Physiotherapy methods to combat hair loss

Physiotherapy as an element of complex therapy of baldness is used quite actively and successfully. In addition to direct biological effects on hair growth (which is sometimes difficult to explain), the psychological aspect is also important - patients believe in the power of the apparatus, which significantly affects the result of treatment.

• Electrical Methods

Electrotherapy - exposure to the scalp and hair follicles by electricity. In the trichological practice, the following electrotherapy options are used:

• Electrothriogenesis

Electrothriogenesis - stimulation of hair follicles by electrostatic field. The method was developed by the Canadian company Current Technologies Corporation in the 90s of the last century and was immediately adopted by cosmeticians in Canada and Mexico. As for the United States, initially the FDA suspended the use of this method, motivating it by the absence of long-term clinical trials confirming the safety of electrotrichogenesis in relation to the effect on the brain.

In the opinion of the developers of the method, this prohibition was a clear reassurance, since the parameters of the electrostatic field that is used in the instrument are within the permissible values.

The mechanism by which the activation of metabolic processes occurs in the cells of the follicles is similar to that demonstrated on soft tissue cells. In addition to direct stimulation of the cells of the follicles, the electrostatic field can also affect microcirculation, improving the blood supply of the bulbs. As a result of increased metabolism, hair growth is increased in comparison with the norm. In principle, all this is very similar to the action of microcurrents, which are also sometimes used in beauty salons to strengthen hair.

Scientists from Current Technologies, as a result of numerous experiments, managed to select the optimal parameters of the electrostatic field and make a scheme of treatment by electrotrichogenesis. Information on the strength of electrical impact is the property of the company, which reluctantly shares it. The only thing that the company declares publicly is that the intensity of the electrostatic field is much lower than the values that are recognized as safe for health. The same goes for the frequency characteristics, which lie within the allowed physiological values.

The undoubted advantages of the method are the absence of side effects and ease of use. In appearance, the device resembles a hair dryer, which is in every hair salon. The patient sits in a comfortable chair, and above his head is a hemisphere, inside which an electrostatic field is created. The procedure lasts 12 minutes and does not cause any unpleasant sensations.

Today, electrotrichogenesis is known and actively used in beauty salons in more than 25 countries around the world.

• Darsonvalization

Darsonvalization is a kind of electrostimulation, which is also used in the treatment of alopecia. The treatment current has a high frequency (110 kHz) and voltage (25-30 kV) with a small current strength, modulated in a series of oscillations of 100 μs duration with a frequency of 100 Hz. The mechanism of therapeutic action is determined by the effect on the skin receptors and surface tissues of electrical discharges. Thanks to the relaxation of the spasms, ischemia and related pains are removed, a feeling of numbness passes, and tissue trophism improves.

• Galvanization

Galvanization is the application of a low-voltage electrical current (up to 80 V) with a small current strength (up to 50 mA) for the purpose of therapeutic effects. Passing through the skin, the current meets resistance, and energy is spent on overcoming this resistance. At the site of energy absorption in the tissues galvanic reactions develop: the formation of heat, the change in the ratio of tissue ions and pH of the environment, the release of biologically active substances, the activation of enzymes and metabolic processes, increased blood flow, lymphatic drainage.

• Electrophoresis and electrocorporation

When electrophoresis between the electrode located on the patient's head and the electrode that he holds in his hand, a potential difference is created. The current passing through the patient's body is small, therefore it does not pose a health hazard and does not cause unpleasant sensations. At the same time, it is sufficient to ionize the molecules of the active ingredients, which, in the form of ions, penetrate the follicle more easily. With electro-corporation, the voltage applied to the electrodes is not constant, but impulse. It creates microbreaks in the lipid layer of the skin, through which nutrients can penetrate more easily to the roots of the hair.

• Temperature methods

Intensive heat treatment can act roughly like a sunburn. The physical damage caused to them leads to the development of inflammation and stimulation of hair growth.

Cryotherapy is used to obtain a mild local inflammatory reaction with enhanced microcirculation. The procedure is carried out by courses, usually in combination with general health-improving medication.

• Massage

Massage (manual, vacuum) is used to improve blood supply, provide lymph drainage and activate the neuro-receptor apparatus. Usually, massage is done after application of therapeutic creams, lotions, etc. Many researchers confirm that the state of the vessels affects the growth and duration of the life cycle of the hair. Massage has a beneficial effect on blood circulation and contributes to the lengthening of the hair growth phase.

Vacuum massage - a method of affecting the scalp with the help of small cups, creating a pulsating vacuum. This causes the vessels of the microcirculatory channel to widen and narrow again, something like a training of vessels feeding the hair follicles. Since an intensive development of the vascular network occurs in the anagen phase, and in the telogen is its involution, vascular gymnastics promotes better blood supply to the follicles in the growth phase and slows down the vascular degeneration. This causes prolongation of the phase of growth of follicles in the anagen stage and accelerated awakening of sleeping follicles.

[1], [2], [3]