With this new blog entry I intend to respond to the previously published entry under the title “How much do you know about hair?
On average we lose about 100 hairs a day. This drop should not be a concern as long as there is no loss of capillary density. With this statement begins an interview that the excellent journalist Cristina Miter conducted with an exceptional dermatologist and trichologist, Dr. Sergio Vañó.
I wanted to write this fabulous interview so that it reaches as many people as possible. Because with it answers are given to multiple questions that my patients ask me in consultation and some that they do not dare to ask.
The podcasts of this fantastic journalist can be found on Ivoox, Spreaker, Apple Podcast and Spotify.
- Hair does not fall out any more by washing it frequently. Hair tends to fall out when you pull on it (either by washing or brushing). So, for fear of a further fall, people often do what not to do, wash it less often. The hair has already been untied from the roots, and it is with washing or brushing when it falls out.
- Alopecia occurs due to a problem in the hair root (3 millimeters below the skin of the scalp), so what we do from the skin outwards will not affect the root, but it will affect the hair shaft.
- There are many products that can improve the cosmetic characteristics of the hair, but cannot treat an alopecia problem.
- In pregnancy the levels of female hormones increase and the male hormones decrease and that is why this period of the woman’s life, hair looks better than ever. And a few months after delivery, a more abundant hair loss occurs.
- The drugs finasteride and dutasteride have an urban legend that they cause problems in the sexual sphere, but current scientific studies have shown that the possibility of any adverse effect in the sexual sphere in patients undergoing antiandrogen treatment is similar to the group placebo not taking it. These effects described by some young patients may be due to the fact that these patients could have these effects even if they did not take the treatment and can also be attributed to the “nocebo effect” produced by reading the package leaflet.
- Hair transplant is a minimally invasive ambulatory surgical technique that involves transplanting hair from the nape area (genetically resistant to alopecia) and implants it in the recipient area (where the patient has alopecia)
- The transplanted hair, a few weeks after the surgery, falls out and a few months later, when we begin to see the growth and at 12 months we will see the final result of the surgery.
- Transplantation is not a curative treatment for alopecia. The transplanted hair is resistant to alopecia and will not be lost, hair the non-transplanted hair will continue to fall if you do not take a treatment to avoid it.
- In order to perform the surgery we need a donor area of more than 80-90 hairs per square centimeter.
- PRP (platelet rich plasma) is a regenerative medicine treatment. Blood is drawn from the patient, centrifuged to isolate the portion of plasma rich in growth factors, and that plasma is injected into the scalp. It is a second-line treatment, without contraindications.
- Treatments that have shown effectiveness in alopecia: minoxidil, antiandrogens, PRP, low-power laser, microneedling
- Treatment that to date has NOT shown effectiveness in alopecia: vitamins, cosmetics, ozonetherapy and carboxytherapy.
- Why were so many units of horse shampoo sold if it has no proven effectiveness? Horse shampoo is a shampoo with a high percentage of sodium chloride (salt). The patients, when using it, felt an effect similar to when the hair was plastered on the beach, which gave a feeling of volume, but no effect on androgenetic alopecia.
- The inheritance of alopecia is very complex, it is influenced by more than 200 genes. Currently there are no genetic tests that have good precision to predict whether a man or a woman will suffer androgenetic alopecia.
- The eyelashes, with the natural ageing process, become shorter and thinner. The majority of eyelash consultations occur in women without alopecia problems, but simply undergo a normal physiological process. To improve the appearance of the eyelashes we can use prostaglandin analogues.
- Nor the dryer if the iron or the tweezers affect the hair root, so they do not interfere with the evolution of alopecia, but they do influence on a cosmetic level.
- Brushing in general should not damage the hair, unless it is done aggressively and with inadequate brushes.
- The hair has no toxins.
