Treatment Mechanism of Saw Palmetto as a Hair Loss Remedy

Saw palmetto hair loss treatment is a type of herbal remedy that can be used to treat a type of hair loss and baldness called androgenic alopecia.

This condition is also called male or female pattern baldness. This is characterised by hair loss that is usually greatest at the top of the head or around the temples.

Saw Palmetto Hair Loss Remedy: Where It Comes From

The saw palmetto is actually a dwarf palm plant that is native to North America. It primarily grows along the Atlantic Coast of Florida and Georgia. It has been noted that the active ingredient that is responsible for preventing hair loss can be found in the black-brown berries of the saw palmetto plant.

This plant has been widely used by the Native Americans for its medicinal benefits such as treating urinary conditions in men and breast disorders in women. Later on, it has become an accepted treatment for a disease called benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, which is one of the most common disorders occurring among men. The plant is popular for treating BPH in areas such as Europe and New Zealand.

Saw Palmetto Hair Loss Treatment: How It Works

Although there are no concrete research studies that have been made about this plant and how it works for hair loss, it is believed that the plant can block an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase. This enzyme is responsible for converting testosterone into another hormone called Dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. This hormone is responsible for causing hair loss because it binds itself to the hair follicles, decreasing the amount of nutrients that the hair can extract from the blood. The follicles gradually shrink in size and the hair that grows on them consequently becomes thinner. If no action is taken against DHT, this could cause the hair to disappear completely.

Because saw palmetto inhibits 5-alpha reductase, there is no enzyme that can convert testosterone to DHT. This leaves the hair safe from this unwanted hormone.

There are other drugs that can inhibit the conversion of testosterone to DHT; however, these synthetic drugs are taken in orally and can produce side effects such as erectile dysfunction and gynecomastia. The good thing about saw palmetto is that it is an herbal treatment which has a similar effect to the drug finasteride, but does not affect the entire organism and therefore has no side effects associated with finasteride and other prescription drugs.

How to Use Saw Palmetto Hair Loss Treatment

Saw palmetto for hair loss can be purchased as an oil extract or as an ointment. When purchased as either, it can be used by directly massaging the oil or ointment onto the scalp. The massaging motion on the scalp also promotes blood circulation that brings life-giving oxygen to the hair follicles, promoting rejuvenation of the hair cells. The oil is also easily absorbed by the scalp, making it a very effective treatment.

How to Naturally Revive Healthy Hair Growth

Before you check out the numerous products and remedies in the marketplace to stop hair loss or regrow hair, it’s best to first understand hair loss and growth before deciding on the best avenue for you to pursue, as it may be possible to regrow your hair naturally. Here is a look at some steps to get you started on the right path:

1. Have a balanced diet

While this is a good idea for your overall health and body, this is also good for your scalp. Going on crash diets, starving yourself, or just general bad eating habits will cause your hair to be lacking in much needed nutrients it requires for growth and health.

Required daily amounts of B vitamins and healthy oils that contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are critical if you want to have healthy hair that’s nice and full. Because our bodies can’t manufacture omega-3 and omega-6, it’s important that we get them from foods.

Omega-3 is found in vegetables, cold-water fish and other food sources. Foods where you’ll find omega-3 include canola oil, soybean oil, lake trout, salmon, beans and walnuts. Omega-6 can be found in plant-based oils and animal-based foods. Omega-6 sources would include sunflower oil, safflower oil and corn oil.

If you don’t use any of the above products, you also have the option of taking omega-3 and omega-6 supplements that are available and you could use instead.

2. Maintain a healthy lifestyle

Long periods of stress can contribute to hair loss. Stress comes in multiple forms — physical, emotional, or psychological — which can be brought about by certain experiences or daily activities occurring in your life. It’s very important to find ways to reduce the stress you face either through meditation, prayer, exercise or recreational activities.

3. Get enough protein

Your hair is made up of almost 91% protein. The key amino acid in this is called cysteine. By including foods in your diet which include cysteine, it’ll provide your hair with the protein needed to help it grow. Here is a list of the some of the foods to target: eggs, milk, broccoli, granola, yoghurt, garlic, and onions.

4. Try aromatherapy

Using oils every day and massaging them into your scalp can help promote hair growth. Studies have shown that some people see a significant amount of re-growth in their hair after massaging a mixture of essential oil and carrier oils.

How to Get Your Hair Constantly Growing

Hair grows in phases. Any hair growth discussion would be incomplete without talking about the follicle. The follicle is the part of the scalp from which the hair grows. These are essentially skin organs that build the shaft of the hair and then the hair itself. During the 3 phases of hair growth — which last for varying durations of time and differ from person to person — the hair continues to grow, stops growing and then falls off.

According to accepted definitions, it is normal for the human scalp to lose 50 to 100 hair strands every day. However, when the amount of hair that is lost exceeds this number, the need for intervention to promote natural hair regrowth is desired.

What can you do to promote hair growth?

In order to promote hair growth, what is required is an understanding of how hair grows, what are the problems that affect it and the causes for such problems. Today, many are faced with problems of male pattern baldness. It is prevalent in all countries and is a reason for concern for most men. Therefore, a lot of time, effort and money are spent on research in order to develop products that induce natural hair regrowth. Some of them can be used by people themselves at home while others may require the assistance of a specialist for administration.

How do you know if a product can work for you?

There is no definite way to know if a product that is known to induce natural hair regrowth can work for you or not. What you have, as an individual, to weigh if a product is good or not is the reputation of the product, the experiences of the people who have used it and of course your own reservations about trying it. It must be added here that your reservations for trying a product that helps the hair regrow naturally should be well founded, since most natural products do not have side effects. Hence most of them can be tried without worsening the problem. Unlike synthetic or artificial preparations which may cause unintended effects, natural products are safe for trying.

What are the commonly used natural extracts?

For natural hair regrowth, the commonly used extracts today include ginseng root, vital amino acids and vitamins that are required in the body, ginkgo biloba, rehmannia, horsetail plant and nettle extract among others. These extracts are not quick fix solutions. They are meant to help the body repair itself and so as to allow natural regrowth of hair. Hence, when you try them, you should not do so with the aim of achieving results in a restricted or predetermined span of time. Rather you should try them and measure results in a liberal manner, so as to ascertain their effectiveness.