Sulcuscentralis
Member
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2017
- Messages
- 625
Exaclty! Agree w you on this. Hair loss is a complex issue and we have to take into account the balding personality traits and body changes that are a part of the stress cascade. Also worrying about hair loss will create more stress on top of an already compromised biological system creating a vicious circle. It’s basically a double positive feedback loop - more stress creates more stress which at some point will result in maladaptation in form a disease or condition. Breaking the cycle requires tremendous resources and should be tackled from different angles: removing stressors, proper nutrition, addressing deficiencies with supplements if food is not sufficient, adding additional things like red light, aspirin etc. I bet red light studies would yield better results if they address the fore mentioned factors along with it.@PurpleHeart
I have a slightly different take. Hair loss is caused by systemic processes which drive certain changes locally in the scalp. Tension, inflammation and fibrosis are all part of it.
Improving metabolic health by eating good foods, removing irritants and getting enough sunshine, while limiting stress in general can arrest the degenerative process.
However, after a few years of the hair loss process, the pathological changes in the scalp are not likely to be reversed without local/mechanical stimulation of the tissues. I've seen instances of regrowth without all of that, for instance in a 70+ year old man taking spironolactone, but generally, stimulation via massage and red light therapy is a sensible approach, as long as the basic systemic problems are at least somewhat taken care of.
In his book, Rob English makes an analogy to a broken ankle which I think is quite apt. His father broke his ankle and didn't receive any treatment. Eventually his ankle healed but badly and it was full of fibrotic tissue. It didn't heal on its own. Physical therapy and deep tissue massage was necessary to bring it back to its original state.
@rei had a good explanation early on in this thread, but basically the same thing happens with the scalp in hair loss. Under the influence of stress hormones, tension in surrounding scalp tissues increases which leads to inflammation and over time, fibrosis of the tissues. You can fix the problem and many do, by improving their lifestyle (sunshine, food, sleep etc.) and stress levels (getting a better job, new companion etc.) but the scalp likely won't heal to the extent that hair loss is reversed satisfactorily.
Some rare people experience regrowth without any massage, in some accounts I've seen over the years, guys who do so overhaul their lives altogether and go live in a sunny paradise somewhere. That could stimulate metabolic health to an extent that regenerative processes in the scalp can operate at the high intensity typical of a child. But that's hardly possible for most people.
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