Archive for May, 2009
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
The story of Samson’s hair loss is probably one of the most famous tales in history. We all know how this story ended, but only a few people have heard this tale from beginning to end. The question many people never asked is why Samson believed that he should not cut his hair.
According to the Old Testament, Samson was a Nasserite. These people had a special role within the Hebrew community. The religious community chose many of them for this role. In Samson’s case, his parents claimed that an angel foretold his birth, his rise to leadership and his extraordinary feats, including freeing the Hebrews from bondage under the Philistines.
One of the restrictions that the Hebrew religion placed on Nasserites was that they could never cut their hair. There were additional prohibitions that Samson had to observe as well. These included avoiding wine and any fruits of the vine.
His long hair intrigued all the women in Samson’s life. His wife, his concubines and of course his mother went to great lengths to keep his hair healthy and well groomed. The Old Testament does not contain any records of how often Samson washed his hair. Nor does it contain any information about his shampoos or his other hair grooming aids.
Obviously, Samson lost the same 50 to 100 hairs daily that everyone else does. However, we can assume that Samson had a hair care routine that kept his hair from thinning. He must have done something to keep his head free of lice that affected so many people during that time in history. His hair care practices must have also included some ways to keep his hair follicles healthy too.
We can follow the story of the adult Samson for more than 20 years. By the time Delilah cut his hair, he was of prime age to begin seeing the effects of male pattern baldness. Unfortunately, the story ends shortly after that historic haircut, so we will never know whether Samson’s locks would have continued to grow until he reached a ripe old age!
Tags: Delilah, grooming, hair, hair follicles, hair loss, haircut, Hebrews, male pattern baldness, Nasserite, Samson, shampoos
Posted in Female Hair Loss, Natural Hair Growth | Comments Off
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
The practice of locking ones’ hair allows it to reach extraordinary lengths in long coils. Some Rastafarians have hair so long that it extends past their waistlines. We know that the average strand of hair can only grow for a maximum of five or six years. However, many people do not understand that dreadlocks are mostly dead hair. Once the hair is locked into the traditional coils, the hairs that die daily cannot fall out of the locked coil. Even though this dead hair can be groomed and maintained, it is just as dead as the hairs that you find in your brush or comb.
Rastafarians do not cut their hair, so the weight of dreadlocks can put enough tension on the scalp to cause traction alopecia. It will often go unnoticed until an entire lock separates from the scalp and leaves a bald spot. The dreadlocks hairstyle that is associated with the Rastafarian political and religious movement has its roots in an unlikely place – Ethiopia.
Haile Selassie lived from 1892 to 1975. During this time, various political strategies to liberate European colonies developed throughout the African Diaspora, including the Caribbean. Haile Selassie, himself, claimed royal lineage that he traced back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, both of great importance to Judaism and Christianity. Even before he became emperor, Selassie often called himself “The Lion of Judah.” His birth name was Tafari Mekonnen. Ras, which simply means prince or ruler, was added later.
Jamaica, a British possession, was a hotbed of political agitation against colonialism and imperialism. When Haile Selassie ascended to the throne in 1930, Marcus Garvey and other notable Jamaican political activists saw the opportunity to inspire and embolden the international Pan-Africanist movement. They helped the biblical prophecy of the second coming of God to quickly gain credence in the Caribbean. Soon, Haile Selassie was being referred to by some Jamaicans as the reincarnated son of God and the designated savior of Africans throughout the Diaspora. The Rastafarian religion was born from this mix of philosophical and political views.
Selassie continues to be revered as the titular head of the Rastafarian religion, even though he was never photographed with any hairstyle that remotely resembled dreadlocks. The Rastafarian rationale for locking ones hair comes from another biblical story – Samson and Delilah.
Tags: bald, dreadlocks, Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, Jamaica, Marcus Garvey, Pan-Africanist, Rastafarians, traction alopecia
Posted in Natural Hair Growth | 1 Comment »
Friday, May 15th, 2009
Before the 20th century dawned, most people took care of their hair at home, sometimes with the assistance of a talented, trusted family member or friend. The local pharmacy was the main place to go to discuss problems like thinning hair or approaching baldness. Naturally, the pharmacist would oblige customers by providing a hair tonic or pomade that had no proven scientific results. People also relied on home remedies that had varied degrees of success.
Our culture now expects modern science to provide a cure for every imaginable disease. Our government and pharmaceutical companies spend millions annually studying disease processes, hoping to isolate causes and find cures.
