HELP! Thin hair won't grow, out of control!

[Syrsa]

Alright guys, I need some SERIOUS help from all the long hair gurus out there. The hair situation is pretty severe here and I'm not holding out too much hope that it can be restored, but I am hoping we can at least get a few tips on how to improve the situation.

It's actually David, a close friend, who's in need of the help. He complains that his hair is a mess, won't go out in public without a hat, but again, has no idea how to go about fixing the problem. This problem has got a few years of history behind it, so I doubt it's gonna be a quick fix (if there is a fixD:.).

According to David, girls envied his shoulder-length hair in his middle school years (about age13). At about 14 or 15, his hair was well past shoulder length, thick, no real problems, although he says this is when stress and depression started causing him to shed more than usual. He also died his hair completely black around this time. After 6 months, he got his hair re-colored back to it's natural blond at a hair salon. If I remember correctly, this is also the last time he got it properly trimmed. His hair was no doubt still thinning at this point.

At about late 16-ish to early 17-ish, he says his hair wasn't growing anymore, and thinking trimming it would get it growing again, he put his hair up in a ponytail and cut about an inch off the end with a razor (apparently the household didn't own any scissors). This is where the major problems started, according to Dave. His hair started to pretty much do it's own thing and "poof" at the top, and instead of being parted down the middle, it ended up parting from one spot on the top back of his head. Now at 20, his hair noticeably a lot less full, and shorter than it was when he was 15 (even though it's had a few years to grow out since he chopped the ends off by himself). His girlfriend actually got her hair cut in December of 2007 to about shoulder-length, and by the end of 2008 it had reached the same length as David's. Yikes.

I've compiled a bunch of pictures of Dave's hair over the years to show you guys and see if anyone knows how to fix the problem:

Ages 14-17 (http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww184/chicagosnap/before.jpg)
Ages late 17 to present (http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww184/chicagosnap/after.jpg)

Ponytail comparisons (http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww184/chicagosnap/ponytailcomp.jpg)
Hair part comparisons (http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww184/chicagosnap/topofheadcomp.jpg)
Hair while wet comparisons (http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww184/chicagosnap/wethaircomp.jpg)

(I gotta say, blurring your friend's face out in photos feels weird to do)

Please help him get his beautiful thick, long hair back (or at least to some degree)! Suggestions, tips, remedies that you know of, all of that stuff will be greatly appreciated:)!

[Loviatar]

Does Dave himself not want to join LHC? He would be welcome. We have plenty of guys here. It is kind of you to ask for him though if he wants you to.

I hesitate to say it because nobody wants to hear this, but he may just be losing his hair early (male pattern baldness/androgenetic alopecia). My ex boyfriend started losing his hair at age 16 and has very 'fluffy', thin, wild-looking hair when it grows long.

However if that's not the case, then great. These are the tips I would give David.

He needs to repair his hair slowly. If he dyed black and then got it 'recoloured' back to natural blonde, he would have had to go through a hellishly harsh bleaching process to get the colour he is in those pictures. This will have caused a lot of damage, I am certain.
No more trimming with razors. :scared: Yikes.
What is his diet like? Does he take any vitamins?
How often does he wash his hair?
What kind of shampoo does he use?
Does he ever condition? (A lot of guys I know never bother, even the longhaired ones.)
Does he blowdry his hair after washing? If so how often?
How does he brush or comb it? Does he comb it while it's wet? This is very damaging.
Does he use ponytail bands with metal tags on them? Does he wear a ponytail every day? Regularly?

I believe that someone's husband had good results with a blend of essential oils, Jessie58 wrote a great article on oils for thinning hair I think, I will try to find it for you.

Go slowly and dont try too many things at once. Do encourage him to join if he wants to. He can even keep a journal/blog of his progress and track his changes/experiments.

HTH.
Lovi

[Syrsa]

Does Dave himself not want to join LHC? He would be welcome. We have plenty of guys here. It is kind of you to ask for him though if he wants you to.Naw, he's not too big on keeping up with online communities. He might join one for any computer-related inquiries he might have, but that's about it:P.


I hesitate to say it because nobody wants to hear this, but he may just be losing his hair early (male pattern baldness/androgenetic alopecia). My ex boyfriend started losing his hair at age 16 and has very 'fluffy', thin, wild-looking hair when it grows long.That's what we're afraid ofD:. He's joked about his dad having it, but I'm not sure if it actually runs in his family or not. Hopefully that's not the case. Is there anything we can try if this is part of the problem though?


However if that's not the case, then great. These are the tips I would give David.

He needs to repair his hair slowly. If he dyed black and then got it 'recoloured' back to natural blonde, he would have had to go through a hellishly harsh bleaching process to get the colour he is in those pictures. This will have caused a lot of damage, I am certain.Yeah, that no doubt added to the problem. Just as an added note, his hair color tends to look a bit reddish with the camera the older pics were taken with, so his hair color before he died it is probably no different than now. As far as I know he has no plans to dye in again the future (the black hair thing was just a "teen phase," ha. Can't say I haven't done the same with my hair a few times back then:P).


