Your Hairdresser Can Prevent Cancer

Doctors are doctors, but what if your hair dresser becomes your doctor? Well indeed they can, and that too a very smart doctor. They can prevent you from a disease at a very early stage or else can ask you to stop taking any drugs, medicines, which might harm you.

Hairs are one’s sign of good healthiness. How often you lose your hair, or how often your hairs go too dull and look non-nourished? Well, if you turn up to a hair dresser, he would definitely ask you to stop taking certain medicine, which actually was affecting your health, and the effect was seen through your hairs. And most of the times, people are not also aware of these simple things.

You would note that if a person is suffering from a serious disease, they first start having heavy hair falls, indicating that they are not well. Stylists and barbers these days have a close-up view of our scalps, necks and faces, and a new study from Harvard suggests that our hair dressers are uniquely situated to help prevent and detect skin cancer, especially potentially deadly melanoma.

More than 80% of squamous cell carcinomas and basal cell carcinomas, the most common types of skin cancer occur on the scalp, neck and face. Only six percent of melanomas occur on the scalp and neck, but according to a study from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill these cases tend to be fatal nearly twice as often as melanoma elsewhere on the body.

In a press release issued when their study was published, the North Carolina researchers said that there may be something different about melanomas found on the scalp and neck that underlies the poorer outlook. They urged physicians to pay particular attention to these areas during skin exams.

More than anyone else in your life, hair stylists get a really close look at your scalp, neck, and face while they’re cutting or coloring. The Harvard study, a survey of 203 hair professionals from 17 salons in Houston, found that many hairdressers routinely check clients for abnormal moles on their scalps, necks, and faces.

Fifty eight percent of the stylists who responded to the poll said that they had suggested to at least one client that an abnormal mole should be checked by a doctor. In addition, 37 percent had looked at the scalps of half their customers during the previous month. About 29 percent said that they had examined the necks of more than half their clients and about 15 percent said they had checked the faces of more than half their customers. Nearly half said they would be interested in participating in a skin-cancer education program.

Besides cancer, hair loss can signify a scalp infection (ringworm), a disease (diabetes or lupus), poor nutrition (usually inadequate protein or iron), alopecia areata (an autoimmune disease). It can also be a sign of stress or anxiety, or simply the result of natural aging.

Visible thinning can be a sign of thyroid disease (either underactive or overactive). Once the thyroid problem is treated, hair should grow back.

Dandruff is a sign of seborrheic dermatitis, an inflammatory skin condition. If over-the-counter dandruff shampoos don’t help, a prescription one might.