Introduction
Hair and its colour, texture and style is an important part of a person’s looks. Regardless of age or sex, everyone wants beautiful hair that adds to their personality. Hair styling is an expensive section in the highly prestigious cosmetic industry. Though people around the world are blessed with a number of natural hair colours from blonde to brown, almost everyone wants to look attractive with natural hair colour. In younger generation, there is a trend of hair colouring and the choices go wild like blue, green, orange, golden and what not. A young person with a full head of brown, black, red, or blonde hair may notice thinning in certain areas of head, or change in hair colour as he turns older. In most of the cases, the hair turns grey or white. It is common that the colour of the hair changes as the person gets older. Hair follicles, small sacs that line skin cells have pigment cells known as melanin. These cells give the hair its colour. But over time, hair follicles can lose pigment, resulting in white hair.
When this happens in young people or kids, it is known as premature grey hair. A lot of reasons are considered behind this phenomenon. Some cases are got better by treatment but some are not.
Signs & symptoms
Hair colour changing from normal to grey or white in young people.
Causes
1.Genetics or family history of premature greying of hair
2. Stress
3. sleep problems
4. Anxiety
5. Autoimmune diseases like vitiligo, alopecia etc.
6. Thyroid disorders
7. Vitamin B-12 deficiency
8. Smoking
Pathophysiology
Reduction in melanogenically active melanocytes in the hair bulb of gray anagen hair follicles with resultant pigment loss is central to the pathogenesis of graying. Defective melanosomal transfers to cortical keratinocytes and melanin incontinence due to melanocyte degeneration are also believed to contribute to this.
Physical examination
Treatments
Greying of hair follicles can not be reversed or prevented. Only delaying can be done if it is due to some other health conditions or medications. No therapy is beneficial if the condition is genetic. Hair dyes remain the main modality of the treatment for cosmetic concerns after nutritional supplementation
Prognosis
Considering the inability of white hairs to get reversed into normal hair colour, the condition has got a very bad prognosis. But hair colouring methods are successful in the cosmetic aspect.
Complications
Apart from the cosmetic issue and the mental stress caused by it, premature white hair leads to almost no complications, unless caused by any serious underlying health conditions.
Disease & Ayurveda
Premature greying of hair is given the name Palitha/paalithya in ayurveda
Nidana
Soka – Grief
Srama – exertion
Krodha – Anger
All those factors causing the vitiation & aggression of Pitta can lead to Palitha
Purvaaroopa
Not mentioned
Samprapti
Due to the causative factors, the increased body temperature gets mixed up with the doshas, travels and reaches the head and causes Pachana(heating up) of hair causing greying.
Lakshana
Greying of hair
In some cases, associated signs like, dryness of hair, brittle hair, rough hair, hairfall etc. will be present.
Divisions
Not mentioned
Prognosis
Yapya
Chikithsa
Ayurvedic treatment of premature grey hair is primarily balancing the deranged Pitta. It starts with cleansing the whole body internally, mainly the gastrointestinal tract. Being the similar dhatu of Pitta, rakta also should be considered cleaning up, especially locally on the skin of scalp.
Samana
Lepanam with Rookshana dravyas
Swedanam
Abhyanga on face & head
Sodhana
Nasya with Anutailam
Commonly used medicines
Aamalaki choornam
Neelyaadi tailam
Maayooraghrutam
Rasnadi choornam
Brands available
AVS Kottakal
AVP Coimbatore
SNA oushadhasala
Vaidyaratnam oushadhasala
Home remedies
There are a lot of natural dying agents that work to add temporary hair colour including:
- Black Tea
- Henna + indigo treatment
- Coconut Oil and Lemon
- Coconut Oil and Curry Leaves
- Henna Catechu
- Henna, Shikakai, and Soap Nut
- To be avoided
Heavy meals and difficult to digest foods – cause indigestion.
Junk foods- cause disturbance in digestion and reduces the bioavailability of the medicine
Carbonated drinks – makes the stomach more acidic and disturbed digestion
Refrigerated and frozen foods – causes weak and sluggish digestion by weakening Agni (digestive fire)
Milk and milk products – increase kapha, cause obstruction in channels and obesity
Curd – causes vidaaha and thereby many other diseases
- To be added
Light meals and easily digestible foods
Green gram, soups, sesame oil, gooseberry, fresh fruits & vegetables, honey
Freshly cooked and warm food processed with cumin seeds, ginger, black pepper, ajwain etc
Behaviour:
Protect yourself from hot climate.
Better to avoid exposure to excessive sunlight wind rain or dust.
Maintain a regular food and sleep schedule.
Avoid holding or forcing the urges like urine, faeces, cough, sneeze etc.
Avoid sedentary lifestyle.
Yoga
Regular stretching and mild cardio exercises are advised. Also, specific yogacharya including naadisuddhi pranayama, bhujangaasana, pavanamuktasana is recommended.
Regular exercise helps improve bioavailability of the medicine and food ingested and leads to positive health.
Yoga can maintain harmony within the body and with the surrounding system.
Yoga for premature grey/white hair
Pavanamuktasana
Nadisudhi pranayama
Bhujangasana
Simple exercises for lungs and heart health
All the exercises and physical exertions must be decided and done under the supervision of a medical expert only.
Research articles
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6290285/
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, United States. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Please consult your GP before the intake.
Writer:
Dr. Rajesh Nair, the co-founder and chief consultant of Ayurvedaforall.Com, is a graduate of prestigious Vaidyaratnam Ayurveda College (affiliated with the University of Calicut), Kerala, India. Additionally, he holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Yoga Therapy from Annamalai University.
Dr. Nair offers consultation at two busy clinics in and around Haripad, Alleppey, Kerala, the southern state famous worldwide for authentic ayurvedic treatment and physicians. While offering consultation on all aspects of ayurvedic treatments Dr. Nair has a special interest in Panchkarma, Yoga, and Massage.
Through Ayurvedaforall Dr. Nair offers online consultation to patients worldwide and has served hundreds of patients over the last 20 years. In addition to his Ayurvedic practice, he is the chief editor of ayurveda-amai.org, the online portal of Ayurveda Medical Association of India, and the state committee member of Ayurveda Medical Association of India.
Dr. Nair is a regular speaker at Ayurveda-related conferences and has visited Germany to propagate Ayurveda. You can write directly to him-
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