Extremely advanced cases of trac­tion alope­cia may require a hair trans­plant. How­ever, this site is ded­i­cated to avoid­ing hair trans­plants if at all pos­si­ble. Besides, they would not have much of a chance of tak­ing root. Con­sider: Your scalp is stressed and your hair fol­li­cles dam­aged. That makes your scalp poor soil for grow­ing hair. So, keep read­ing about all the ways you can be heal­ing your scalp and hair fol­li­cles. Also note that we have a brand-new e-book avail­able about the 10-Step Pre­scrip­tion for Re-Growing Healthy Hair. See side­bar for get­ting it absolutely free of charge. Rest assured that your infor­ma­tion will not be shared with anyone.

To begin with, you need to stop what­ever it is that’s pulling on your hair. Change your hair­style to some­thing loose and not too long to give your dam­aged hair fol­li­cles a chance to relax. Find another way to secure the tur­ban or what­ever else you are wear­ing and reduce the time you are wear­ing it as much as pos­si­ble. Even if you are not will­ing to change your hair­style, you could still ben­e­fit from the rec­om­men­da­tions on this web­site. It will just take longer to see any results.

Should you dis­cover red patches on your scalp, you need to see your doc­tor for treat­ment. Those patches are due to scalp irri­ta­tion and inflam­ma­tion, and they need to be cleared up before begin­ning with our pro­gram of trac­tion alope­cia treat­ments. Keep in mind that it took time for your trac­tion alope­cia to develop; it will take time and a com­mit­ment from you to reverse it and start grow­ing healthy hair.

Our toolkit includes top­i­cal treat­ments, sup­ple­ments and scalp cir­cu­la­tion boost­ing tech­niques like mas­sage. Incor­po­rat­ing hair loss sham­poos and ton­ics into your hair care reg­i­men dur­ing and after treat­ment will help increase cir­cu­la­tion and strengthen your newly grown hair. The hair loss treat­ments listed below have shown pos­i­tive results in the treat­ment of trac­tion alopecia

Exter­nal Treat­ments for Trac­tion Alopecia

Exter­nal treat­ments for hair loss at the source are avail­able in top­i­cal form and are gen­er­ally con­sid­ered to yield the most imme­di­ate and notice­able effects.

Minox­i­dil — Mar­keted widely under the Rogaine (Regaine in the UK) brands, Minox­i­dil is also avail­able in equally effec­tive generic brands (such as Kirk­land). It is a top­i­cal treat­ment that grows hair only at the site of appli­ca­tion. A 5% con­cen­tra­tion, applied twice a day to the tar­get area, is rec­om­mended. For those with par­tic­u­larly sen­si­tive scalps, a new foam-based ver­sion of Regaine is reported by users to be less irri­tat­ing. Results should be seen within three months, though users are cau­tioned to con­tinue to use a healthy hair reg­i­men and avoid overly stress­ing or pulling the hair.

Always wash hands before and after apply­ing Minox­i­dil. If you are a woman, you may expe­ri­ence facial peach fuzz while treat­ing with Minox­i­dil. This is a tem­po­rary side effect that will dis­ap­pear when treat­ment is stopped.

Tri­comin — can halt or reverse the process of hair loss. This is a nat­ural prod­uct based on cop­per pep­tides, a vital micro nutri­ent essen­tial to grow­ing healthy hair (and cop­per pep­tides are very good for skin, too). FDA tri­als have shown Tri­comin to be effec­tive in improv­ing the syn­the­sis of col­la­gen and mend­ing dam­aged hair and skin.

Tri­comin is avail­able in a vari­ety of forms, includ­ing fol­li­cle spray, sham­poo and con­di­tioner, and rec­om­mended use depends on the type of appli­ca­tion. Tri­comin can be used in con­junc­tion with Rogaine or as a more nat­ural alter­na­tive to minoxidil-based prod­ucts. Both prod­ucts work to stim­u­late new hair growth, but their method­olo­gies dif­fer, mak­ing them com­ple­men­tary treatments.

