Treating Hair Loss with Medications

Women who suffer from hair loss during menopause are often bombarded with pills and topical medications promising to restore their lustrous locks to their former glory. Unfortunately, not all of these miracle medications do as they claim, but there is some hope for women who won't take hair loss lying down.

Conventional Hair Loss Medications

A few hair loss medications have been shown to work effectively for menopausal women.

Hair re-growth medications

There are a few prescription medications for treating hair loss that have been shown to help restore hair growth at the top of the scalp. In clinical trials, 80% of the participants saw noticeable hair-growth. These types of medications prevent the male sex hormone testosterone from converting into dihydrotestosterone (DHT) - the hormone that causes hair loss.

Hormone replacement therapy

Conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal women is one of the most successful treatments for hair loss and other symptoms of menopause. As the name suggests, this treatment replaces hormones that a menopausal woman has lost, in order to contribute to an overall hormone balance and, hopefully, to help alleviate hair loss. HRT, however, has been proven to increase women's risk of heart disease, blood clots, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer.

Alternative Hair Loss Medications

A number of viable alternative hair loss medications have proven successful when treating hair loss.

Often, simple changes - such as ensuring proper nutrition and adequate protein intake, and receiving enough rest and exercise - are good natural ways of improving the hair's condition and preventing hair loss.

Quick adjustments: nutrition

• Take a daily multivitamin
• Eat food high in protein and iron (e,g., dairy, legumes, and nuts)

Quick adjustments: stress reductions

• Exercise regularly
• Cut back on a busy schedule
• Participate in an enjoyable hobby
• Talk to a therapist or counselor

Alternative medicine

Some women might find that lifestyle adjustments, though beneficial, are not all they need to prevent hair loss. These women might benefit from taking herbal supplements to help prevent hair loss.

Some of the safest and most reliable herbal supplements for treating hair loss are hormone-regulating supplements. This kind of herbal supplement stimulates a woman's body to naturally increase its own production of hormones, thus balancing hormone levels and helping to decrease and even reverse hair loss.

More about Treating Hair Loss with Medications

For women who wish to learn more about how to effectively treat hair loss with medication, looking into herbal supplements and other treatments could be the right choice for rediscovering a full head of hair.