No more trimming with razors. Yikes.Definitely. He knows it was a dumb decision at this pointXD. We'd like to see him actually go out and get a trim at a salon, but he doesn't want to spend the money.


What is his diet like? Does he take any vitamins?Mostly starch and meat, occasionally cooked vegetables. Starving student food. I never see him eating fruit, so I'm sure that's not doing much good. He's a smoker as well (les than a pack a day, I think), so I'm sure that also affects his hair, not to mention overall health.


How often does he wash his hair?Probably about 2 or 3 times a week on average.


What kind of shampoo does he use?
Does he ever condition? (A lot of guys I know never bother, even the longhaired ones.) Pantene Pro-V curls. He uses the Pantene conditioner that's supposed to be used after the shampoo. He says it gets frizzy if he doesn't condition (I've never actually noticed a difference).



Does he blowdry his hair after washing? If so how often?Nope, nobody in the house blowdries. I don't even think we have a drier in the houseX).


How does he brush or comb it? Does he comb it while it's wet? This is very damaging.He doesn't actually brush. I've only seen him brush it once, after his dad mentioned to him how messy it was.



Does he use ponytail bands with metal tags on them? Does he wear a ponytail every day? Regularly?He might use one with metal tags occasionally, but he mainly owns the thicker ones without metal. He also tends to not bother putting it up, maybe once in a while if it's too hot out or he can't find his hat to wear in public.


I believe that someone's husband had good results with a blend of essential oils, Jessie58 wrote a great article on oils for thinning hair I think, I will try to find it for you.That would be awesome if you could find the article, thank you:3!


Go slowly and dont try too many things at once. Do encourage him to join if he wants to. He can even keep a journal/blog of his progress and track his changes/experiments.We'll be sure to try one thing at time:). I'll try and talk him into joining (maybe I can get his girlfriend to as well, since she probably knows more about all this than I do).

Thanks for the reply, Lovi! (Sorry for all the quote tags too, I just noticed it looks a bit over the topO.o)

[Deborah]

After looking at his pics a bit, my impression is the same as Lovi's. I think he has early male-pattern baldness. Some on the list have had results in thickening their hair up a little with a few different techniques, but they are all women. For men it is altogether a different thing.

In college I was crazy about a guy who had early male-pattern baldness. I'll tell you, he had such a sparkle in his eye, and such a big, wonderful smile, that his thinning hair looked gorgeous to me! It was just part of who he was, and in no way diminished his attractiveness.

I don't know if your friend is open to the idea, (and I imagine some here will gasp too) but his hair might look a good bit thicker and nicer if he cut it short. Whatever he does, I hope he can find a style that makes him look good and that helps him feel better about himself too. :flower:


p.s. I should admit that I don't like long hair on men. On some men, the hair can look like 'good hair', even if I don't like the length. But I have yet to see long, thinning hair on a man that looked 'good.'

[Anje]

I agree -- it looks like early male-pattern baldness. There are things he can try to stop or slow the progression, many of which I'm sure you can find online yourself. The main ones are minoxidil (Rograine), Propecia, etc. Then you can get into the weirder stuff like the laser combs (which sound intriguing to me, if only because it isn't a permanent expense) and surgical treatments. There are some other topical DHT blockers, and some studies in the last few years have suggested that topical caffeine can block DHT in men (results were more iffy for women), but the caffeinated options are limited at this point. Alternatively, he can always accept it and either leave the rest of his hair as normal or buzz it.

Wish I could offer more help. Some of the men on this board, or on the Men's Long Hair Hyperboard, might be able to spell things out more thoroughly.

Along the caffeinated lines, my husband has a high hairline and thin hair that he was worried might be thinning further. Because of the caffeine studies, I got him started using the "Cafe Moreno" shampoo bar from Chagrin Valley, which has coffee in it. He thinks he may have thickened up a little, but he doesn't have male-pattern baldness, so the results may not translate well.

[SpecialKitty]

hmmmmmm......it seems to me that a couple of men on LHC have struggled with male pattern baldness issues - maybe they can chime in? I don't know about cutting it. If he really wants to grow it longer, and have it thicken up a bit, there are definitely some tools he can try. Has he tried rogaine or those special shampoos for balding hair (a few are reputed to actually work)? I agree that he may have male pattern baldness going on.

[SimplyLonghair]

Ktani just recently posted some links that mention that an indian herb maybe as effective as minoxidil here is that thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=8939)

I think that even if it is male pattern baldness that better treatment and some types of herbal massages and oils couldn't hurt and might slow or even halt some of that type of alopetia.

Sometimes it is even something as simple as the way you sleep. I have issues on one side due to sleeping on that side. You would be surprised to find out just how much damage you do at night in your sleep if you are a restless sleeper.

I would recommend gentle shampoos. Pantene can cause some to have issues. I cannot use it as it causes shedding, so does any conditioner on my scalp, I use it starting at my ears only.

Good luck and tell him that we do have men here that he could talk with. Please encourage him to join.
Welcome to you as well, let us help you to grow your hair too!:cheese: