I’ve noticed my hair thinning and hairline receding since I was about 25 or so.
I’ve been using Collagen and Biotin “thickening” shampoo but never noticed any difference. My dad swears by some pills he started taking.
What’s Lemmy think? Is he just paying for pills that are placebo effect?
Not really, but some drugs can help. Minoxidil, either topical or oral, can help for some people, but it’s hit and miss. Finesteride works for a lot of people, but there’s a 3% chance that you permanently lose your libido, and your penis shrinks. I’m not going to play with that, despite the low odds. As for appearance, Topik powder actually does make it look better. That combined with a fibrous hair paste can hide the loss for a time. Otherwise, a trip to Turkey and a few grand can reset the clock, but it’ll probably be required again at some point.
Minoxidil and finasteride will prevent further hair loss and thicken up what you still have. I highly recommend them.
Finasteride is a hormone based therapy which prohibits the production of DHT which strangles hair follicles, but it can effect male reproductive health so I recommend taking it typically instead of orally to prevent systemic exposure.
I have been using a combo spray for almost a year with great results.
Ive been taking oral 1 mg finasteride daily for a few years, and it has totally frozen my receding hair line, also my hair is fuller and healthier than it has ever been. No side effects yet, other than during the first week or two I couldn’t feel pleasure while ejaculating (but it came back after that). I’ll stop taking it if I ever try to conceive but for now it’s just nice being able to delay hair loss by a few years
I use topical Minoxidil. It’s clearly made some difference, replacing a bald patch with a thin patch, and making my scalp noticeably warmer to the touch due to the extra bloodflow. It wasn’t the brilliant instantaneous wonderdrug some people told me it would be, nor totally ineffectual like others said, so I guess it’s something whose efficacy varies from person to person.
The Big 3 are: Hair Transplant, Hair Systems, or Shaving.
The Medium 3: are Oral Dutasteride, Oral Minoxidil, and Microneedling.
The Small 3: are Oral Finasteride, Topical Minoxidil, and Ketoconazole.
The Meh 3: are Head Massage, Vitamins, and Laser Caps.
For what it’s worth, there’s decent evidence that rosemary oil works just as well as Minoxidil. It’s certainly a WHOLE LOT cheaper…
Looking on Amazon the price per liter ranges seem very similar to Minoxidil, maybe a little cheaper. First glance the cheapest Minoxidil product I could see was around 111€ / L, the cheapest rosemary oil bottles seem to be about 80€ / L - probably because most are sold as “essential oils”. That being said, it seems you’re supposed to further dilute the oil so I guess it would last quite a bit longer. Still, from what I heard you need to continue to use that stuff or you’ll lose the gained hair again.
The rosemary oil should be diluted in a carrier like argon oil (but it could be something else like jojoba, squalane). At around 3% concentration. So yes, much much longer!
Yes much like Modoxinil, you need to keep using it.
That’s kinda another 80€ / L though. Not sure how you’d get to 3% when the article states like 5 drops per ounce of shampoo as an example, which would probably be around 1 drop for a regular amount of what you’d use to wash your hair with.
You can buy squalane for like 150$ a gallon. But it could be something else too, as long as it’s non-comedogenic
No idea what that is but why not just go for something like sunflower oil?
Because it’s likely comedogenic, meaning it blocks pores.
It’s not, and it is actually cheap-ish. The Ukraine war obviously pushed the prices quite a bit but it is still far cheaper than something like argan oil.
It’s also much safer to use around cats than topical minoxidil is!
Essential oils are still pretty bad for cats.
Essential Oil Toxicity in Cats
The reason why these oils are risky is that they contain compounds such as terpenes, ketones, and phenols. Your cat’s liver cannot metabolize these chemicals, as it doesn’t have the enzymes necessary for processing and excreting them. As a result, there is always a possibility of their accumulation in the liver building to toxic levels.
https://www.webmd.com/pets/cats/risks-of-essential-oils-for-cats
I didn’t say it was safe! Just safer than minoxidil :) The oil is usually meant to be used as a pre-wash treatment, so it’s not going to sit on your head all day like minoxidil, further reducing the risk of contact with pets.
I’d probably use the pills regardless, but good to know! I have two cats!
I’ve also heard pumpkin seed oil works as a topical dht blocker. Never dug into it to fact check much, since I still have great hair.
I started using Rogaine (generic versions) when I was around 25. I’m 40 now. It slowed my hair loss considerably and I have a pretty good head of hair still. My dad was completely done by 35.
I recently added Finasteride to the mix and I’m comfortable with the results.
Some people will tell you to embrace it and that’s ok too. I just didn’t want to if I didn’t have to.
There no point holding onto hair when it’s really gone. It looks worse than shaving it. Unless you want to pay for hair transplant use need min and fin.
People with hair transplants need to go on finesteride anyway.
I think if you are beginning to bald. Might as well go on finesteride and minoxidil.
They are both proven to work (though not for everyone).
Please don’t take it as an offense, but how do you know it worked? Like, what are you comparing against? If it’s your dad, maybe you just got the right genes from your mom to give you a benefit.
DHT blockers (like what he is taking) are proven to work, but not everyone’s hair loss is due to dht sensitive hair follicles. That’s a genetic lottery.
It can also come with side effects.
Thanks for the additional context
I started thinning rapidly in my early 20s which prompted me to act. Within a few months the thinning stopped and in the back I’ve been about the same since. Front started thinning a few years ago which prompted the finasteride and that seems to be slowing it.
I don’t know for sure, you’re right, but I also see no incentive to prove my experience wrong since the risk isn’t worth it, to me.
Thank you. That makes sense
I was looking for this comment before I went posting it. Finasteride + minoxidil is where it’s at.
As DHT is partially responsible for androgenetic scalp hair loss, dutasteride (a 5α-reductase inhibitor) at least has some evidence of slowing hair loss, as it blocks the action of the 5α-reductase enzymes that convert testosterone into DHT [1]. I am not a medical professional, so do your own research, but this is one of the few substance shown to have a positive effect on hair loss prevention. As this is usually a genetic problem your mileage may vary significantly.
[1] Bostwick DG, Cheng L (24 January 2014). Urologic Surgical Pathology. Elsevier Health Sciences. pp. 492–. ISBN 978-0-323-08619-6.
AFAIK you can only slow down hair loss, not regrow any lost hair.
soft water with low calciumhydrocarbonate also makes soft hair and skin.
the only thing that works is finding out if you have nutriotional deficencies. minerals, vitamins. protein fat, and fiber. all of this is important. in my case, i had diabetis. so i ate keto. i developed copper deficencie, which led to vitamin c deficencie. very hard to find out. many vitamins and minerals battle each other. what nobody totld me: you dont need fiber to have good poop. you need it for the short fatty chain acids that turns into fuel for cells, or does catalyst stuff that needs be doing to absorb all kinds of things.
fat is essential for hair, likewise proteins. proteins and fat are the building blocks, minerals and vitamins are the cement. nothing will work without the other.
oh yeah you need the sun. if yu have copper deficency, you cant take in iron. and there is many more things like that.
so go to a lab and mak a mineral and vitamin profile.
Kind of. I’ve never bothered with them myself because it requires constant use and is kind of more trouble than it’s worth. It’s the same concept as something like Ginko Biloba in that it does have benefits, but different people will see different results based on their own body chemistry so the results you see will vary from person to person.
It’s all bollocks. You’ll can buy your hair back like Musk, but it takes fuck you money.
Shave it off. That’s how poor people look good when they’re balding. It’s not a disease. Throw off the shackles of the advertising industry and just roll with it.
I’ve never tried any. My friends have been telling me since the '60s that I’d be bald tomorrow. Still have hair, and though ‘see through’ on top, there’s no ‘dome’; I’m not bald.
That being said, I went from long-ish hair to brush cuts 40 years ago, and they’re the best. Lowest maintenance, wash 'n wear, never care. True freedom.Free yourself from the wear and tear of hair care.
You, sir, are a poet. And now we all know it.
I think the thickening products just try to coat your hairs in oil or something to make each individual hair appear thicker to make the overall hair appear more full.
There are products like minoxidil that actually promote hair growth.
No there are no thickening products that fix hair loss. Monoxadil and other similar products work but you can never stop using them or your hair will fall out again.
Minoxidil is produced in 5% concentration creams and foams, and that study is comparing rosemary oil to a 2% preparation. It’s impressive that rosemary oil is comparable at all, but obviously if you’re not taking a therapeutic dose of Monoxidil, it’s not going to work properly.
