Why do people go bald?

[MooNiNite]

I am curious what your explanation / ideas are behind the phenomenon of balding?

 

bonus question:

 

is it possible to naturally regrow your hair?

[MooNiNite]

I'll go first.

 

Many people state that hair is an extension of your nervous system. A system connected with feeling.

 

One of the most common areas of balding is the Prefrontal Cortex of the brain. 

 

(Image of Prefrontal cortex)

 

 

The Prefrontal cortex is the section of the brain responsible for feeling and personality.

Numbness in the forehead is a symptom of Prefrontal cortex damage. (brain damage).

 

When I think of something with no feeling or personality, a drone comes to mind.

 

So is balding the result of a lack of expression? Or spirituality?

 

 

 

Lastly the front part of the brain is also considered the seat of consciousness. It is considered the seat of consciousness both scientifically and spiritually.

 

"The part of the brain that controls consciousness is the frontal lobe. Other activities controlled by the frontal lobe include problem solving, decision making, emotions and control of purposeful behaviors."

 

In Hindu religions concentrating on the "Third Eye" or PreFrontal lobe, is a way to expand consciousness. (Hence the dot - Bindi, a locus of happiness) 

 

 

==============================================================

 

The next major area that is common for balding, is the top of the head. The crown. Also an area commonly associated with the halo. This could also have spiritual connotations. 

 

==============================================================

Edited September 30, 2016 by MooNiNite

[Kar3n]

People go bald for various reasons, genetics is probably the number one cause for men. There are various skin conditions that cause hair loss and alopecia is a big one for women. Hair grows in stages throughout our lives, there are times when the hair follicle becomes dormant and some hair is lost, this is often seen in people more mature in age. Vitamin deficiencies contribute, especially lack of iron, thyroid disease and stress are also causes for noticeable hair loss. Certain medications and hormone level abnormalities are a factors as well.

 

I am sure there are many more, but these are a few that come to mind and have discussed with clients over the years.

 

I am unaware of ways to regrow the hair naturally, however there are quite a few supplements on the market that tout remarkable regrowth.

[liminal_luke]

 

 

 

The Prefrontal cortex is the section of the brain responsible for feeling and personality.

Numbness in the forehead is a symptom of Prefrontal cortex damage. (brain damage).

 

When I think of something with no feeling or personality, a drone comes to mind.

 

So is balding the result of a lack of expression? Or spirituality?

 

 

People can say what they like, of course, but the last thing a bald man needs to hear is that he´s a brain damaged, spiritually compromised, unfeeling drone.  

Edited September 30, 2016 by liminal_luke

[Taomeow]

The causes are multiple.  Different for different people, or a combination of several.  Here's off the top of my head:

 

Number one:  high levels of testosterone.  One function of testosterone is to stimulate hair follicles in specific areas of the body, notably on the face, in males, while lower levels stimulate hair on the head but prevent such stimulation elsewhere in females, which is why we normally don't grow beards.  We have the same follicles in the same areas, but without sufficient testosterone stimulation they don't flourish.  Some men have higher testosterone levels and overstimulate their follicles on the head, which causes them to get depleted and eventually stop functioning -- so a man who is very hairy in his youth (high testosterone) is more likely to grow bald later.  The levels of testosterone tend to be hereditary, all other things being equal, so if one's dad and granddad went bald, he is more likely to follow suit.

 

Number two:  environmental adversities.  Notably radiation, and other kinds of oxidative stress.  If it's high, women might go bald too -- e.g. chemo patients.  If it's not too high, women are less susceptible than men for reason number one.

 

Number three:  dietary deficiencies.  Again, males are more at risk for reason number one.  There's many nutrients that synergistically work to maintain one's hair.  If they are low in the diet, or missing, hair might suffer. 

 

Number four: endocrine disorders.  Thyroid, in particular, but also a bunch of others.

 

Number five: local, e.g. from wearing a hat too much (hair needs to breathe), using shampoo/conditioner with toxic chemicals (most have them), washing one's hair too much or not enough, using water for this that's too hot, neglecting massage of the head with a good brush which stimulates adequate blood flow to the follicles, to name a few.

 

Number six: chronic or acute stress.  Some people get grey hair from this, and some lose hair, but the mechanism is similar -- blockage/spasm caused by high levels of circulating stress hormones. 

 

Now about regrowing hair naturally once someone is bald.  That's pretty hard to pull off.  There's stories and methods, but stories are not consistent or reliable, and methods are pretty time-consuming and intense without guaranteeing success.  Prevention may be one's better bet.

 

Bonus prize: reportedly, Julius Cesar's maid, observing him lament his hair loss in front of the mirror, told him, "Great Cesar, nature in her wisdom gives something to every man.  To some, she gives luxurious hair.  To others, she gives a brilliant mind.  Seldom if ever does she give both to the same person.  You got the better deal, is all."   

