Hair Foundation Blog

In the ever-growing market for salon quality, at-home products, Suave recently relaunched its Professionals line by reformulating and redesigning it. Now consumers of all ages will find products for their different needs including shampoo, conditioning, styling and dry shampoo.

All products are available at the drugstore.

Shampoo and conditioner

You’ll find 11 different types including sleek, volumizing, humectant, color protection, damage care, 2 in 1 Plus, captivating curls, almond and shea butter, rosemary and mint, aloe vera and ginseng, and black raspberry and white tea. 

Dry Shampoo

Running short on time and can’t wash your hair? This dry shampoo spray will refresh your hair and get rid of the greasy feel  between washings. It also re-styles hair. 

Leave in Conditioner

This spray-on conditioner is nourished with black raspberry and white tea. It replenishes moisture to the hair and keeps color vibrant.

Styling

This styling line has something for everyone including Touchable Finish Lightweight Hold Aerosol Hairspray, Touchable Finish Extra Hold Aerosol Hairspray, Touchable Finish Super Hold Non-Aerosol Hairspray, Volumizing Mousse, Volumizing Root Boost Spray, Captivating Curls Cream Mousse, Capitvating Curls Spray Gel, Sleek Anti-Frizz Cream, Heat Protection Spray, and Vibrant Shine Spray.

In the recent New York Times blog, Well, writer Tara Parker Pope posed the question, ”Can you solve a medical mystery involving a healthy child who is losing her hair? Pope asked the question to her readers under the guise of a contest called Think Like a Doctor.

Here’s the  information from a 10-year-old girl and her hair loss:

A healthy 10-year-old girl noticed that she was losing a lot of hair every time she showered. She mentioned this to her mother several times over a few months. The mother didn’t see any change in her daughter’s hair until one morning when she was putting her child’s long blond hair into a ponytail, and saw for herself how much hair remained on her hands after this simple procedure. Watching her child get on the school bus later that morning, the mother noted that her daughter’s hair seemed much thinner. Worried, she made a doctor’s appointment for later that day.

And the result? After receiving 1200 responses from readers, the diagonosis was Pompe disease.

This is an interesting article to read as it brings up the number of different ways a child can lose their hair, the parents efforts at finding a reason for the loss and the process through which different tests and diagnostiscs are conducted to determine the problem. 

Read more about the mystery and the correct diagnosis.

On Monday, March 28, Brook Milam, a 12-year old from Plant City, Fl. will appear on the television show, The Doctors, to discuss her experience with hair loss and raise awareness about it. Milam suffers from hair loss due to an autoimmune disease.

Also joining Milam on the show is Miss Delaware, Kayla Martell. The 21-year-old beauty queen has suffered from hair loss since childhood and also speaks publicly to raise awareness about it.

Both young women do not wear wigs (Martell does when she competes) and Milam has been bullied at school from her different appearace. She will also discuss this on the television show.

Check your local listings for the broadcast time and channel. 

Here’s more about Milam and Martell.

While many of us look to either dye our hair to color our grays or to add some color to dull hair (70 percent of women color their hair) it’s important to keep hair healthy from this process.

In a recent Good Housekeeping article, it offers tips to cut down on fading, dryness and dullness. There’s also recommended products, many of which can be found at your local drugstore.

To cut down on water-induced fading (No. 1 enemy for colored hair):

• Think twice about becoming a redhead
• Avoid excessive rinsing in the shower
• Stick to lukewarm or cooler water
• Use a color-protecting shampoo
• Wash your hair less frequently

To prevent dyed hair from drying out:

• Condition every time you shampoo
• Rinse conditioner out at the end of your shower
• Use a mask once a week
• Guard against heat damage
• Consider a leave-in conditioner

To keep hair shiny:

• Patch up the cuticles
• Cut back on the use of hot tools
• Add gloss with a serum or shine spray
• Get into glazes
• Maintain these healthy hair habits

Here’s a link to the article.

Dr. Zoe Diana Draelos is a member of the Hair Foundation’s Board of Trustees and the corporate secretary. She is a board-certified dermatologist and serves on the board of directors for the American Academy of Dermatology. Draelos conducts research in cosmetics, toiletries, and biologically active skin medications and offers a lot of great tips for anti-aging and hair care.

