Oils Herbs and Extracts: Alternative Hair Loss Remedies


Oils, Herbs, and Extracts: Alternative Hair Loss Remedies

Concern over hair loss has plagued men and women for thousands of years, and hair loss remedies go back almost as far. The ancient Egyptians applied concoctions directly to the scalp or consumed them to try to combat the balding process. The famous Greek physician Hippocrates is rumored to have applied pigeon droppings to his scalp in hopes to regrow hair. And in colonial times, America’s balding forefathers donned white wigs to cover shiny scalps. There has been no lack of creative cover-ups or attempts to save rapidly receding hairlines over the years. Here, we review some alternative, but not scientifically proven, methods of keeping hair where it belongs, including ancient Chinese and Indian oils and herbs.

Oiling it up

Oiling your hair may seem a little out of date, but over the years, many people have used oils to stimulate hair growth. For example, the ancient Egyptians were very concerned about maintaining thick hair and believed that castor oil applied to the scalp could stimulate hair growth. (They sometimes mixed it with sweet almond oil to improve the smell.) Ancient Indians and Polynesians used coconut oil, and ancient Africans used olive oil, all applied to the hair and scalp in an attempt to stimulate hair growth. At least one current study shows that oil application can help with some specific types of hair loss. In 1998, researchers from Scotland published their results of a randomized, double-blind controlled study investigating aromatherapy in patients with alopecia areata, a condition in which the body’s immune cells start attacking healthy hair-producing cells.

In this study, 86 patients were placed into two different groups. One (the active group) massaged their scalps daily with four essential oils (thyme, rosemary, lavender, and cedar wood) in a mixture of jojoba and grape seed oils. The other group (the control group) massaged only jojoba and grape seed oils into their scalps daily. Each group massaged the oils into their scalps for a total of seven months.

Interestingly, 19 of 43 patients (44 percent) in the active group showed improvement compared with only 6 of 41 patients (15 percent) in the control group. The authors concluded that aromatherapy with these essential oils may be a safe and effective treatment for alopecia areata.

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This article was sent to us by: Lionel Venera at 06192010

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