Acupuncture Cleveland treatments can be beneficial in treating alopecia universalis. When acupuncture is able to allow the bald part of the scalp to grow hair again, the hair often comes back the same way it got lost – in clumps. In order for acupuncture treatment to be really effective, the patient may need to avail of acupuncture treatments for at least 6 months to a little over a year to produce optimal results. For others who have lost hair for more than 7 years acupuncture was able to restore hair growth in these patients.
Cortisone sometimes has a beneficial side effect that allows hair to grow again in a bald person. However, the negative side effects are severe enough to make the person think twice on using it. The other bad side effects include weight gain and lowered immune function. A person who opts for cortisone injections often ingests glycyrrhizin, a licorice extract that helps the body metabolize cortisone at a much slower rate which may amplify the hair growth benefit but also increases the liability for negative side effects. As a caveat the use of deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) is not advised because it simply does do anything to facilitate the hair growing benefit of cortisone.
Doctors have been dispensing minoxidil for treatment of alopecia areata. In lieu of minoxidil, a chemical called diphencyprone (DPC) is also prescribed. DPC is a chemical used in film development. People working at Kodak have discovered its hair growing ability when hair began to develop on the part of their body exposed to DPC. Hair developed due to DPC does not fall off even after its use has been discontinued, which is also true for minoxidil. In the treatment of alopecia universalis (total hair loss), the effects of DCP is not really that good, registering only a 17% success rate; however, when hair loss is about 50%, DCP tallies a perfect 100% slate in effectiveness. Treatment is for three months when you then begin to see hair sprout out once again. Still, there may be instances that use of the drug for up to 2 years may be required in order to see hair growth again. DCP like all medications reacts differently per person.
As mentioned DCP works only fairly when there is less than 50% hair loss. When continued, DCP will start producing results within 10 months for those with less than 50% hair loss. Be prepared of experiencing side effects such as swollen lymph glands (2 percent of users), vitiligo (2 percent), freckling (12 percent) and blistering (45 percent). The hair usually lasts for 2 to 3 years for DCP users and then another round of treatment may again become necessary.
People do have different reactions from different treatments and it is up to the person what particular hair treatment will be best for him.