Hair loss treatment: Amla powder shown to outperform major drug minoxidil – what is it?

Hair loss: Dr Ranj discusses causes of male pattern baldness

Hair loss treatments do not inspire much confidence. If you are unwilling to foot exorbitant costs and are put off by the possible side effects of drug treatments, there are precious little alternatives. However, emerging evidence suggests there are a number of natural products worth trying.

A lesser-known solution that has yielded encouraging results in multiple animal studies is amla powder.

Amla powder, which has been used Ayurvedic medicine for centuries, is made from the ground-up leaves of the Indian gooseberry.

An animal study found that topical application of amla oil slightly increased the rate of hair growth in rabbits.

The researchers suspect this benefit is tied to amla powder’s high concentration of vitamin E.

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Vitamin E supports healthy circulation, which is thought to stimulate hair follicles.

Another animal study produced similar results. In fact, researchers in this study found that topical application of an herbal solution containing amla powder was more effective than minoxidil at stimulating hair growth in Wistar rats.

Minoxidil is one of the main drugs used to treat male pattern baldness – a permanent type of hair loss that usually runs in the family.

Furthermore, a preliminary study on mice found that a patented herbal mixture containing amla powder might stimulate hair growth among people who experience hair loss.

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Although more research is needed to assess how amla powder affects human hair, the results from animal studies suggest it holds promise.

There are other things you can try if your hair loss is causing you distress but most treatments aren’t available on the NHS, so you’ll have to pay for them.

Some wigs are available on the NHS, but you may have to pay unless you qualify for financial help.

There are two types of wigs to choose from and both come with pros and cons.

As the NHS explains, synthetic wigs are not too costly and are easy to maintain.

Real-hair wigs, on the other hand, last longer than synthetic wigs and look more natural but are far more expensive and harder to maintain.

Other hair loss treatments include:

• Steroid injection – injections given into bald patches
• Steroid creams – cream applied to bald patches
• Immunotherapy – chemical applied to bald patches
• Light treatment – shining ultraviolet light on bald patches
• Tattooing – tattoo used to look like short hair and eyebrows
• Hair transplant – hair cells are moved to thinning patches
• Scalp reduction surgery – sections of scalp with hair are stretched and stitched together
• Artificial hair transplant – surgery to implant artificial hairs.

Some of the above treatments may not be available on the NHS.

Additional support

Losing hair can be upsetting – for many people, hair is an important part of who they are.

“If your hair loss is causing you distress, your GP may be able to help you get some counselling,” advises the NHS.

You may also benefit from joining a support group, or speaking to other people in the same situation on online forums.

Try these online support groups:

• Alopecia UK
• Alopecia Awareness.

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