Men and their hair, help!

[Eilean]

Dear all, I have a question about men's hair. My partner has long hair (BS if he were wearing a bra :D), which is naturally curly. However it is getting thin on the skalp now and he is very unhappy. I don't mind but he does. The men in his family do not have think hair so what I think caused the "thinning of the hair" is this: he straightens his hair with hair straighteners, which I do not consider very healthy. Then he does not comb his hair gently but is guite rough when it comes to getting rid of knots. He washes his hair and put loads of conditioner on which he does not rinse off. Do you think that could be a reason (apart from men naturally getting a bit bald at a certain age.. although he is only 32.

What I would like to do is to recommend him a very gentle shampoo and conditioner that makes it easy for him to comb the hair. But: he suffers from exma (eczema) on his face (around the nose) and his scalp. He does not have exma on a regular basis, only now and again and we noticed that some shampoos make the skin really bad. And we don't know what he is allergic against.

Can you recommend a very gentle, preferably not too chemical shampoo and conditioner for him?

Any ideas are very appreciated!
Thanks!

[EdG]

Welcome Eilean! :waving:

He should do the usual: stop using straighteners, de-tangle carefully, dilute the shampoo, and wash less frequently.

That being said, poor hair care is not likely the cause of thinning. More likely, he is experiencing male pattern baldness. That can occur in one's thirties.
Ed

[bte]

I agree with Ed - the top of my head is in a lot worse state than your partner's, and no amount of care will alter the progress of nature. However, he can do a lot to protect his hair by being kinder to it in all the ways LHC members know about.

[GoddesJourney]

I going to agree with EdG. You might try an SLS free shampoo. I used to get a very mild rash out of the shower on my neck and face almost every day that would go away within a half hour. I cut out cones and SLS and I haven't had it since. I use my SLS free shampoo as a bodywash now. It also helps me finish the shampoo and conditioner bottles at the same time since I use a lot of conditioner.

[Alun]

You can treat MPB nowadays, though. It used to be that all the lotions were snake oil, but with a doctor's prescription you can get something that works. Only trouble is, if you stop using it the MPB comes back, from what I've heard.

Lifetime thin haired guy here, not MPB. DW says she can see my scalp in places, but for me that's just normal. It doesn't worry me.

[ademtce]

i highly recommend John Masters (either zinc & sage or Evening Primrose) - the shampoo's are great and completely free of SLS', parabens, GMO's, artificial color & fragrance, & petro chemicals.

(SLS's are known to be a cause of premature balding & hair thinning)

he also has some conditioners - i haven't tried them though.

also a good rule of thumb while washing hair, rinse 2-3mins longer than you think you need to - http://twitpic.com/gfxdg

[fluffybunny]

If he wants to hang onto his hair rather than letting nature take its course, he should look into starting propecia (or some other DHT blocker) and minoxidil. I've seen some pretty dramatic improvements in MPB in young-ish men on hairloss forums.

[DavidN]

First of all, welcome to the LHC, Eilean!

I totally agree with all the comments of my fellow LHC members, and by all means, if your husband is concerned about hair loss, encourage him to see a doctor, preferable a dermatologist. Propecia is very effective, especially for the young, when hair loss is in its early stages. Best of luck to him in his hair growing journey!

[Tornerose]

I've also heard that whacking your head with stinging nettles 10-15 minutes a day can prevent hairloss. Not sure how that applies to the allergic, so be careful.
Also, there's the upside down-theory and scalp massages....

[renarok]

I've also heard that whacking your head with stinging nettles 10-15 minutes a day can prevent hairloss.

An example of the cure being worse than the ailment:(

Seriously, that would be torture.

[Eilean]

Thank you all very much for your kind and helpful postings.

I will get him a natural shampoo and conditioner and then all I need is an open ear because he tends to be stubborn. I mean, how silly is that: complaining about his hair getting thinner and at the same time not listening to advice? Anyway, I will do my best and try to convince him. And I will also tell him to see a doctor. I personally do not think that it is only nature causing the thinning of the hair, because whenever he does not torture his hair for a while, the hair grows back a little and he ends up with having lots of shorter hairs inbetween the long hair.

Thank you again! Your help is very appreciated! :)