Medicine

A Proven Treatment For Hair Loss

When we first opened our clinic back in 2011, I don’t believe that Dr. Lantelme and I could have ever anticipated how in demand hair-growth and hair-loss treatments would be.

Now that I think about it though, it makes sense that patients would ask for ways to help promote hair growth.

In my humble opinion, we do such a good job of making people feel great from the inside out, that they want their “outside” to match their inside.

Plus, hair-loss is a medical issue.

Did You Know Hair Loss is A Reversible Medical Issue?

There are a number of factors that can lead to hair loss.

Fluctuations in hormone levels are a leading cause of hair loss. Age-related hair loss is usually associated with falling hormone levels.

Another factor? Vitamin deficiencies.

It may seem hard to believe in this day and age, but there are millions of people walking around with a thinning head of hair that came as a result of not getting enough vitamin A, D-3 and Biotin (B7).

Sadly, if you’re already going bald, it’s unlikely that taking extra vitamins will help boost hair growth. However, you can take vitamins earlier in life to help prevent future hair loss.

Another issue that is closely associated with hair loss is toxicity. I’ve written numerous times about how a toxic burden can limit health, but this is the first time I’ve ever connected hair loss and toxicities on a blog.

Partly because I hadn’t needed to talk about it previously, and partly because we didn’t fully understand just how damaging toxic burdens could be to our bodies.

It’s a bit discouraging for many people to realize the reason their hair is disappearing is because of dietary issues, the environment, or old age.

Thankfully, because it’s the 21st century, there are numerous treatments available for helping to halt and even reverse hair loss. And we recently started using two of them here in the office with great effect.

How Red Light Therapy Can Help With Hair Loss

Perhaps you’ve been browsing the Internet, whether Facebook or Google, and you’ve seen advertisements for weird looking hats/helmets with glowing red lights that promise to sprout new hairs all across your scalp.

Those hats are a form of red light therapy that has recently been shown to help with hair loss.

The at home units advertised on the Internet are versions of high-powered clinical devices like the ones we carry that really can help you grow more hair.

However, they’re not all that powerful on their own, and you need to combine them with another therapy for maximal effect.

I’ll explain how they work together later, but right now I’d love to show you how red light therapy works.

First things first, red light therapy for hair loss really does work. Multiple studies confirm using it can increase hair count, density, and thickness; regardless of sex. It’s not a questionable treatment at all.

The way it works is actually quite simple, too.

During the course of treatment, areas of skin (generally the scalp) are bathed in a certain wavelength of red light and near infrared wavelengths. The key component of red light therapy working the way it does is the wavelength used is actually a red-light laser. And this red light laser combined with the near infrared rays act on your skin in much the same way the sun does, without the need of chemicals, UV rays, or excess heat.

The combination of the two different forms of light work to penetrate the skin and activate the mitochondria so that they can begin to produce more energy and force your body’s cells to work as they’ve been designed.

In addition to that, red light therapy also helps to increase blood flow (micro blood circulation) which has an effect on how your cells activate two kinds of hair follicles known as catagen or telogen follicles.

Excitingly, the increase in activity (from blood flow and mitochondria) causes the product of a kind of hair known as anagen hair.

Anagen hair is “new hair” growth.

And in order to stop and reverse hair loss, you absolutely must have new hair growth taking place.

This is one of the primary advantages of red light therapy for hair growth, and hair-loss reversal.

And studies prove it to be so:

“A 2019 meta-analysis examined 8 clinical studies, comprising a total of 11 double-blind randomized controlled trials. The quantitative analysis showed a significant increase in hair density for people who were treated with red light therapy. There was a significant increase in hair growth with red light therapy treatments versus sham and placebo treatments.”
But, like I said, I don’t believe it’s the most effective way to grow new hair.

Let me show what I think is better.

Why Red Light Therapy Plus PRP Is the Ultimate For Hair Loss

Over the course of the past 6 months (as of December, 2019) our office has begun using Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for a wide variety of procedures.

From helping to enhance appearance with facials, to giving people injections in aching joints to help them regain comfort and movement.

And when PRP is added to red light therapy it provides a highly-effective means of growing new hair.

Here’s why.

When PRP is injected into the scalp it helps signal cells to stimulate hair growth, naturally.
PRP injections add biological growth factors and stem cells that when injected will stimulate hair growth. In this case, it’s causing an increase in Anagen hairs; very similar to what red light therapy does.

And when the two therapies are combined it provides an incredible effect on hair growth, one that I don’t believe is rivaled by any other treatment on the planet.

Both of these therapies have a specific effect on hair growth, which is why they’re so beneficial at reversing hair loss.

And while they’ll both work on their own, I can’t imagine a good reason not to combine them. Especially when you consider that they’re affordable and accessible.

And, if you’re interested in this treatment, please schedule an appointment with us in the patient portal (for existing patients) or call to set up an appointment (for new patients call 336-768-3335).

 

Talk soon,

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