Edited September 30, 2016 by Taomeow

[3bob]

some guys go bald with a razor...so they will look more like a "macho guy" including getting an array of gnarly tattoo's to further enhance such an image, problem is many can't get rid of their beer bellys or foul mouths - as for the legit guys that may also look that way in part or to 'x' degree no problemo here.

Edited September 30, 2016 by 3bob

[Marblehead]

I still have a full head of hair.  Apparently I haven't used my brain too much.

[silent thunder]

I was voluntarily bald for about 18 years.

Really enjoyed not thinking about hair at all.

[cheya]

In Neuromuscular Therapy, they taught us to release the cranial fascia, which can be thought of as a kind of girdle that surrounds the skull. Different techniques are pretty easily done on yourself, involving fractioning the hair and ears. Of course if there is no hair, you can't traction it. So for those hairless areas, they taught us to work the tissue in different directions, pressing our thumbs into the skull, moving them past each other in opposite directions. So the tissue basically gets twisted, which loosens the fascia. 

 

Some of the guys who had balding spots worked to get the thumbs technique down and found they actually started growing hair in those areas!  Seemed like the hair follicles were getting strangled by the tight fascia. Certainly this isn't the case for everybody who is balding, but if you have a tight scalp, it's certainly worth a try. And you need to work the whole scalp, not just the bare spots.   So you get to pull and twist— gently!— both your ears and the hair that you do have. Both ears at the same time in different directions is especially interesting. Great activity for waiting at traffic lights. Does look kind of strange though.   

 

Also, Brian has some REAL interesting input on this — and pictures!  Hope he will chime in.

[cheya]

Oh! Something else related to cranial fascia. Cupping!

I have one client who started shaving his whole head when he started to bald. It looks great on him.

He likes to have his whole head cupped! Moving cupping, always done with oil, so you don't end up with any of those circle bruise-looking things like the guys in the olympics. His cranial fascia is really loose now. Unfortunately, he still shaves his head, so I can't tell if there is more hair growth than before. But if you want to try it, it's another treatment you can easily DIY. Maybe have a therapist show you... and just note, hickies on the head will get you some weird looks.   

[thelerner]

I go with Karen's answer, genetics.  I've heard boys tend to inherit there maternal grandfather's hair type or lack of it.

 

I had bad dandruff for years.  A condition that can't be healthy for the scalp.  I found shampooing less, then not shampooing at all stopped decades of dandruff.  Cold showers seem to help too.  I also use a good quality brush with stiff teeth.   I massage my head with it daily, ie combing my hair firmly for 2 or 3 minutes instead of one.  Which spreads the natural oils around and stimulates blood flow..   regrow hair, probably not, but I'm assuming it creates healthier scalp and hair.   

[cheya]

Here's Brian's post on hair regrowth, scroll down to #28. And the following post has pics!

 

http://www.thedaobums.com/topic/38454-what-results-do-people-here-have-from-training/page-2

 

I met Brian a couple years back, and he definitely has more hair now than he had then. And he credits this to his practice....!!!!  

[joeblast]

hehe, I had more hair than that when I started shaving my head, went a little too far with the shaver one day and havent turned back but reading taomeow's post, yeah....chronic, acute stress, sleep deficiency, I probably wore a hat 85% of the time in grade/middle/high school, genetic prediposition, crappy really really hard water for many years, I'm sure exploding my L5S1 didnt help (looks like I shave parts of my legs ) and in some spots I know its because of tree branches or other impacts from doing wild things growing up

[Andrei]

It's not genetics it's hormonal, which means is due to epigenetics - depends on the environment and the reaction of the organism to environment (food, stress, hormones) . 

 

But it's not high testosterone, it's the ratio between testosterone and estrogens.

 

https://perfecthairhealth.com/men-stop-thinking-your-hair-loss-is-due-to-high-testosterone/

 

Testosterone has two transformations, through aromatase becomes estrogen, through 5alpha reductase becomes DHT.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrotestosterone

 

DHT is the culprit for male baldness and the cause is what your body produces more, either aromatase or 5alpha reductase.

 

So basically if you inhibit one or the other you can change the balance of testosterone/estrogen:

http://anabolicapex.com/2016/05/28/inhibit-aromatase-naturally/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-alpha-reductase_inhibitor#Herbs_and_other_inhibitors

 

These enzymes are produced in gonads and adrenals so this is the Kidney element in TCM, but I think Liver is involved in this too. Like for example norepinephrine(noradrenaline) stimulates aromatase and inhibits 5alpha-reductase and epinephrine(adrenaline) stimulates aromatase too. So the reason why you have baldness or whitening of the hair is in the way adrenals function, which hormones they produce and in which quantities.

 

But it depends also on meridians how active they are, there are the Urinary Bladder and Gall Bladder meridians that go from back up to scalp. So I think the baldness pattern is determined by which meridian is more active. The baldness almost always is associated with body hair especially in those areas where Liver-Kidney meridians are on the chest and the Gall-Bladder and Urinary Bladder meridians on the back.

 

There is a baldness pattern that is called "gall bladder baldness" because is due to the gall bladder meridian that runs through the scalp and brings all the hormones from down under, but there are more baldness patterns so I believe the UB meridian is involved too and probably the Governor/Conception Channel too, and the combinations of those meridians give the specific pattern. 

 

 

 

The baldness in women I believe is the same cause testosterone/estrogen ratio, but also I believe is caused by food.

For example I've seen lots of East Indian women with baldness and the reason is that they use spices in their traditional food like black pepper, curry(turmeric) and fenugreek. I have seen Asians women too with these kind of baldness but less than Indians, and the least I've seen are Caucasians and I believe this is because the dietary choices they have. Turmeric is known as an  5alpha reductase inhibitor while fenugreek is an aromatase inhibitor. And I am sure the other spices have similar action but probably were not studied yet. The thing is that an inhibitor for one works as well for the other too so probably the mechanisms are more complex but there is for sure a correlation here.

 

http://www.besttestosteroneboosterguide.com/ingredients/fenugreek/

 

The way I see it, hot/warming spices activate the metabolic Fire (Agni) and as the fire has the bad habit to rise up it goes up to the scalp and burns the trees that grow on the top of Kunlun mountains (Kunlun mountains is a metaphor for the cranial bones and the hair is considered the Wood element that needs Water to thrive, if the Water dries, the Wood withers).

 

 

 

 

is it possible to naturally regrow your hair?

 

No, once the hair root is gone is gone. You can revert white hair to black hair (there are many Ayurvedic recipes with Turmeric leaves and Amla, and the TCM famous one He Shou Wu) but baldness can be reverted back only through hair implant, one hair at a time. But if you have the same hormonal profile it will fall too, so after hair implant you have to change the dietary practices accordingly.

 

https://perfecthairhealth.com/why-are-hair-growth-drugs-so-ineffective/

Edited September 30, 2016 by Andrei

[Taomeow]

/

Edited October 1, 2016 by Taomeow

[MooNiNite]

I asked a friend, about this topic, his response..

 

"There are many reasons 

1. Genetic

2. Stressed

3. Gravity

4. Exposure to sun rays, glare & all the elements

5. Psychic & panic attack

6. Too much headache & thinking

7. Lack of minerals & vitamins

8. Excessive used of chemicals, shampoos,  artificial colorings, preservative etx..

9. Overwork

10. Drugs abused

11. Abused treatment 

12. Matted hair

13. Split end
14. Lack of Cleanliness

15. Breakdancer on head

16. Disease 

17. Exposure to harmful rays ( emf, gamma Rays etx) 

18. Diet

19. Hygiene 

20. Lack of rest.

And lots lots more "

[MooNiNite]

It's not genetics it's hormonal, which means is due to epigenetics - depends on the environment and the reaction of the organism to environment (food, stress, hormones) . 

 

https://perfecthairhealth.com/why-are-hair-growth-drugs-so-ineffective/

 

A few members on the forum explain how Qi Gong practice has resulted in hair regrowth, do you see this as completely out of the question?

[Andrei]

I don't know, maybe he just replenished his jing with the Qi Gong practice.

Check this video at min 3:45, they say the root remains alive and in certain conditions it grows back

[mindtooloud]

i went bald because my hair was too long

[MooNiNite]

i went bald because my hair was too long

? really?

[mindtooloud]

? really?

Uhhh yeah, i wasn't able to wash it properly and such, and it kept getting in my face and stuffs, so i had mister barber take it all off

[MooNiNite]

Uhhh yeah, i wasn't able to wash it properly and such, and it kept getting in my face and stuffs, so i had mister barber take it all 

long hair is a privilege in this day and age, a time when most occupations reject it. 

[mindtooloud]

ooohhhhh so thats what this person meant by saying privilege in this post

 

http://www.thedaobums.com/topic/41501-facial-hair/?p=698557

 

oh that person is you

 

anyway i think jobs shouldnt exist the way they do so long hair is just natural, 

 

when i had long hair a small boy asked me if i was a girl

[MooNiNite]

On 9/30/2016 at 3:18 AM, Marblehead said:

I still have a full head of hair.  Apparently I haven't used my brain too much.

 

What is your profession?

[Marblehead]

22 minutes ago, MooNiNite said:

 

What is your profession?

I have none.  The closest I got to one of those was a career soldier.  That was, what?, a lifetime ago.

 

Must be my ancestry.   Look at avatar.