In this ongoing series, Draelos notes that there are many causes of hair loss including disease and genetic predisposition; however, the most common reason men and women experience hair loss is due to poor cosmetic grooming practices. 

Here’s a list of tips and myths.

Hair clasps

Common sense applies to the selection of appropriate hair pins and clasps. 

Rubber bands should never be used; hair pins should have a smooth, ball-tipped surface; and hair clasps should have spongy rubber padding where they contact the hair.  Loose-fitting clasps also minimize breakage; however, all hair pins or clasps break some hair since they must hold the hair tightly to stay in place.  To minimize this problem, the patient should be encouraged to vary the clasp placement so that hair breakage is not localized to one scalp area. 

This problem is particularly apparent in women who wear a ponytail.  These women frequently state that their hair is no longer growing when in actuality it is repeatedly broken at the same distance from the scalp due to hair clasp trauma.  Pulling the hair tightly with clasps or braids can also precipitate traction alopecia.

Hair shaft architecture

It is important to remember that curlier hair tends to fracture more readily than straight hair.  For this reason, hair shaft architecture can determine how aggressively the hair can be groomed.  The kinky hair of African American patients should be gently groomed with a wide toothed comb or hair pick.  Only Asian hair can be combed with minimal friction and hair shaft damage.

Hair cutting techniques

The hair should always be cut with sharp scissors.  Any defect in the scissor blade will crush and damage the hair shaft.  Crushing the end of the hair shaft predisposes to split ends.

Beginning Wednesday, March 16 through Saturday, March 19 Hair Foundation president, Dr. Matt Leavitt, D.O. and members of the Hair Foundation leadership team will meet in Orlando for the 17th Annual Orlando Live Surgery Workshop hosted by the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS).  The four days consist of panel discussions and live surgery on a variety of topical hair subjects

Leavitt is one of the Program Coordinators and Hair Foundation board member, Dr. Ken Washenik, will serve as a Scientific Coordinator.

During the event, former Hair Foundation president, Dr. E. Antonio Mangubat and board member Dr. Dow Stough will present and perform surgeries.

In addition to their presentations and surgeries, the Hair Foundation will also film their new nine-part video series on Hair Loss. It will be introduced in the spring.

Stay tuned for more information and opportunities to learn about this series.

 To learn more about the workshop, see the following application from the ISHRS site.

Dr. Zoe Diana Draelos is a member of the Hair Foundation’s Board of Trustees and the corporate secretary. She is a board-certified dermatologist and serves on the board of directors for the American Academy of Dermatology. Draelos conducts research in cosmetics, toiletries, and biologically active skin medications and offers a lot of great tips for anti-aging and hair care.

In this ongoing series, Draelos notes that there are many causes of hair loss including disease and genetic predisposition; however, the most common reason men and women experience hair loss is due to poor cosmetic grooming practices. 

Here’s a list of tips and myths.

Scalp scratching

Even though mild to moderate seborrheic dermatitis does not cause hair loss, the scratching associated with the scalp pruritus can definitely predispose to hair loss.  It is possible to remove all of the cuticular scale off of a hair shaft with only 90 minutes of continuous scratching by the fingernails.  This loss of cuticular leaves the hair shaft weakened and permanently cosmetically damaged. 

Thus, treatment of scalp itch is important to preventing hair loss.

Long vs. short hair

Long hair is much more likely to be cosmetically damaged than short hair.  Therefore, patients who have extensive hair damage may wish to select a shorter hair style to maximize the appearance of the hair.  In this case, it is extremely important to identify the cause of the hair damage so that the newly-grown hair remains healthy and cosmetically attractive.

Age-related factors

It is a well known fact that hair growth slows down with age.  This means that cosmetically-damaged hair will be present longer on mature individuals.  Also, the diameter of the hair shaft decreases with advancing age.  This predisposes the thinner hair shafts to chemical damage from chemical processing. 

For this reason, all chemicals used on mature hair should be weaker than those used on youthful hair.

Hair combing and brushing

Hair combing is a daily grooming ritual that frequently causes hair damage and loss.  Hair should only be combed when dry, if possible.  Wet hair is more elastic than dry hair meaning that vigorous combing of the moist fibers can stretch the shaft to the point of fracture.  The ideal comb should be made of a flexible plastic and possess smooth, rounded, coarse teeth to easily slip through the hair.

