This is also due to the absence of a best hair loss treatment comparison hair loss sufferers can refer to.

Today, untruthful myths and products still abound, in fact, have increased. Until now hair loss remains to be incurable. However, its symptoms are definitely addressable.

On a lighter note, compared to the early days, treating baldness today is a notch more sophisticated and accurate. A number of hair loss treatments are clinically proven effective against hair loss. What are the best hair loss treatments available today? Find out below.

Best Hair Loss Treatment Comparison: Pros and Cons of Famous Products

I. Tricomin versus Rogaine

A. Tricomin – consists of a range of topical products that uses Triamino Copper Nutritional Complex™. Its product line features a therapy spray, shampoo, conditioner, and conditioning shampoo.

Pros

1) Tricomin is an all-natural patented formulation of copper peptide complex. It is suitable for people who seek an alternative to minoxidil and finasteride.
2) No side effects were reported during the clinical trials.
3) Tricomin is safe to use in conjunction with minoxidil to stimulate hair growth.

Cons

1) Users will have to purchase the entire system in order to acquire maximum benefit from the products. Aside from that, the products use the same technology so they offer the same proposition.
2) The products are too dependent on copper which in itself has limited impacts on hair and hair growth.
3) While there are no reported side effects during the trials, there are potential side effects in prolonged usage. Large dosages or prolonged usage of copper peptides can cause skin irritation, digestive problems, and toxicity.
4) Tricomin is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

B. Rogaine – is a topical solution of minoxidil which, in tablet form, has been used originally as an antihypertensive drug.

Pros

1) Patients can have two forms of Rogaine: foam or spray. The spray makes the application less messy.
2) Rogaine is basically not gender selective. It can be used by both men and women with mild cases of androgenetic alopecia, only differing in prescribed solutions.
3) An FDA-approved product for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia in men and women.

Cons

1) Side effects of Rogaine are not unheard of. They include scalp irritation, contact dermatitis, nausea, vomiting, headaches, acne, etc.
2) Dihydrotestosterone or DHT is the main cause of AGA in men. Rogaine does not inhibit the production of the hair-loss-causing DHT which is why patients must depend on the treatment in prolonged periods.
3) May only be effective against baldness in the crown.
4) The main complaint of most users is its application. Rogaine has be to be applied twice a day and it can become messy.

II. Revivogen versus Leimo

A. Revivogen – is a three-bottle kit containing the Scalp Therapy, Bio Cleansing Shampoo, and Thickening Conditioner.

Pros

1) The Revivogen formulation is an all-natural DHT inhibitor.
2) It has no documented side effects.
3) It has a delivery system that ensures proper absorption of ingredients.
4) Men and women can use Revivogen.

Cons

1) The results vary from one patient to another. It only works to a certain degree.
2) The Revivogen formula is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
3) Compared to other brands, Revivogen products are a tad more expensive.
4) The products must be used in conjunction with one another to see results.

B. Leimo – features a complete range of organic-based topical products and a laser device that integrates low-level laser therapy.

Pros

1) Leimo features its Starter Kit that contains organic-based treatments and a laser comb — a perfect choice for patients who prefer natural and side effect–free alternative to minoxidil and finasteride
2) Can be used by both men and women with mild to moderate androgenetic alopecia
3) The laser device is a product of modern technology that is effective in hair growth stimulation.
4) High satisfaction rate.

Cons

1) Users will have to purchase the entire Leimo system to see the benefit.
2) Can be expensive.
3) Leimo is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Not only the best hair loss treatment comparison, but a comprehensive one as well, the outline above can greatly help you in selecting the most apt product for you to address your hair loss problems.

The problem is, it is not alright for a woman to be without hair, even in liberal societies. When we see a woman, parading a complete shaven head with confidence, we can just watch her with awe, respect, and wonder.

On the other hand, unlike male hair loss, the cause of female hair loss is not mostly genetic and is not characterized by total baldness. Rather, it is due to metabolic processes as in during pregnancy, stress, chemotherapy, crash diets, thyroid hormone deficiency, severe illnesses, and the like.

