“Ghost shaving” is the common name for baldness, which is a sudden and limited occurrence of hair loss. Why is it called “ghost shaving”? There are no ghosts in the world, so naturally there is no such thing as a ghost who shaves people’s heads, because the hair suddenly falls out unknowingly, and the patient himself is not sure when the hair fell out. The classic work of Chinese medicine “the source of diseases” wrote: “people have wind evil, there in the head, in the partial deficiency, then hair loss, muscle withering, or as big as money, or as big as a finger, the hair is not born, nor itchy, so the “ghost lick the head”. Once the wind evil invades the head and the Yang Qi in the head is not enough, it causes hair loss.
What are the manifestations of baldness? Baldness can occur at any age. Many patients have a history of trauma and mental stimulation before the onset of the disease. It starts as one or several round, oval or irregular shaped hair loss areas with clear borders. The local scalp is normal and smooth, and the hair at the edge of the hair loss area is loose during the active phase and can be easily pulled out. The course of the disease is slow and can remit and recur on its own. If the entire scalp loses all its hair, it is called total baldness; if all the hair on the body is lost, it is called general baldness.
What are the causes of baldness? The cause of baldness is still not completely clear, but research generally believes that baldness is an autoimmune disease with genetic qualities and environmental stimuli.
Autoimmunity: The rate of autoimmune diseases in patients with baldness is higher than in the normal population. 7% to 27% of patients with baldness have thyroid disease, including goiter, mucinous edema and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and 4% to 9% of patients with baldness have vitiligo in combination.
Genetics: Many studies suggest that the occurrence of baldness has a genetic basis. There have been reports of monozygotic twins having the same form of baldness at the same time, as well as reports of baldness occurring in four generations of a family. 10% to 20% of parents who have had baldness will have at least one of their children with baldness.
Environmental factors: may have a relationship with susceptibility, severity, course, response to treatment and prognosis of baldness.
Mental factors: such as trauma (extreme sadness, anger, fear, etc.), emotional stress (pre-test stress in children and adolescents), and irritation (e.g., children being bitten by dogs, frightened or scolded, etc.) are often triggers and contributors to exacerbation of the condition. In addition, overexertion and lack of sleep (overnight surfing, playing mahjong, games, etc.) can also affect the vasomotor center, reflexively causing vasodilation and contraction dysfunction, resulting in impaired blood supply to the head hair and baldness.
In Chinese medicine, it is believed to be related to deficiency of both qi and blood, liver and kidney, and blood stasis in the hair. Hair is the residue of blood, so if there is a deficiency of qi, it is difficult to produce blood and the hair roots cannot be nourished, so the hair falls into pieces.
How to treat baldness? The first treatment for baldness is to take care of the mental factors, pay attention to rest, combine work and rest, get enough sleep, be in a relaxed mood, and avoid irritability, worry and anger. You can take oral cystine, vitamin B, baldness pills, etc. Topical corticosteroids and minoxidil solution can be used topically; or fresh ginger can be rubbed to stimulate the scalp, increase the blood circulation of the skin and promote the growth of hair. For patients with stubborn baldness, local application of corticosteroids can be used for closed treatment. In addition, ultraviolet light irradiation and plum blossom acupuncture can also be used for treatment. Chinese medicine, on the other hand, takes tonifying the kidneys, nourishing the blood and dispelling the wind as the main treatment principles.
Patients suffering from baldness should maintain a positive and optimistic attitude, understand and face it correctly, and at the same time, strengthen nutrition, eat more vitamin-rich food and correct the bad habit of partial eating. Pay attention to hair hygiene, strengthen hair care, do not use strong alkaline soap to wash hair, and use hair dryer less to blow and iron hair. Try to reduce the number of hair coloring and perming.