Extensive hair brushing should also be avoided while hair is wet.  A good brush should have smooth, ball-tipped, coarse, bendable bristles.  The brush should not tear the hair, but rather gently glide.  Brushes used while blow drying hair should be vented to prevent increased heat along the brush, which could damage hair. 

Patients should be encouraged to brush and manipulate their hair as little as possible to minimize breakage.  Older teachings that the hair should be brushed 100 strokes a day and the scalp vigorously massaged with the brush should be dispelled.

In a new study published by the Journal of Sexual Medicine, WebMD is reporting that the side effects from men taking mediciations that shrink enlarged prostates and treat male pattern baldness may have persistent sexual side effects once the drugs are discontinued.

The drug, which is called 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors, “block the action of the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT), an androgen that’s more potent than its precursor, testosterone.”

These drugs include Avodart, Propecia, and Proscar.

According to this study, men taking Propecia for hair loss found that about half of them regrew some hair; however, 42 percent did not see additional hair loss when compared to men taking placebo pills. 

Furthermore, it also found that the side effects of these medications such as anxiety, depression, loss of sex drive, diffiuclty getting or maintaining an erection, have not been at the forefront for those taking the medicine and for those who stop taking these medications, the side effects will continue.  

For more about these findings, please read the WebMD article.

In this ongoing series of posts from an article written by Hair Foundation’s former president E. Antonio Mangubat, MD, he gives an overview of HRS cosmetic and reconstructive options and applications for their use in implementing treatments for massive hair loss from devastating illness or injury. 

Specifically, Mangubat focuses on the challenges of major scalp defect reconstruction in achieving a cosmetically superior result.

In today’s post, we’ll take a look at Hair-Bearing Flaps.

HAIR-BEARING FLAPS

Transposition of hair-bearing flaps was first reported by Juri, in which a long hair bearing flap of scalp was transposed from the parieto-occipital scalp to the frontal hairline. Variations of this technique were developed with significant success by various authors.

Even though there were few complications, the avascular necrosis complications resulted in significant disfigurement, even in the best of hands. The subsequent loss of a considerable amount of donor hair is perhaps the greatest liability and, as expected, the technique has been largely abandoned for elective cosmetic procedures used almost exclusively for scalp reconstruction.

In this Q&A* from the Hair Foundation’s Vice Chairman, Ken Washnik, he discusses early signs of hair loss, styling products and hair loss and hair loss differentiations between men and women.

Q: What are the early signs of hair loss that people need to be aware of so they can get treatment before too much is gone?

A: It is said that a person can lose 50 percent of their hair before other people begin to notice it. Most women, of course, notice it long before then. They see a loss of volume and body and experience difficulty in maintaining their existing hairstyle.

Hair loss is actually the progressive miniaturization of the hair follicle in which it becomes progressively smaller and finer due to heredity and often with age. Hair that is following a reduced life cycle looks unhealthy and thin. The individual may even lose pigment and in the end, the follicle may remain permanently dormant.

Q: Are there any styling products to avoid when you are experiencing hair loss such as coloring?

A: Hair loss (sometimes permanent) and breakage has been reported after the use of some chemical treatments such as relaxers. Any harsh treatment such as perming or straightening can lead to breakage and fragility of the hair shaft. Color can weaken hair but is unlikely to lead to hair loss unless you experience an allergic reaction to the chemicals involved.

Q: How much of a differentiation is there between men and women in regard to hair loss?

A: While men tend to start losing hair in their 20’s, women start a decade later, though it can occur as early as the 20’s. While men tend to lose hair in the front and at the top of the head, women’s hair thins diffusely through the scalp.

Total baldness is rare in women. Women have their own pattern of baldness that for most women does not appear to be associated with the male hormone DHT (dihydrotestosterone).

Men lose hair along the hairline, which progresses to the back of the scalp and finally involves the entire top of the head. Women have an over-all thinning resulting in see-through hair as they age (if the condition is genetically determined). They can lose hair behind the frontal hair zone resulting in an almost bald spot,but they do not generally see an alteration in the location of their hairline.

*This content was originally published in the JAAD article by Olsen EA, Messenger AG, Shapiro J, Bergfeld WF, Hordinsky MK, Roberts JL, Stough D, Washenik K, Whiting DA. Evaluation and treatment of male and female pattern hair loss. JAAD, Feb; 52(2):301-11 (2005)