And I swore I was gonna stay off this forum for at least a day...
You guys are sooo funny! I'd rather DIE that be that poor lady with the beard in the picture that D.Overbeer put up! Eeeeek!
Funch: A little fuzzy patch on the FRONT ain't so bad. That's where it's SUPPOSED to be!
Now for the OPPOSITE side of the problem...
Can I Stop My Hair from Thinning?
"I am a 59 year-old-woman with thinning hair. What is the best treatment to prevent more hair loss and is there anything that can make my hair grow back?"
-- Johanna Lewis (Published 09/13/2002)
Thinning hair among women is not unusual, especially after menopause when hormonal changes may cause female pattern baldness, marked by thinning of hair all over the head without a receding front hairline. You could be genetically predisposed to this problem. Hair loss can also be due to severe stress, damaging effects of hair care treatments or styling, and a habit of twisting or pulling your hair. Some prescription drugs can cause excessive hair shedding that might be mistaken for thinning, among them blood thinners and medications used to treat gout, arthritis, depression, heart problems, and high blood pressure. If youre taking a drug for any of these conditions, check to see if shedding hair is a side effect. You also might ask your doctor to test you for thyroid disease, which is common in your age range and can also cause hair loss. If this is the problem, treatment should result in hair regrowth.
In any case, I would try nutritional approaches to stop further loss and to encourage hair re-growth. Make sure youre getting enough omega-3 fatty acids by eating salmon, sardines, herring or mackerel two or three times a week or by sprinkling two tablespoons of freshly ground flax seeds per day on cereal or salads. Buy whole flax seeds, keep them in the refrigerator, and grind enough for a week at a time in a coffee grinder or blender. In addition, supplement your diet with GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) in the form of black currant oil or evening primrose oil, available in capsules or soft gels at health food stores. Take 500 mg of either twice a day for six to eight weeks to see if it plus the omega-3 are beginning to make a difference.
Conventional medicine treats female pattern baldness with the non-prescription drug minoxidil, which you rub into your scalp twice a day. This treatment slows or stops hair loss among the majority of people who try it and helps hair regrow among 20 to 25 percent of users. Treatment is expensive it will run you about $600 per year -- and if you stop using the drug, any hair regrowth that has occurred will disappear and thinning will resume. The most common side effects are itching and skin rash.
Dr. Andrew Weil
http://www.drweil.com/drw/app/cda/drw_cda.php-command=TodayQA-pt=Question-questionId=99989
