THE BELGRAVIA CENTRE BLOG

Question: I am a 19 year old female who has a naturally high and wide forehead (about 8cm high). I find it frustrating sometimes, not being able to do certain hairstyles (like a middle part) that will emphasise my high forehead.

I know hairdressers say that bangs will help, but unfortunately they do not work on me, as my hair is thin especially on the top of my head. I’ve also had thin baby hair near my hairline for as long as I can remember. If these baby hairs grew out, they could perhaps add some hair to my hairline. I was wondering whether Minoxidil will help in growing hair at my hairline? I do not want to undergo surgery.

Answer: Minoxidil is an effective solution for hair loss prevention and thickening of hair that has thinned.  Unfortunately there is no evidence to show that it can improve the thickness of naturally thin hair.  I do not however see any harm in trying as it is a possibility that the thin hair may have been thicker in the past - it is difficult to remember how your hair used to look as the process of thinning hair is so slow (even over the space of a few months!).

• Everybody’s hair grows to a different length and it is very unusual for hair to grow longer than 90cm.
• One strand of hair can support about 100g in weight.  So add it up and a whole head of hair could carry 2 elephants!
• Over 50% of men experience hair loss at some point in their life.

Check back next week for three interesting facts about hair!

A recent article in the People newspaper proves that in the case of Hayley Burton the Beatles were right… love really is all you need! Hayley and her boyfriend Don Timson are convinced that falling in love brought all her hair back - hair that had had been dormant for seven years.

Hayley suffered from a condition called Alopecia Universalis which causes all hair on the body to shed suddenly.  This hair loss condition can last for a person’s lifetime but due to the fact that the follicles never actually die, there is always a chance the hair will grow back.  Hayley’s hair began to grow back 2 weeks after meeting Don - now she has a fully recovered, thick and vibrant head of hair.

Read the full People Newspaper love story, including an expert opinion by Leonora Doclis, one of the Belgravia Centre’s senior trichologists - PEOPLE NEWSPAPER HAIR LOSS LOVE STORY.

All you need is love! Falling in love brings
Back Hayley Burton’s hair. Read the full story.

• You can not tell a person’s gender by examining their hair.
• Blonde people have the most scalp hair, with an average of 140,000 and people with red hair have the least, with around 90,000.  Those with brown or black hair have about 110,000 hairs.
• Thinning hair only becomes visibly noticeable when about 50% has been lost from an area.

Check back next week for three more interesting facts about hair!

• African hair grows slowest and Asian hair grows fastest.
• African hair is the most fragile, whereas Asian hair is the strongest and most elastic.
• Asians are less likely to be affected by hair loss than Africans and Europeans.

Check back next week for three more interesting facts about hair!

Name: Frank

Question: There are a few studies being published regarding caffeine’s effect on blocking DHT topically. As I know the centre keeps up to date with all major breakthroughs, what is your opinion on topical caffeine as a method to prevent hair loss/regrowth potential?

Answer: In January last year a study was carried out and published in the International Journal of Dermatology (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17214716?dopt=AbstractPlus). The study involved hair follicles being removed from balding men and cultured (artificially grown) in a lab. All the follicles were exposed to testosterone and some were also exposed to caffeine. The hair growth from follicles exposed to testosterone was significantly reduced (as is the case with follicles affected by Male Pattern Hair Loss) whereas not only did caffeine seem to prevent testosterone from negatively affecting hair growth, but it also stimulated growth of the hair.

Unfortunately this does not tell us as much as I’m sure you and I would like to think! The fact that this was carried out in a lab on individual cultured hair follicles could be very different to the effects caffeine would have if administered to the scalp of a human. There would need to be many years of research carried out into whether the same effects would be seen on the scalp of a human, and if so, how much would need to be absorbed and whether or not this amount of caffeine would be safe in the body.

I am unaware of any hair products on the market containing caffeine but if there are I would be wary of any claims made regarding hair loss prevention. I think it will be many years before we know the true answer to whether or not caffeine can effectively prevent hair loss.

Name: Marina

Question: I used to tie my hair back too tight and plait my hair on to my scalp and my hair fell out round the sides - this was about 6 years ago.  Is there any thing i can use for my hair to grow back?

Answer: The hair loss you are experiencing is known as a condition called TRACTION ALOPECIA (click on the link for more information).  It is caused by excessive force being applied to the hair which damages the hair follicles. The condition can result in permanent hair loss but there are treatments available that can sometimes help to regrow the hair that has been lost depending on the extent of damage to the follicles.

Here are some photographic examples of people who have been treated for traction alopecia - http://www.belgraviacentre.com/thumbs_index1.php?gender=all&condition=Traction+Alopecia&Submit=Show.

• By examining a person’s hair you can find out a person’s ethnic origin, what a person has eaten, if they drink, smoke or if they have taken drugs.  You could think of hair as a logbook of a person’s life!

• Your hair grows 0.3-0.5mm each day.  As people have an average of around 100,000 hairs on their head this means a person’s overall daily hair growth is 30-50 metres!

• It is normal to lose between 50-100 hairs each day from the scalp alone.

Check back next week for three more interesting facts about hair!

Name: Spencer

Question: I would like to start applying the 12.5% Minoxidil + Azelaic Acid in the morning rather than evening. How long does it take for my scalp to absorb the minoxidil and before I can take a shower (after playing sport for example)?

Answer: My advice would be to allow a couple of hours for full absorption of the cream.

I must admit, it was more in hope than in faith when, after surfing the internet, I contacted the Belgravia Clinic.  Being advised by you to use treatment assiduously, I followed your instructions which, I must say, resulted in an excellent outcome.

Though I will never be likened to Rapunzel, gone are the days when I went around thinking ‘I wonder if they are noticing how thin my hair is on top’.  To celebrate I have bought myself a lovely hairslide!

Please put a tick against my name - your own as well.

Thank you so much,

Sarah Anne

Sarah does not have any photo-scans as she is a non-visiting patient who contacted Belgravia via our on-line diagnostic form.

Diagnosis: Female Pattern Hair Loss

Treatment Course:
Minoxidil 4% + MPG
Hair Vitalics