How Can I Restore The Health Of My Hair When It Is Falling Due To The Inability To Wash It Often From Lack Of Water?

Posted on Wed, 2 May 2018

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 2 May 2018 Answered on

Fri, 10 May 2024 Last reviewed on

Question : hi doctor, i am a 34 year old woman. I lived abroad for many years would tie my hair up in a bun or ponytail. unfortunately where i was living (for work)we often did not have access to fresh water often so I did not wash my hair regularly or often at all like going months at a time bc the water we did have i reserved for washing my body. I noticed my hair would get very knotty and matted and when i did wash it I would lose handfuls. Now my hair is a lot thinner. If i deliberately pull out a strand of hair from my head (right from my scalp), there is no bulb at the end of the hair shaft. Does this mean my follicles are dead if i don't see a white bulb or if the bulb is a lot smaller from what they used to be like? please help.

Answered by Dr. Asmeet Kaur Sawhney (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Minoxidil and hair supplements

Detailed Answer:

Hi,

I hope gong your complaints.

For hair thinning and loss I would recommend you to start with minoxidil 2 percent lotion twice during and take hair supplements containing biotin and other nutrients once daily.

This needs to be continued for at least 4-5 months to see significant results.
Even if you don’t see bulb at the end of the hair it doesn’t mean that hair follicles are dead.
It could be due to the reduction in the size of the bulb.

Let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards
Dr Asmeet

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee