Herbs for Hair Loss
Answered by: Susan Eagles
Question from: clhead
Posted on: April 6, 1998

My hair is coming out very bad. Is there an herb for the problem?

You should visit your medical practitioner to determine the cause of your hair loss. Since we are not medical practitioners, we provide the following for your information, not as a recommendation for treatment.

Thomas Bartram, in "Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine" (Grace Publishers, Mulberry Court, Stour Road, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 1PS, England) states that excessive hair loss, alopecia, can be caused by severe stress or by hormone deficiency associated with pregnancy, menopause, discontinuing birth control pills or by skin diseases, cosmetics, excessive sunlight or strong chemicals such as in cancer treatment, which interfere with nutrition of the hair follicles.

Herbs recommended by Bartram are: Vitex Agnus Castus to help balance the hormones, Yellow Dock root to counter the toxicity of chemicals, also helpful in the case of eczema, silica-rich plants such as Horsetail, Burdock and Nettles to correct a mineral i mbalance, Cayenne, Pleurisy root, Black Cohosh and Prickly Ash taken internally to promote the blood circulation to the scalp, and externally, a hair rinse of tea made from Rosemary, Sage and Yarrow to promote the scalp circulation.

If stress is a factor, Oat straw and St. John’s Wort can be helpful relaxing nervines.

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