Here’s yet another example of a psoriasis cream that was shown in a study to cause hair to grow back in patients with hair loss. I’ve seen previously that psoriasis creams such as Secukinumab have been shown to cause hair regrowth in balding scalps.
In this example, the active ingredient is anthralin and the mechanism by which it causes hair regrowth in hair loss patients is via suppression of scalp cytokines.
As I wrote in my previous article, cytokines are inflammatory proteins. I’ve also previously written about the connection between inflammation and hair loss.
In my method instructions, I explain the importance of reducing scalp inflammation and how doing so can have dramatic hair regrowth results. I use a high concentration of peppermint oil, because it’s an anti-inflammatory with no side effects and it’s been shown to increase the growth factor IGF-1.
In the study conducted on anthralin as a hair loss treatment, the researchers used 0.1% concentration, which is a very small amount. One concern I have about using anthralin as a hair loss treatment is that the action by which it reduces inflammation is believed to be via release of free radicals into the cell mitochondria, suppressing the growth of cells.
While this may be helpful for hair loss caused by autoimmune disorders (eg alopecia areata) it might not be beneficial for most other types of hair loss.
If you have any experience using anthralin for hair loss, please leave a comment below.