Conduct a search on Google for hair loss treatment and you will get over 15 million results. A Microsoft Live search returns double that number of websites (31.2 million). A Yahoo web search returns a staggering 52 million website results. These numbers do not include forums and blogs where hair loss sufferers discuss their attempts to find the right product or treatment that will help them grow their hair back.
Why are there so many websites touting cures? If we average the results from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, we will still have more than 32 million hair loss treatment search results Reputable sites like WebMD and Mayo Clinic show up in search results along with private physicians, organizations, hair loss clinics and even Wikipedia. That is either a lot of treatments or a lot of malarkey! Even if they all worked, do you know the long-term success rate and the potential side effects?
How will you ever find time to review the websites that even have some scientific information, let alone those that just lead to “the hottest new version of 21st century snake oil”?
Before you choose a hair loss treatment, separate the snake oil salespeople from reputable people in the medical community. Ask every question that you can think of, including success rates, side effects, whether usage is required for a lifetime, and so on. There is no stupid question when it comes to your health and your hair loss treatment.
Tags: causes, cures, hair loss, health, side effects, treatment
Posted in Natural Hair Growth | 1 Comment »
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
In the 21st century, hair loss has become a full time preoccupation for many people. It’s possible that the aging of the U.S. population has spurred the growth of the hair loss industry. On the other hand, since our lifestyles involve more stress than ever before, it’s likely that the number of people who suffer from hair loss is significantly higher in these times. Environmental chemicals and untested health and beauty products are also creating new ways to lose hair. Ergo, more people need ways to regrow their hair after the damage has been done.
It’s only natural for Americans to expect the medical community to provide real relief for hair loss problems. After all, we can send a man to the moon, so why can’t we prevent or cure baldness?
So far, we know quite a bit about hair loss causes. Scientists have identified and classified the most common and unusual causes for hair loss, by gender, age, and ethnicity. We can even predict a genetic predisposition to some types of hair loss. Treating hair loss, even when the cause is known, isn’t as simple as it might seem to the ailing victims. Unfortunately, the science of hair loss treatment is relatively new, compared to astronomy, chemistry and physics.
Hair loss science must focus on preventing system malfunctions. The human body produces chemicals and fluids to regulate interdependent systems and processes. Our intake of vitamins, minerals, proteins and other nutrients determine how well balanced and efficient these self-regulating systems are. A malfunction in one process can affect other systems. That’s why an untreated iron deficiency may not only result in tiredness and shortness of breath, but also hair loss.
The science of hair growth must focus on helping the body recover from a disease state or system imbalance. In order for scientists to help us regrow hair, they must provide the correct intervention - chemical, herbal, nutritional or psychological that each individual requires. Then your body can heal itself and rebalance the affected systems and processes that contributed to your hair loss.
Tags: baldness, chemicals, hair growth, hair loss, hair loss causes, intervention, nutrients, protein, stress, treatment
Posted in Female Hair Loss, Natural Hair Growth | 1 Comment »
Friday, May 8th, 2009
Hair replacement surgery is a medical procedure that involves the transplantation of living, healthy hair to areas of your scalp that need supplementation. The hair that remains on the scalp (usually at the back and along the sides) will be used to fill in bare or thinning areas of the scalp. Therefore, if you are already completely bald, hair replacement surgery is not an option. If your hair loss is genetic, hair replacement surgery will not stop the progressive hair loss that eventually becomes total baldness. However, it will allow you to rearrange your existing hair to improve your overall appearance.
During an initial consultation with a hair replacement surgeon, potential patients are given a choice of surgical methods that fit their type of hair loss, their age, and their wallet. All of the procedures that are currently available will require a series of visits. Depending on the methods of treatment, the physician’s fees and the degree of hair loss, the cost ranges from $4,000 to $20,000. Since this is elective surgery, you should consult your health insurer about coverage. Hair loss clinics that have a large volume of patients may have lower costs, but the trade off is often less personal attention.
The most common procedure is transplantation. This process entails removing small skin and hair grafts and placing them in on the bald part of the scalp. Micrografts, the smallest size, may only have one or two hairs; it will be inserted into a needle hole. Grafts with three to four hairs each can also be transplanted into previously prepared scalp slits or sites. Minigrafts of both types may contain up to eight hairs each. The standard round or square graft will relocate a small patch of skin that holds nine to eighteen hairs.
Covering an area that is just three square inches will require at least 500 grafts. The total number of grafts you will need depends on the extent of your hair loss. Many patients opt for strategic placement of the hair grafts to reduce the total number of hair transplants. This is a more effective use of the existing hair than attempting to recover the bald part of the scalp completely. The hair that has been relocated usually falls out soon after the transplant, but new growth replaces it when the graft site has healed.
Tags: bald, dermatologists, graft site, growth, hair loss clinics, hair replacement surgeon, hair replacement surgery, hair transplants, micrografts, minigrafts, needle hole, patch, scalp, scarring, slits, supplementation
Posted in Natural Hair Growth | Comments Off
Thursday, May 7th, 2009
You should not be surprised to find out that a majority of American men may lose all or some of their hair before they leave the planet. Women tend to fare slightly better than men, but only by a few percentage points.
There really is no body of statistics that we can use to assess our nation’s hair loss. The Census Bureau is great at counting people and things. The upcoming census in 2010 will give us a snapshot of the population’s housing, employment, education and more.
For a picture of the condition of the nation’s hair, we will need to make our own calculations. Once the numbers in, you will not have to wait for the 2010 Census to figure out where you stand.
In 2006, the oldest baby boomers, born in 1946, turned 60. The Census Bureau counted 78.2 million boomers at the beginning of 2006. Of this number, 48.2% were males and 50.8% were females.
Boomer Hair Loss
Since 66% of all men become completely or partially bald by age 60, we can project that at least 24.8 million boomer men will experience hair loss in the near future; and some of them are already bald.
The Census projections show that there were 39.7 million boomer women in 2006. The onset of menopause is one of the most common causes of hair loss for women in this age group. The risk of hair loss or thinning hair increases to 50% with menopause.
Therefore, by 2006, at least 19.8 million boomer women could be expected to face hair loss. The incidence of hair loss for women increases steadily after menopause, although women never quite catch up with men.
Interestingly, the Census Bureau projected that 7,918 boomers would reach age 60 each day during 2006. This amounts to 330 new 60-year-olds every hour! The youngest boomers, born in 1964, will reach 60 by 2024. By 2030, the total number of boomers between ages 66 to 84 is projected to be 57.8 million.
Even though the total number of baby boomers will decrease in the future, the hair loss statistics won’t change much. The Census Bureau projects that almost 55% of those still living will be female; roughly 45% will be male. That means that our nation is still looking at a bumper crop of balding boomers in the next 20 years!
Tags: baby boomers, bald, balding boomers, baldness, Census Bureau, hair loss, menopause, statistics
Posted in Hair Loss Products, Natural Hair Growth | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009
Hair has been a hot topic forever. Hair care has its own unique history, just like hair loss. No culture or society seems immune to this fascination with hair. Along the way, hair played a starring role in the attraction of the opposite sex and attractiveness to potential mates. Of course, that makes thinning hair and baldness even more important.
Prehistoric cave drawings suggest that men dragged the woman that they chose home by her hair. That may be a myth, but do you suppose that having no hair made it harder for prehistoric women to get a suitable mate? Of course, being dragged around by your hair could lead to early baldness. So, hair was probably a Catch 22 for the women of that era.
Hair Care Practices
Did we develop hair care practices as part of the mating ritual? If not, where do society’s hair practices come from? Early Christians and Muslims shared the philosophy of making women cover their hair. This practice lost popularity in one religion. However, the Catholic church still frowns on uncovered heads, apparently for women only. The nuns also cover their hair to this day, but the priests get to display their crowning glory for all to see.
Hair Styling History
Some hairstyles have been popular during specific eras in history. A few finally died a well-deserved death. The beehive and the 1920s permanent wave immediately come to mind. Both these hairstyles were made possible by the invention of technologies that helped women torture their tresses with heat, chemicals and tension, sometimes all three, at one setting.
Hair care may have taken a turn for the worse when “colorists” started using peroxide and ammonia to bleach women’s hair at the end of the 19th century. When Charles Nessler invented a permanent wave machine at the beginning of the 20th century and the hairstyling industry took a great leap forward.Synthetic hair came on the scene in 1908. Interestingly, it was made from cotton and corn, along with some other available grain products. Could it be that these new technologies used to attack (women’s) hair spurred the need for synthetic hair, wigs and other hair replacements?
Buddhist monks and ascetics often shave their heads. Are they always smiling because they know a secret? Or perhaps they are happy because they have been relieved of our historical fixation on hair as an object of beauty.
Tags: ammonia, baldness, beehive, Buddhist monks, Charles Nessler, chemicals, colorists, hair loss, hair replacements, heat, mating ritual, permanent wave machine, peroxide, synthetic hair, thinning hair
Posted in Female Hair Loss, Natural Hair Growth | Comments Off
|
