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?
AFAIK you can only slow down hair loss, not regrow any lost hair.
As per my cosmetologist friend, those thickening products are great! At thickening the wallets of the company.
They’re not any better than a good conditioner.
Same with the pills that aren’t prescription.
It’s not that they don’t do anything at all, it’s that they don’t do anything a healthy diet and decent hair care can’t do. Now, if your diet is shit, those supplements can fill gaps. And, if you’re using shit hair products (and by that I don’t mean inexpensive, it’s about how they’re made and what’s in them), those extras can help if you’re willing to pony up for them instead of finding a good sulfate, paraben free products.
Seriously folks, just avoiding sulfates will improve the health of your hair. Parabens are more about overall health, what with cancer suspicions. Phthalates aren’t great either. Shit with “ethicone” as part of the name are bad for hair, but you don’t really see them on shampoos much any more.
In general, everyone should look up the chemicals in anything they put on or in their bodies, there’s a lot of shit used as preservatives or for other uses in cosmetics and skin/hair products that really shouldn’t be in them.
But for basic hair care, sulfate free is likely to be on the packaging in big letters, so that’s easier to find. Parabens aren’t always advertised the same way, but can be. So avoiding one or both of those requires no more effort than looking at the bottle.
There’s a lot of people that get their balding stopped with DHT blockers. It all depends on what is causing the hair loss. It isn’t all snake oil.
Most of what you’re recommending is just stuff to treat the dead hair after it grows out of your head, and not treating the follicles no longer growing hair.
Exactly.
The OP was asking about things other than prescription and medication options, unless I totally misread the post. I’ll go back look, but I’m sure there was something specified about vitamin type products, not stuff like minoxidil
Edit: went and checked, highlighting the part that was the basis of my response
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?
My entire comment was based on what OP asked, and the background info they gave, not a comprehensive hair loss essay.
Any recommendations on brands?
Eh, based on what I’ve been told by cosmetologists, brand is a matter of what smells best to you, when it comes to shampoo.
I personally favor aveeno and hask since they’re inexpensive, smell good, don’t irritate my skin, and are easy to find at pretty much any store that carries shampoos and conditioners to begin with. Just check labels.
Garnier has several options available last time I looked. I think dove does too. But I don’t personally use those brands, so I can’t say anything about them beyond them having sulfate and paraben free options.
I got nothing when it comes to higher dollar brands since the only time I’ve used them is when they were free samples. But I can not tell a difference between any of them other than scent. My beard and hair are in good shape across the board since my homie gave me the advice to switch sulfate free, no matter the brand.
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.
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 Minoxidil is the only thing proven to work. You can take it orally or apply it to the scalp via a serum or shampoo.
Iirc only caffeine shampoo works
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…
It’s also much safer to use around cats than topical minoxidil is!
I’d probably use the pills regardless, but good to know! I have two cats!
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’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.
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.
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.
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.
I’m in my early 30s and started taking hims about a year ago. I’ve definitely seen regrowth of hair in my slightly receding hairline, but it’s just the more ‘recent’ stuff that had started falling out. I saw about a third of an inch regrowth, it isn’t full on thick regrowth but it’s enough to make a difference in how my hair looks.
I started taking it because it was as easy as just taking a pill in the morning, if it had been more involved like creams and stuff I wouldn’t have bothered. My hairline wasn’t all that bad either before tbh but I figured this product was to help keep it that way so I went for it.
If anyone is interested it’s worth checking out their website for information about how it works and seeing before and after pics of people who take it.
It’s a doctor prescription and you can do everything through the app including getting prescribed through in app texting with the doc.
I’ve also heard biotin pills help, these are otc and my hims prescription actually include some too. I can’t verify how much they help by themselves but people online seem to think they do, it might be worth starting with some research there if a doctors prescription is too involved for you at this time.
Yes…or no. There’s more than one reason for balding. You might try a DHT blocker. Caffeine(more caffiene helps, supposedly), vitamin B, and many other things could effect your hair loss.
For a non guessing approach, you want a full blood panel and testosterone/dht level done up at a legit specialist for hair loss.
Or just go the Mr.Clean route.
Okay, I’m here to help.
Shave.
Seriously. The amount of pressure put on guys around balding is horrendous, and it can consume your attention if you let it. The moment that superfluous, vestigial hair comes off, it’s such a breath of fresh air (no pun intended). No more fussing, worrying or stressing about it. Plus, in many cases it looks pretty good. Give it a couple of weeks and it’ll just become your face.
Give it a couple of months and the moment there’s a scratchy, annoying milimeter of hair on your head will be a natural call to give it a shave for the comfort alone.
or don’t. My ex was balding and never bothered me. It may bother.some ppl but tbf what doesn’t? There is alwas a problem, too tall, too short, short dick, dick too big, to fat, too skinny
There will always be someone that doesn’t like something about you, no matter who you are. Just accept it and be free
My life has been unduly burdened because of my “dick too big” problem. So many don’t understand my plight.
Pray for me.
Believe me I have heard woman runing away from men because their dick is too big. And…as a woman i would say this is actually kind of problematic. Vaginas are not infinite holes… it has an ending
And having to be careful during sex is a drag. Big, good. Bigger, not better.
Absolutely, and if you can’t take the plunge on either do whatever feels right.
But I’ll say if you’re anxious about it at all, shaving is a good way to not have to think about it. Not everybody has an easy time just getting over the way they look and not giving a crap, obviously.
Plus if you’re worried about your hairline, going to get a haircut can be a stressful time and shaving means getting it out of the way. And it’s super cheap and fast by comparison.
Eh I’ll consider it, but I like my hair for now. If it gets to a point where I look dumb I’ll shave. But I also have a humungous head. Like literally 99th percentile lol
Blue yourself and go full Megamind.
I’ll do it if I get an invite to the Blue Man Group.
If you’re slowly losing it but like how it is now, finasteride is exactly what you want if you’re alright with taking a pill forever. There are of course side effects but it’s worth talking to a doctor about if you think hair loss will be something you don’t want to accept.
If possible, save up for a trip to Turkey. My barber 1/2 jokes about it, says its like $6k, includes airfare, and are all inclusive. Turkey has entire villages that have become dedicated to cosmetic surgeries, like hair transplants. Some of them filled with men walking around with their head in bandages 😅
So we can add to the list now?
Turkey Teeth
Turkey Tits
Turkey Toupee?
Before you get into products or transplants or whatever, maybe try changing some habits? American College of Dermatology has an article on 10 things you may be doing that lead to damage or hair loss (along with what you can change to do it “right”). “Wrong” things include rubbing your hair dry with a towel and using the wrong-size comb.
Thanks for sharing!
No but they can make amazing sauces.
