Hair Loss
Overview
Hair loss is abnormal or excessive shedding with progressive thinning, recession, or patchy alopecia (oil-wind/alopecia areata), sometimes with an oily, itchy, flaky scalp or fatigue, insomnia, and stress. Chinese medicine holds that "hair is the surplus of blood" and "the kidney's bloom is in the hair," relating loss to liver-kidney insufficiency, deficiency of essence and blood, blood heat with wind-dryness, damp-heat steaming upward, qi stagnation and stasis, and emotional strain or overwork.
Pattern differentiation (clinical patterns)
Liver-Kidney Insufficiency
Longstanding dry yellowing or graying, sparse shedding hair with dizziness, tinnitus, weak lower back/knees, poor memory, pale or red tongue with scant coating, fine pulse.
Tonify liver and kidney; nourish blood to promote hair growth.
Blood Deficiency with Wind-Dryness
Dry hair with diffuse shedding, itchy flaky scalp, lusterless face, dizziness, palpitations, insomnia, pale tongue with thin white coating, fine pulse.
Nourish blood and expel wind; moisten dryness to promote growth.
Connections
Daily care & prevention
Keep regular sleep, reduce chronic stress, eat a balanced diet with adequate protein, iron, and zinc, and avoid crash dieting, frequent chemical treatments, and tight pulling hairstyles. Wash gently and avoid scratching. A plum-blossom needle or light fingertip tapping of the scalp, and massage of Baihui (GV20), Sishencong (EX-HN1), Fengchi (GB20), Sanyinjiao (SP6), and Zusanli (ST36) may help. Seek evaluation for rapid diffuse shedding, patchy loss, or loss around pregnancy or after medication.
When to seek medical care
Seek evaluation for rapid clumps of hair loss, red painful or markedly scaly scalp, hair loss with eyebrow/body-hair loss, or marked fatigue, cold intolerance, or weight change, to rule out alopecia areata, infection, thyroid disease, or nutritional deficiency.