shaun army asks: How can I stop my hair from falling out?
Hi shaun army –
Oh boy, would Handsome love it if I could stop my hair from shedding! I shed hair all year, all day, everywhere! He can brush me every week, but still he finds my hairs in his food, in his toothbrush, and, of course, always on his nicest clothes. He loves me so much he tolerates it, and says he considers my hairs on his black suit a “badge of honor,” and a reminder of how much he loves me… but if he could find a way to stop me from losing all that hair, he’d do it instantly!
However, in my case we’re talking about fur, which just keeps growing in, no matter how much comes out. I lose hairs all the time, but I’m not going bald! Humans aren’t necessarily so lucky!
While humans shed hair all their lives, just as we dogs do, there are certain times when some humans lose more hair than they re-grow, which makes their heads start to show more skin than before. Of course this happens most to men, but it does happen to some women at times too, especially as they grow older.
There are a few medicines that have been discovered to work on some people to slow hair loss, or even get hair to grow back. The most famous of them are Minoxidil (which originally was designed as medicine for heart problems, but the doctors found that some of the patients they were testing it on started to grow hair!), and Finasteride. Both are pretty strong medicines, and no one should take them without checking with a doctor first.
Then there are other treatments for treating hair loss. The one that has the best record is to surgically transplant hair follicles from one part of the person’s head to the bald area. It’s a full-on operation, and pretty expensive, but if done well, it does work. Other methods vary in their results more.
There may well come a day, shaun army, when doctors find a simpler, easier way for people to keep their hair just as it was when they were younger. But for now, since we don’t have that yet, just remember one thing – there is nothing, and I mean nothing, wrong with losing one’s hair. It doesn’t mean the person’s unhealthy, and has no side-effects. It’s just part of life, like losing baby teeth. So unless you’re particularly concerned with how your head looks without all your hair (for example, I have a friend whose skull is an odd shape, and I’d never begrudge him covering it up any more than if he put makeup on a zit!), I’d suggest that you not worry too much about it. After all, today it’s very trendy to have a shaved head anyway. And that’s a LOT cheaper than Minoxidil, Finasteride, or surgery!!!
Cheers,
Shirelle