Can Spa Treatments Reverse Hair Loss?

A celebrity spa in Spain, frequented by guests like Barbra Streisand and Donna Karan, has begun offering treatment packages specifically designed to halt hair loss. The weekend hair loss treatment retreat costs nearly £2500 per person. So, what kind of spa treatments can claim to tackle hair loss, and can they really work?

Aside from food and accommodation, the fee payable to this particular clinic includes a complete health check before any hair loss treatments begin.

As standard, all guests at the spa are then placed on a strict vegan diet to ‘cleanse the system’, and are banned from caffeine, alcohol and sugar. Guests are not allowed to smoke on site either. To help boost hair health, most guests are placed on a macrobiotic diet including plenty of grains, seaweed, fruit and brown rice.

The strict dietary regime is complemented by various spa treatments, most of which revolve around scalp massages and hair masques. Each massage is supposed to perform slightly different tasks, in improving capillary blood flow in the scalp. The use of essential oils, Ayurvedic massage techniques and even Chinese glass-cup therapies are integrated into these treatments.

Is this enough to reverse hair loss?

The techniques employed by these types of health spas and clinics are fairly effective at slowing some hair loss conditions, although they are unlikely to promote re-growth of hair already lost. A good flow of blood to the scalp is essential for delivery of the nutrients needed for healthy hair growth, so massaging is definitely a good practice for men and women concerned about hair loss.

Similarly diet is extremely important for ensuring your body has the right vitamins and minerals required to produce new hair cells. Protein, iron, omega-3 fatty acids and zinc (among other minerals) are all essential to new hair growth so including them in your diet is certainly a positive measure.

However, diet and scalp massaging cannot reverse hair loss caused by genetic conditions like male pattern baldness and female pattern baldness. Genetic conditions require more in depth, comprehensive treatments plans if hair loss is to be reversed. Diet, exercise and massaging still have a part to play in treating genetic hair loss conditions, but they complement, rather than replace, a professional treatment programme.

For men or women concerned about hair loss, seeking assistance from a hair loss expert will help them address all aspects of the condition, rather than simply trying to delay the onset.