Additionally, hair loss in women is often diffuse (spread throughout the scalp or marked by excessive hair thinning). On a lighter note, female hair loss due to these factors is temporary and rarely chronic. Importantly, women should undergo physical examination to rule out serious underlying health conditions. With proper diagnosis comes proper treatment.

Treatments for Female Hair Loss

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy has been used since the ancient times for various purposes including the treatment of hair loss. Aromatherapy is an alternative medicine, using aromatic plants with volatile compounds to enhance the overall well-being.

From these materials are essential oils, which are ideal in treating hair loss in women due to their calming or stress-relieving effect. Rosemary, cedarwood, olive, coconut, and castor oils are often used in treatments for female hair loss. Massaging these oils directly on the scalp improves the blood circulation to the follicles and thus, stimulates growth.

Leimo

Leimo features an organic-based hair loss prevention system, which is proven effective in treating diffuse hair loss and massive hair thinning.

This system contains the Bio Cleansing Shampoo, Thickening Conditioner, Scalp Therapy Day Treatment, Scalp Serum Night Treatment, and Deep Cleansing Scalp & Body Scrub.

The Leimo topical essentials contain the highest grade natural essences that are excellent sources of essential fatty acids (gamma linolenic acid, alpha linolenic acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, and azaleic acid); vitamin B6; zinc; beta-sitosterol; and procyanidin oligomers. All these components are required in order for the hair to regenerate and degenerate properly.

Leimo is considered to be one of the most effective organic-based treatments for female hair loss.

Nutritional Balance

Topical products are not enough to keep a healthy mane. Proper diet also helps slow down hair loss by keeping hair well nourished from within.

Dietary sources that make the hair healthy are oysters, salmon, dark green leafy vegetables, beans, and whole grains.

For the time being, hair loss sufferers rely heavily on topical solutions, medications, and surgeries for refuge. Little do most people know that the most effective hair loss products contain powerful natural extracts. One of the widely used natural ingredients in these products is castor oil.

The use of castor oil as a hair loss remedy can be traced back thousands of years before the birth of Christ. Derived from the castor plant (Ricinus communis), castor oil is extracted from its bean which is a popular medicinal purgative.

It also has other uses such as treating acne, ringworm, athlete’s foot, skin abrasions, and sunburns among others. Due to its observed ability in boosting the immune system, experts have been using it to treat conditions like arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, and cerebral palsy.

Castor oil has an unusual composition, containing fatty acids such as oleic, linoleic, and ricinoleic acids. However, it is 99% percent ricinoleic acid, which is a potent anti-bacterial and anti-fungicidal agent. Therefore, it can protect the hair and scalp from hair-loss-causing agents. Aside from that, it can be used as a hair loss remedy and provide nourishment for the hair; and with its humectants, it can provide sufficient moisture for the hair and scalp.

In preparing castor oil as a hair loss remedy, dilute the oil by adding it to your conditioner or by mixing it with other essential oils such as rosemary or grape seed oil. (Raw castor oil is very thick in consistency.) Apply the conditioner to your hair; massaging the scalp with it will not only stimulate hair growth but also will especially make your hair shiny, treat split ends, and make it less frizzy. It will provide deep conditioning without leaving the hair oily at all.

The FDA adds new side effects of finasteride, the drug used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia and androgenetic alopecia, reporting that the drug increases the risks of infertility and sexual dysfunction that may continue even after stopping therapy.

The Infamous Drug

Finasteride and dutasteride are inhibitors of 5-alpha reductase, the enzyme responsible for the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is the key to androgenetic alopecia (AGA) which the most common form of baldness affecting nearly half of the world’s adult population.

5-ARIs remain to be the first option of many men with AGA. But while effective, many of the patients reported sexual side effects that experts believe are already permanent. Many men still experience these side effects even after stopping the therapy.

Earlier last year, the FDA mandated manufacturers of finasteride (Propecia, Proscar) and dutasteride (Avodart) to include warnings regarding the increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer.

