Treatments For Alopecia Areata And Hair Loss

If you are someone who is experiencing a lot of hair fall and notice extra hair on your pillow or brush, you might need to know somethin...

If you are someone who is experiencing a lot of hair fall and notice extra hair on your pillow or brush, you might need to know something. Although losing about a hundred hair is common in a day, noticing bald spots on your head is unusual. It might be the reason that you have an autoimmune disorder known as alopecia areata.

It is a disorder where the immune system attacks our own body, and in this case, the hair follicles are being attacked. This causes the hair to fall off really quickly, mainly in clumps. The hair loss and hair growth cycle is different for everyone. It’s common to lose some hair strands daily, but not a lot of them.

In this article, we have mentioned some effective treatments for mild alopecia areata. You can shop online here for such treatments and other men’s health and wellness products.

Intralesional corticosteroid injections

This method of treatment is considered to be the most common form of treatment for alopecia areata and is usually suggested by a dermatologist. These are injections that are repeated every four to six weeks and are injected into bare patches of skin. The injection uses corticosteroids which are also used for other skin diseases.

Benefits

Naturally, the new hair grows in about 4 to 6 months. However, with the use of this intralesional injection, the new hair starts to grow within 4 to 5 weeks.

Side Effects

The few reported side effects related to corticosteroid injections include temporary depression in the skin and slight discomfort for some time. Others may experience hyperpigmentation and atrophy.

Topical Minoxidil

This form of treatment is considered to be effective for alopecia areata if used with topical corticosteroid medications. Most people use 5% topical minoxidil in combination with 5% steroid medications to see improved results as it helps with stimulating the scalp, eyebrows, and beard.

Benefits

If a person sees effective results in hair growth with the use of topical minoxidil, then they can stop the treatment at any time. The medication is considered very effective and is easy to use with minimal side effects.

Side Effects

The side effects for topical minoxidil include dizziness, redness of scalp, swelling, unusual weight gain, etc. Also, it is not effective for excessive hair loss.

Anthralin Cream or Ointment

This ointment has a synthetic, tar-like substance that is widely used for the treatment of alopecia areata as well as psoriasis. The anthralin cream is applied to hairless patches for about 30 to 60 minutes before washing it away. In some cases, it is also applied for a few hours.

Benefits

It is used to control inflammation at the base of the hair follicles and helps with hair growth. The results are visible after eight to twelve weeks.

Side Effects

This treatment in the form of cream might irritate and burn the skin. It can also cause temporary redness or brown discoloration of the skin. However, some individuals might reduce these risk factors if they wash the cream at the right time along with applying it for shorter periods of time.