Nizo­ral sham­poo — Uses the patented active ingre­di­ent keto­cona­zole. This top­i­cal anti-dandruff sham­poo addresses the symp­toms of an irri­tated scalp. While at first blush it seems unre­lated to the treat­ment of trac­tion alope­cia, Nizo­ral sham­poo has actu­ally been reported to slow down the effects of hair loss by inhibit­ing the bind­ing of DHT to the hair follicles.

Apply this treat­ment directly to the affected area and wait 3–5 min­utes before rins­ing it off com­pletely. Rec­om­mended strength is 2%, used twice weekly for the first 2–4 weeks of treat­ment, and every 1–2 weeks after wards as a pre­ven­ta­tive measure.

Alpecin — brand sham­poos — Alpecin has a sham­poo con­tain­ing caf­feine which is great for increas­ing cir­cu­la­tion to the scalp. These sham­poos con­tain sodium lau­rel sul­fate and should be applied to the scalp only. Leave it on for a few min­utes and rinse thor­oughly before wash­ing the rest of your hair with a sulfate-free shampoo.

Inter­nal Treat­ments for Trac­tion Alopecia

Biotin, zinc, Vit­a­min C, MSM, saw pal­metto and green tea are the most essen­tial nutri­ents for heal­ing scalp and grow­ing healthy hair.

MSM — The most impor­tant ben­e­fit of MSM is its abil­ity to aid the pro­duc­tion of healthy cells. This helps heal the scalp and dam­aged hair fol­li­cles so that stronger, health­ier hair can be grown. MSM also makes for more beau­ti­ful skin and nails.

MSM is best taken in pow¬der form at the dosage is 4 g per day. Although MSM is no more toxic than water, it is rec­om­mended to build up to 4 g slowly, start­ing with 1000 mg per day. Make sure to drink plenty of water (at least 2 liters by day) while treat­ing with MSM. This sup­ple­ment can have a bit­ter taste and should be dis­solved with a lit­tle warm water and mixed with a sweeter drink (like juice) to mask the taste. Oth­er­wise tablets are also avail­able. MSM should not be taken after 6 PM as it tends to have an ener­giz­ing effect which can affect sleep. MSM should be taken for at least 6 months for opti­mal results.

Vit­a­min C —Vit­a­min C boosts the immune sys­tem and aids MSM in expelling tox­ins and regen­er­at­ing new cells. Take 1000 mg of Vit­a­min C along with your dose of MSM.

Biotin — Biotin aids cell regen­er­a­tion by keep­ing hair in its growth state for longer peri­ods of time.

Saw Pal­metto — A nat­ural anti-androgen, saw pal­metto assists in inhibit­ing DHT pro­duc­tion. It is a pop­u­lar treat­ment option due to its eco­nom­i­cal cost and lack of side effects. Best results from saw pal­metto can be expected when taken in higher doses (180 mg-3 g daily).

Green Tea — Con­tains high lev­els of antiox­i­dants, and is an excel­lent sup­ple­men­tal treat­ment for hair loss because of its anti-androgen and DHT-inhibiting prop­er­ties. Green tea is an excel­lent source of zinc, and can also be taken in cap­sule form. Green tea cap­sules are rec­om­mended so that an effec­tive dose can be achieved for com­bat­ing hair loss.

Zinc – When used in com­bi­na­tion with Vit­a­min B6, zinc can reduce DHT lev­els and inhibit the pro­duc­tion of sebum. While zinc can be taken orally, it also can be applied directly to the affected area in the form of a top­i­cal cream.

All of these key ingre­di­ents can be found in the right com­bi­na­tion in prod­ucts rec­om­mended for hair, skin and nails. We rec­om­mend tak­ing a hair growth sup­ple­ment to ensure you’re receiv­ing the right amounts of vit­a­mins and min­er­als required for healthy hair growth. Buy­ing qual­ity sup­ple­ments from trusted sources will get you the desired results and save you money in the long run. Hair For­mula 37 and Vivis­cal Extra Strength Sup­ple­ments are good exam­ples of hair growth supplements.

At the begin­ning of this page we men­tioned other circulation-boosting scalp treat­ments, like mas­sage. To find scalp mas­sage tech­niques described in detail, we invite you to request our FREE E-book – see sidebar.