the scalp
Itchy scalp necessarily doesn’t mean it is one of the early signs of balding. There can be several underlying reasons behind it: not taking bath time-to-time, using inappropriate hair products, etc.
However, if it is persistently happening, then it might be a sign of hair loss. Itchy scalp sometimes affects your hair follicles, causing hair fall. So, consult a dermatologist as quickly as possible.
These are the signs of balding. Now, let’s see how you can deal with it.
How to deal with balding?
There are many ways to slow down the process of hair loss or completely deal with it.
Reduce stress
According to a study, hair loss and stress levels are related to each other. The research shows that high-stress levels cause three types of hair loss: Telogen effluvium, Alopecia areata, and Trichotillomania. However, the good news is that these are not permanent. If you can reduce your stress levels, then your hair might grow again.
If you are stressing too much, then reduce it as soon as possible to stop the hair loss. And that depends on you. Manage your stress level and get healthy hair again.
Exercise
To reduce your stress levels, you can do exercises and workouts. It helps to decrease your stress hormones in your body. Still, exercise isn’t the stress reliever only. It helps to improve oxygen and blood circulation in your body. As a result, it enhances the blood flow in your scalp.
However, remember that exercise can only aid in reducing hair loss to some extent, not wholly. Still, you need to keep yourself fit and healthy.
Stay hydrated
One of the simplest and effective ways to deal with the signs of balding is to keep yourself hydrated all the time. Hydrating yourself keeps your scalp and hair follicles healthy and strong. In fact, hair is made up of water as well, constituting about 10 to 13 percent of it. So, it is necessary to drink a lot of water (at least eight glasses of water every day).
Otherwise, dehydration makes your follicles weak, dry, and slows down the hair growth cycle.
Eat a healthy diet
Eating a healthy diet is equally important to prevent hair loss. It can be a lifesaver if you change your eating habits. Increase the intake of protein, vitamins, iron, fibers, etc. In the absence of such nutrients, your hair becomes weak, brittle, and dry. As a result, your hair starts to fall slowly. So, take foods that are high in Vitamin A, E, and B. Such vitamins help boost the healthy production of sebum, a substance that hydrates and protects your hair from breakage.
Moreover, consume foods that contain proteins such as eggs, fish, soy, vegetables, etc. The hair is mostly made up of protein. So, it is essential to increase the intake of high protein foods to boost biotin production in hair. Biotin deficiency can cause hair loss. Therefore, it is vital to eat a healthy diet.
Most importantly, limit the consumption of junk and oily foods. If possible, avoid it entirely.
Limit smoking and alcohol
Cut down the habits like consuming alcohol and smoking if you want to prevent hair loss. Such bad routines affect your body, damaging your hormones and causing nutritional deficiencies. Moreover, they cause dehydration, preventing hair follicles from getting enough water. As a result, it affects your hair growth that further aids in dryness, dullness, dandruff, itchy scalp, and hair loss.
Moreover, it aids in building up the stress hormones in your body, which is one of the causes of hair loss. So, if you want to deal with the signs of balding, then avoid smoking and alcohol. Adapt good healthy eating habits, do exercise, yoga, etc., to manage your stress level and get rid of bad habits.
Scalp massage
A good flow of blood is crucial to have healthy and strong hair. For that, massaging the scalp two to three times a week is beneficial. Not completely, but it can slow down the hair loss to some extent. And according to a study, scalp massage promotes hair growth and improves hair thickness.
You can use any oils like coconut, almond, sesame, lavender, peppermint, etc. Massaging your scalp with such oils improves the blood flow in your scalp and stimulates hair follicles. Moreover, it prevents itchy scalp, dandruff, breakage of hair, etc.
Stay away from coloring and bleaching.
Avoid coloring or bleaching your hair if you want to prevent hair loss. They affect the pigments and the natural look of your hair. Plus, they influence the hair follicles by oxidizing them, making your hair dry, stiff, and dull.