It seems that high-grade prostate cancer adds to the long list of the potential side effects of these synthetic-based products for hair loss, which were not unheard of before the FDA issued a warning.

Other known side effects include “loss of libido, erectile dysfunction, genital numbness, dulled orgasm, and decreased arousal.”

Reports on Male Infertility

Two major brand names, Propecia and Proscar, already added the warning on its label: “decreased libido that continued after discontinuation of the drug.” The FDA, however, wants to include an emphasis on its potential to impair men’s ability to reproduce.

Although there is no large-scale evidence to prove the causal links between finasteride and these side effects, the FDA deems its action to be precautionary since reports from patients are clearly not ignorable.

As the FDA puts it, “prescribers and patients need to be aware of them, as part of a discussion of risk and benefits of finasteride” when determining the best products for hair loss.

Recently also, it has been found out that the side effects of finasteride (Propecia) are long-lasting even after concluding therapy. Finasteride is a popular product for hair loss that has side effects including loss of libido, erectile dysfunction, and is linked to prostate cancer.

Fortunately, there are other mechanisms to treat male baldness. The better news is that there is one conventional technique that poses absolutely no side effects. This mechanism is called low-level laser therapy.

Male pattern baldness is a condition also known as androgenetic alopecia (AGA). It is believed to be caused by the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which builds up in the follicles, curbing the blood flow in excessive and harmful amounts that the hair follicles eventually miniaturize due to malnutrition. This would lead to hair loss. Low-level laser therapy reduces the effects of DHT in the hair follicles and hair growth in a safe level.

What Is Low-Level Laser Treatment?

Low-level laser therapy is the application of low-energy laser on affected areas of the scalp. LLLT has no thermal component to irritate, burn, or cut. It is very safe; in fact, it is considered a non-significant risk laser according to international standards. Unlike finasteride, it is a treatment for hair loss in both men and women.

How Does It Work?

LLLT works by way of increasing the scalp cells’ available energy through photobiostimulation and improve the blood circulation to the hair follicles through vasodilation.

Through photobiostimulation, light energy is converted into chemical energy as laser photons work on the mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cells. In this manner, there is an increase in the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the major source of energy for the cells.

Through vasodilation, LLLT allows the expansion of the blood vessels in the follicles, thus allowing entry of more food and oxygen supply for hair growth.

How Effective Is It?

Clinical studies have proven that low-level laser treatment for hair loss promotes hair growth in mild to moderate cases of AGA in men and women. The results may vary from one case to another.

However, it requires mentioning that the administration of LLLT is all the same. There are clinical and at-home versions of this therapy, differing mainly in the wavelengths and the source used.

Gotu kola is a great addition to the list of herbal remedies for hair loss. As a treatment for hair loss, it primarily promotes good hair growth.

Gotu kola (Centella asiatica) is the crawling, slender plant that grows abundantly in swampy tropical areas such as in India and Southeast Asian regions. It contains a variety of compounds that include the three triterpenes: asiatic acid, madecassic acid, and asiaticoside—all of which possess anti-oxidizing properties.

In Indian and Indonesian folk medicine, it has been used to treat several cosmetic and health conditions including wounds, skin inflammation, and varicose veins. It is also beneficial to the central nervous system and cardiovascular system, generally.

Because of these observed benefits, gotu kola is assumed to be a good treatment for hair loss and a hair booster. In most cases of hair loss, the hair follicles reduce in size due to malnutrition. Gotu kola’s ability to strengthen blood vessels will be essential in expanding miniaturized hair follicles.

With non-constricted blood vessels, circulation to the follicles improves, thus allowing the entry of more nutrients and oxygen for the follicles. In this manner as well, the effects of DHT (dihydrotestosterone) will be reduced significantly.

In essence, gotu kola prevents further hair loss, improves the scalp condition, and especially provides a better environment for the hair follicles to produce stronger, healthier hair shafts.

