One of the complications with treating hair loss is to determine its causes, as this will have an effect on which treatments are likely to help the most.
Whilst minoxidil and finasteride are effective for certain causes of hair loss such as male pattern baldness, they cannot stop others, and pairing the right treatment with the right person can make the world of difference.
However, when medication is not the most suitable option to treat hair loss, could meditation possibly help? If the cause of hair loss is stress-related then this is possible.
Severe levels of stress, which can be quite common as the seasons change, can disturb the cycle of hair growth, causing more hair follicles to enter the telogen phase prematurely which causes the hair to eventually fall out. This can cause a noticeable level of hair loss known as telogen effluvium.
This is where meditation can potentially come in thanks to the power of mindfulness, a general state of awareness of the present but often more specifically used to describe varying forms of mindfulness meditation.
There are a lot of forms of mindfulness but a growing number of hair clinics are incorporating the concept into the suite of treatments they offer because it can help people manage their stress, which reduces its psychological and physiological effects.
This can be as simple as following guided meditations and breathing exercises, or it can involve more structured programmes such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Removal (MBSR), an eight-week course originally developed by John Kabat-inn of the University of Massachusetts.
This incorporates several aspects of mindfulness and yoga to create a system that helps to reduce stress considerably, which reduces levels of cortisol and in turn, reduces premature hair loss.
As with any other hair loss treatment, different treatments work best for different people, so it is often best to ask an expert for advice on what types of treatment will work for them.