Moreover, they consist of chemicals that are bad for your hair. So, minimize coloring and bleaching your hair as much as possible. Altogether avoiding them is even better.
Biotin
Biotin is a vitamin that carries nutrients throughout the body and helps in stimulating hair growth. Plus, it aids in boosting keratin production, a type of protein that protects and makes up your hair. Biotin enhances the growth of hair follicles. So, it is essential to focus on foods rich in biotin, such as egg yolks, nuts, legumes, vegetables, and so on.
Garlic or onion juice
One of the effective natural ways to deal with the signs of balding is making garlic or onion juice and applying it directly. Or, you can include them in your daily diet. Still, directly rubbing garlic paste or onion juice is the most fruitful method. Apply on your hair, massage your scalp for 15 minutes, and wash it with shampoo.
Onion and garlic are best known for stimulating hair follicles and enhancing the blood circulation on the scalp. So, they have been used by people for a long time. Plus, they are rich in zinc, calcium, and sulfur content respectively, promoting healthy hair growth. Therefore, make a juice and massage your scalp once or twice a week to see the results.
Aloe vera
Another effective natural remedy is applying aloe vera juice directly to your hair. It is highly abundant in antioxidants that fight against bacteria, itchy scalp, and dandruff. Moreover, it unclogs hair follicles from excess oil to enhance the growth of your hair.
Apply fresh aloe vera directly to your hair two to three times a week to see the difference.
Green tea
Green tea contains epigallocatechin gallate that helps to stimulate hormones and hair follicles. Moreover, it has catechins that help to prevent hair loss both in men and women. So, massage your scalp with green tea to get satisfactory results.
Oil
Another way to slow down the progress of hair loss is by massaging your hair and scalp with oils like jojoba, coconut, argan, olive, almond, lavender, etc. Doing this helps to make your hair follicles active and improve hair growth.
Consult a doctor
The most promising and best way to deal with the signs of balding is consulting a dermatologist. You need to contact a doctor as soon as possible if you are having problems with hair loss. The faster you treat thinning hair at the early stage, the better for you.
A dermatologist will analyze the condition and suggest the best treatments available to you.
Medications and treatments
Medications and treatments are the best options available to you to fight hair loss. The promising treatments recommended by the doctors are:
Minoxidil
Minoxidil is one of the treatments that help to treat male pattern baldness. It is a foam applied directly to the scalp. It reverses the process of baldness by increasing the blood flow around hair follicles and stimulating follicle movement to grow again.
Finasteride
Finasteride is a pill that reduces the level of DHT, an androgen, in the scalp. High DHT affects your hair follicles, stopping your hair from growing and making it thinner and falling faster.
Protein-rich plasma (PRP) injections
PRP injections use platelets of the user’s blood to stimulate the hair follicle and promote hair growth.
Hair transplants
Most people prefer hair transplants over other treatments because of their effectiveness and success rate. It includes two procedures:
- Follicular unit extraction (FUE): In this procedure, the individual hair follicles are removed from the scalp and transplanted into the bald parts.
- Follicular unit transplantation (FUT): In this procedure, a part of the skin is removed from where you have thick hair, generally from the back of your head. Individual hair follicle units are then removed from the skin and transplanted to the bald parts.
Laser therapy
Laser therapy uses low-level laser light to penetrate the scalp to stimulate hair follicles and promote hair regrowth.
Besides these, regularly wash your hair, use suitable hair products, etc., to keep your hair healthy and strong.
In Conclusion
Hair loss is a natural process as you age. Or, it can be hereditary. Most people start losing their hair in their early and late 20s. Some people experience it in their 40s and 50s. And some don’t even until they die.
There are many other causes of balding besides aging and hereditary, such as not taking care of your hair, using any product on your hair, coloring frequently, etc. So, it is always necessary to take care of your hair. Still, if you notice excessive hair fall, then you can try the above methods. Even better, consult a doctor for better treatments and medications to see satisfactory results.