On the downside, the effectiveness of gotu kola as a treatment for hair loss lacks clinical evidence like many other herbs purported to prevent hair loss and stimulate hair growth. However, many people can attest to its efficacy in various forms.

The usual recommended dosage of gotu kola is 600 mg three times a day. Side effects of the herb is rare although it has been linked to sarcoma and occasional skin rash.

Hair is elemental to the overall beauty which explains why the lack of locks is not an option at all. But sometimes, hair and scalp problems are difficult to avoid especially that hair is prone to abuse, neglect as a result of poor hair and scalp care choices and habits. Oftentimes, the factors are beyond mechanical such as stress, illness, nutritional deficiency, or hormonal changes.

Excessive shedding and thinning also happen to women’s hair however lustrous and ordinary. In the event, here are the best hair growth products for them:

Handheld Laser Devices

Handheld laser devices have the portability of combs integrated with a stimulatory purpose. These devices employ the principle of low level laser therapy. These devices stimulate hair growth at a cellular level safely through photobiostimulation.

It increases cellular performance and improves the blood flow to the follicles—two mechanisms that encourage the hair to grow.

LLLT is a non-invasive method of treating hair loss and to date has no documented side effects. It is often used in conjunction with DHT inhibitors as it is a growth stimulant.

There is no standard method in administering LLLT, in general—the reason laser combs are not created equal. They differ in penetration depth that ranges from approximately 600 nm to 900 nm. Compared to a 12-month session of clinical LLLT, handheld laser devices are definitely less cheaper.

Spironolactone

Spironolactone is often considered the “king of androgens.” It is an inhibitor of aldosterone receptors which is indicated in women with alopecia and hirsutism. It also inhibits alpha reductase enzymes and increases metabolic clearance of testosterone.

Spironolactone can cause impotence and breast enlargement in men. Despite being one of the best hair growth products, spironolactone may produce side effects such as irregular menstrual periods, fatigue, gastrointestinal bleeding, and nausea.

Cyproterone Acetate

Like spironolactone, cyproterone acetate has powerful anti-androgenic properties and is often indicated in women with alopecia. It may cause liver toxicity, however.

Minoxidil 2%

Minoxidil is a topical solution which is suggested in women in 2% solution. Minoxidil is an antihypertensive vasodilator that expands the blood vessels for better circulation to the hair follicles.

Like even the best hair growth products, minoxidil has side effects such as a burning or itching sensation, swelling, and shortness of breath.

Related Blogs

With a wide set of options to defy baldness nowadays, men immediately turn to the popular hair loss drug called finasteride (Propecia). Finasteride is probably the most accessible treatment for androgenetic alopecia. But what if while it stops a receding hairline, it takes away that one key to improving one’s social life?

The Major Cause

Men suffer from excessive hair fall, a receding hairline, thinning hair, and an open patch in the crown because of the gradual effects of the build-up of dihydrotestosterone or DHT in the hair follicles.

With genetic disposition, certain hair follicles in the scalp become sensitive to DHT, the chemical cousin of testosterone. DHT is created when the enzyme 5-alpha reductase acts on testosterone (which is its primary function). There are two types of this enzyme and the second type is believed to be responsible for the conversion.

DHT binds with the androgen receptor sites in the hair follicles, curbing the blood flow that carry food and oxygen to the follicles. In effect, the follicles reduce in size due to malnutrition.

The Common Treatment

There are two standard techniques to prevent further hair loss due to DHT: (1) cut back the levels of free testosterone and (2) inhibit the action of 5-AR on testosterone. Finasteride is designed to do the second technique. It prevents type II of the enzyme 5-AR from converting testosterone into DHT, thus reducing DHT levels significantly.

The Side Effects

While many attest to the efficacy of finasteride in preventing further hair loss, patients also report side effects that they fear do not only happen for a short time, that is, even as the patient go off the medication.

Doctors call it “post-finasteride syndrome” or PFS.  In a George Washington University study, 71 men reported to be suffering from PFS while on therapy, after finishing therapy, or as they stopped the medication.

