not much anyone can do about hair loss
or going gray. When women reach meno-pause,
hair loss is more common and up to
one-third of men have hereditary baldness.
If used properly, products like Rogaine are
effective with hormonal hair loss, says Dr.
George. “But it’s like brushing your teeth;
you have to do it every day.” For men, the
FDA has approved Propecia, a pill devel-oped
to treat mild to moderate male pat-tern
hair loss.
Hair shedding is a normal occurrence
— the average person loses about 100
hairs a day. Excessive hair shedding can be
hereditary, or it can be caused by cancer
treatments, medication changes, diseases
like thyroid disease, stress, ringworm or
even hairstyles that pull on the scalp, says
Dr. Kimberly Edwards of Dermatology
Associates. Hair that falls out in round
patches is abnormal and needs to be looked
at by a dermatologist, along with any other
unusual patterns. “Most people know what
normal hair loss is and are good about seek-ing
out help if it is not normal,” says Dr.
George, who makes it clear that hair loss
has nothing to do with the number of times
people wash their hair.
The opposite problem, excessive hair
— hirsutism — affects up to 15 percent of
women in the United States. “It is a condi-tion
where hair grows in places where men
would typically grow hair, such as the face
and chest,” says Dr. Edwards. Hirsutism
can be triggered by hormones and may be
linked with other symptoms, such as irregu-lar
menstrual cycles, deepening of the voice
and other physical symptoms.
Hair color may also tell a story about
overall health. For those who’ve heard horror
stories about people going white overnight, it
can’t happen. It is accepted science that hair
turns gray because of a gradual decline in the
production of melanin at the root. There
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is no biological event that can remove pig-ment
directly from the hair shaft. Illness or
stress may send hair into a resting phase,
then, months later, those strands may fall
out, leaving the white strands in place,
giving the impression that the hair has sud-denly
turned gray. In normal cases, about
half of all Caucasians will be gray by age
50, due to the decrease in melanin. When
new hair grows, it may come in with less or
no pigment because of this decrease.
Hair loss or changes in hair color are two
of the most common complaints. Another
— dandruff — may be attributed to dry-ness,
though it can also occur because of
a medical problem, usually dermatitis,
psoriasis or eczema. Common treatments
are tar shampoos, Selsun Blue or Head and
Shoulders, says Dr. George.
Then there are the hair problems caused
by our own hands — chemical processing
and pulling of the hair into tight braids or
ponytails. Chemical processing, especially
some of the processing African Americans
use on their hair, may cause damage to the
hair, says Dr. George. She recommends peo-ple
stop the processing — coloring, perming
— to heal the hair. Deep conditioning of the
hair, which some salons provide, can help
restore hair to a healthy condition.
Paradigm Salon uses Caviar Hair Masque
— one in a line of anti-aging products that
uses caviar extract, a source of Omega 3
fatty acids, Vitamin C, an anti-oxidant, and
cytokines to improve the quality of the hair.
“Sometimes, when we apply this to the
roots of the hair, it clears up the skin near
the hair line,” says Paradigm owner Lori
North.
Our hair and skin are the first things
people notice about us. It takes some time
and attention to keep them at their most
vibrant and healthy. Change is bound to
occur, but we can look good at any age just
by eating right and making healthy choices,
which may include a trip to the dermatolo-gist,
podiatrist or nutritionist with any
concerns. After that, the salons can take it
from there.
Hair shedding is a normal occurrence — the average person
loses about 100 hairs a day.