Tips: How I Reduced Hair Loss Caused by Medication

Steroids and various other medications damaged not just my skin, but caused severe hair loss and greying. Being someone who loves using everyday natural things found in the kitchen, I decided to see if I could help my hair so here’s what I did (and still do)…

If you would like to watch a video version of this post then you can right here on my YouTube channel. If not, then scroll on:

Before we jump into my hair remedies, let’s first understand…

Why do Certain Medicines Cause Hair Loss?

For nine months I was on anti-TB medication, although I was misdiagnosed with tuberculosis I had to complete the course of medication, and then for 18 months I was on strong steroids because I was wrongly suspected of other conditions like lyme disease.

What this did was, it gave me severe acne for which used this remedy:
My Acne Skincare Remedies – Endometriosis & Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

And it caused hair fall along with greying.

Now getting back to the question – hair fall of 100 hairs a day is supposed to be normal, but this can change quite dramatically when certain medicines interfere with the cycle of hair growth.

The hair goes through two important phases.

1. The anagen phase that lasts for two to six years is the phase where your hair grows.

2. The telogen phase that goes on for three months is the phase where the hair rests after which it falls out and is replaced by new hair.

I got all this information from WebMD, which also goes on to explain:

“Medications can lead to two types of hair loss: telogen effluvium and anagen effluvium.
Telogen effluvium is the most common form of drug-induced hair loss. It usually appears within 2 to 4 months after taking the drug. This condition causes the hair follicles to go into their resting phase (telogen) and fall out too early. People with telogen effluvium usually shed between 30% to 70% more than the normal 100 and 150 hairs a day.”

Whereas the anagen effluvium hair loss is most common in those who are undergoing chemotherapy.

So that explains the reasons behind hair loss possibly caused by medication.

But now to answer how I combat this hair loss and even the greying issue.

Homemade Hair Loss Treatments

There are some basic principles I follow… but please remember three very important things.

I am not a dermatologist or a medical professional so please always consult your doctors before you choose to follow anything I’m about to mention.

Secondly, our food provides us with essential nutrients to help our hair, therefore it makes a lot of sense to speak to a nutritionist to make sure your food is supporting your overall health and in this case, the health of your hair.

Lastly, we all have different types of hair that is influenced by what we eat, our environment – whether its exposure to pollution or an over-exposure to the sun or even an air-conditioner. So everything I’m going to share is based on my hair type, my diet, my medical conditions and environment my hair is exposed to.

Relevant Read:

• My Diet for Endometriosis & Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
• Podcast Ep 10: What it Takes to Keep Going

Let me clarify, my hair is long, black, curly and can easily seem quite dry as it’s high porosity, which means that although my hair can easily absorb moisture, but it releases it just as easily making it frizzy and drier than it should.

So please be aware of the type of hair you have.

Here’s my tips list…

1. Natural Shampoo and Conditioners

Regular shampoos have parabens, mineral oils and sulphates that strip the hair of its natural healthy oils – which is horrible for my hair that’s already quite dry.

On the other hand, conditioners have silicones in them which is a wax like substance. This means that it coats the hair so that nothing can be absorbed by the hair. What this means is that if I now wish to apply nutrients found in the treatments I want to follow to keep my hair healthy – the silicone will stop my hair from receiving it. It’s like a layer of protective plastic.

How do I resolve this?

In comes shampoos and conditioners which are free of these chemicals that don’t allow my hair to be happy and healthy.

There are many brands out there to help. Because I live in India, I prefer to buy local and so I use the various shampoo and conditioner options from Arata and Vilvah.

I would encourage you to buy local too.

But, let me explain one important point, if you’re used to using shampoos that had parabens and sulphates and you’re used to the squeaky clean (stripped of natural oils) feel then with natural shampoos you won’t get that because they don’t strip your natural oils and aren’t harsh on your hair strands.

So on days when I want to cleanse my hair more than usual – maybe because of dust build up or just any reason… I make a shampoo at home that helps.

Homemade Shampoo

Ingredients
1. Gram flour (besan) – 5 tablespoons (My recommendations: buy from US Amazon | India)
2. Warm water as required

I slowly mix up water to the gram flour until there are no lumps and it’s a shampoo-like consistency (if you make it too runny, do add a bit more gram flour).

You can now use this as a replacement for your shampoo that day. Remember to use lukewarm water to wash your hair – you wouldn’t want the gram flour going all lumpy if your water is too warm! 😀

 

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A post shared by Shruti Chopra (@footprintsnoboundaries) on Mar 4, 2020 at 6:48am PST

2. Hair Oiling & Massage for Hair Growth

I tend to oil my scalp and hair strands a night before my hair wash. But I don’t just oil my scalp, I massage it too so that it improves blood circulation, stimulates the hair follicles and improves moisture levels of my dry hair.

Different oils provide different forms of nourishment.

I usually use the following oils – not all at the same time. My choice is based on what I feel my hair needs (and what I have available at home too!!)

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is known to be a great source of vitamins and fatty acids which helps re-growth and even promotes longer, thicker hair. Another important factor for improved hair growth is removal of excess build-up of sebum because excess sebum slows growth of new hair.

For me, coconut oil has really helped improve the condition of my hair by improving its level of dryness.

(My recommendations: buy from US Amazon | India)

As my hair is high-porosity, it tends to soak up the oil quite fast so I need to make sure I don’t over-do the oiling, instead, once I’ve coated my hair strands, I massage the oil on the scalp using my finger tips to stimulate the hair follicles.

An added bonus, coconut oil is antibacterial, helps reduce dandruff and I even use it to remove my make-up! 😀

Extra tip – adding crushed camphor to coconut oil and massaging that on my scalp has improved my dandruff.

Almond Oil

Almond oil too, just like coconut oil has fatty acids, promotes hair growth and very importantly provides hydration.

Hair needs to be well hydrated for it to grow and have strong strands – otherwise dehydrated hair will tend to break easily and this is exactly why I use almond oil on days when I feel my hair lacks life and looks weak.

(My recommendations: buy from US Amazon | India)

Also, I never just apply the oil – I always massage my scalp. I never wish to lose the opportunity to stimulate hair follicles and improve blood circulation.

Olive Oil

Olive oil has the ability to improve damaged hair as it has Vitamin E and A. It also helps to protect the protein in your hair by sealing it.

(My recommendations: buy from US Amazon | India)

Olive oil tends to add shine and bounce to my hair plus it works well when I want a break from coconut and almond oil.

O’ and if I don’t have coconut oil and I wish to use crushed camphor for dandruff (as mentioned above) then olive oil is my go-to.

3. Onion Juice for Hair Growth

Okay now this may sound like a weird one, but onion juice has been really good for my hair.

I admit, it’s not the easiest thing to do, considering how onions make us cry and then its smell!

But still, I chop up an onion, blend it in a food-processor, strain it and apply that onion juice on my scalp for 30 minutes before washing my hair.

I was more regular at this when my hair-fall was at its worst, but as my hair fall reduced, admittedly I have become a bit lazier on getting that onion juice out!

So how does onion juice help with hair growth?

Onions are high in sulphur and sulphur helps to regenerate hair follicles and very importantly for me, it helps to fight premature greying considering my hair has greyed super-fast because of medication! (Hmmm that’s a good reminder, maybe now I should get back to it 😀 )

Also, just like coconut oil, onion juice is antibacterial, anti-fungal, reduces dandruff and improves shine.

Relevant Read:

• How to Handle Hirsutism & Acne if You Have PCOS
• Living in Mumbai With a Disability [Including London & NYC]

4. Rice Water Rinse

Hair follicles are mainly made up of protein, so if you’re not taking enough protein you’re not helping the growth of your hair.

But, you can also apply a source of protein in the form of a rice water rinse.

Amino acids (proteins) are believed to regenerate hair and so do vitamins B, C & E which are all found in rice water.

Now two questions arise here:

How to prepare rice water and how to use it?

There are various ways to prepare rice water.

I collect the rice water that is usually strained on days when rice is boiled and cooked at home.

I keep this in a container and put it in the refrigerator ready to use whenever I’m to wash my hair next. FYI – rice water has lasted up to two weeks in the refrigerator for me.

As for using it, after I have shampooed my hair, I bend my head forward and pour the rice water from the back of my head going down the length of my hair.

At the end of my hair is a container in which the rice water falls into. I put that back into the original container and repeat this process four to five times making sure I massage my scalp too.

Once the rice water has evenly rinsed my hair, I wait a few minutes and rinse my hair with fresh water after which I apply my hair conditioner as usual (before washing off the conditioner, I detangle my hair with a wide-toothed comb to get my hair bouncing again).

After the conditioner, I move onto the tea water rinse which I’m about to explain…

5. Tea Rinse

I have black hair, so I use black tea for my tea rinse.

Please note that black tea is staining and one of the reasons I recently started using it because I wish to move away from hair colour (if anyone has any natural hair colour options pls let me know) and push for more natural hair stains like black tea, so if you have lighter coloured or blonde hair then chamomile tea might be a better idea. If you have red hair, then rooibos is recommended.

Also, very importantly black tea helps to block the hormone DHT which is responsible for hair loss.

So after oiling my hair, shampooing, using a rice water rinse and then using a conditioner, I’m now onto the last process of helping my hair.

I put four to six tablespoons of black tea in three cups of water and keep it soaked overnight or even just keep it stored in the fridge a couple of days before my hair wash.

The day I’m to use it, I strain it and our it in a container ready for my hair wash.

After applying, detangling and washing off the conditioner, just like the rice water I follow the same process.

I bend my head forward and pour the tea water from the back of my head going down the length of my hair.

At the end of my hair is a container in which the tea water falls into. I put that back into the original container and repeat this process four to five times making sure I massage my scalp too.

I then keep this tea water in my hair for at least five minutes before I do a quick rinse with cool water.

Cool water helps to seal the hair follicles and aids in adding shine to the hair.

….

I do realise that doing all of this can be extremely overwhelming and you can end up spending a lot of spoons (energy) on this which is why I prepare things in advance like the rinses, the onion juice and by oiling my hair a day before.

I never wash my hair on a busy day otherwise I will be inviting quite a flare up.

Somedays if my mornings are more tiring, I wash my hair at night because I know that I’ll be sleeping soon.

And some days when I can’t do all this then I don’t, but the main aim here is to help my hair along as naturally as possible.

Also, I sit on a bath stool during my showers – especially when I’m to bend my head forward for such hair-wash days. I do my best to minimise the physical strain. Pacing is always important.

If you have any tips then I would love to hear from you – if you have any natural ways to colour black hair, then please do let me know. I need some suggestions there for sure! The comments section is open for you…

Thank you for reading… 🙂

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A post shared by Shruti Chopra (@footprintsnoboundaries) on Dec 3, 2019 at 5:16am PST

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Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. I am a patient and have created this platform to share my experiences. This is all purely informative and in no way am I providing medical advice. Please consult a medical professional.