These men claim to suffer from “serious and lasting sexual problems including loss of libido, erectile dysfunction, genital numbness, dulled orgasm, and decreased arousal.”

The doctors also described it as “endocrine system crash” that can decrease the sex drive; create changes in the genitals and scrotum; cause weariness, hot flashes, and depression. In addition, it can also impact the “neurotransmitters, nerve-signaling pathways and male-to-female hormone levels besides being linked to prostate and male breast cancer.”

The Bottom Line

Finasteride is such a major irony in the hair loss treatment industry. Although it wouldn’t be shocking to know if some use it to improve other social aspects besides their dating lives, balding men need not resort to a method that could permanently cripple their sexual life and self-esteem.

There are surgical treatments, laser therapies, and herbal medicine for hair loss that may just do well without causing such nasty permanent side effects.

Then you ask yourself, “Is this hair loss?”

Five minutes later, you plugged in the hair blower and start blow drying your hair like you dry your hands in the hand dryer. Then you go out with the girls, talk about the latest trends and tresses in fashion. Later in the afternoon, you end up in a hair salon for some curls and hair color.

The next morning, you comb your hair and ask yourself again, “Is this hair loss?”

No wonder why guys think that girls don’t make sense. Fully aware of the damages hair blowers, dyes, and curlers do to the hair, some of us still continue submitting to such hair exploitation for the very love of fashion.

This is not an anti-fashion campaign or a revenge for those pretty girls in high school. Rather, this is only to remind every girl that there are no cures for hair loss. Cure, at its baldest sense, entails a complete healing and restoration of what was lost.

In the case of hair loss, however, once the hair follicles completely damaged or atrophied, no shampoo, conditioner, or any product can actually impel the scalp to grow new follicles.

Because there are no cures for hair loss, prevention should be of highest regard. We should take care of our hair the same way as how we take good care of our skin and figure. Overprocessing the hair with certain thermal or chemical treatments such as dyes and bleaches can actually stress the hair, making it fragile and weak.

Fashion and hair care should be reconciled with balance. There is nothing wrong with being trendy, as long as it is does not damage our bodies.

Searching cures for hair loss, as of now, is like searching Herodotus’s fountain of youth — a quest left only for the imagination. The real thing is maintaining the hair we are born with, because a healthy hair is the best fashion statement a girl can wear every day.

Anagen Effluvium: Chemotherapy-Stimulated Hair Loss

Cancer cells are cells that rapidly divide at a  fast irregular rate. To kill these quickly growing cells, chemotherapy drugs are used. However, while these drugs kill cancer cells, they also kill hair cells.

Hair cells in the anagen or growth phase are one of the most rapidly proliferating cells in the body. During chemotherapy, drugs flow in the bloodstream en route to the hair follicles along with the food and oxygen that the follicles need for hair growth. Then, this would result in a condition called anagen effluvium.

As the hair cells stop growing or dividing, the hair becomes thinner and gradually falls out unless the treatment ends. Chemotherapy can affect 90% of the hair and hair loss can take place fast. Within the first three weeks of treatment, the hair may begin to degrade in condition.

Stop Balding by Scalp Cooling

Baldness is a common side effect of drugs used during chemotherapy. Even if it is only temporary, some patients do find it disturbing so they would refuse treatment. More than three decades ago, however, experts discovered a simple method of how to prevent hair loss during chemotherapy—that is through scalp cooling.

Scalp cooling is a method of contracting the small blood vessels in the hair follicles so that only less blood that carry chemotherapy drugs flows through the follicles. Hair fall becomes less likely.

Methods of Scalp Cooling

Cold cap

These turban-like ice packs contain a gel that can be cooled down. The cap must fit perfectly on the head in order for it to work well and should be replaced every 20–40 minutes to maintain the coolness. However, these caps can feel uncomfortable and heavy. In some cases, they can even cause headaches.

Refrigerated Cooling System

A refrigerated cooling system supplies a liquid coolant through a cap that is attached to this system. The obvious disadvantage is that the patient must remain seated by the machine, so it can be restrictive one way or another.