Do any of these work? for real?

[dropinthebucket]

So I googled "follicle" "stimulate" "strengthen" and a ton of products came up for treating thinning hair. Some of them just look like vitamins, some of them just look like herbs, and some of them just look like hype. Some of them look interesting, though - especially a couple with testosterone inhibitors. Has anyone tried a commercial, formulated hair growth or for-thinning-hair product and liked it? I wanna hear *real, unbiased* reviews before I'm convinced they're worth money! :) anyone? any product???

[misstwist]

Look at the monistat thread.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=156

[christine1989]

Regular birth control pills inhibit testosterone and I have heard that they can sometimes reduce hair loss and thicken existing hair. Biotin is also supposed to be good for hair. I have tried it and although it did nothing to increase my growth rate, it worked wonders to reduce my shedding and start growing new hair. If you are deficient in iron, it can also cause hair thinning so taking an iron suppliment may also be worth looking in to.

[Igor]

I would like to answer “yes and no”

There are many different herbs and supplements out there that may and may not help treat thinning hair, but most of them will only have an effect if you are lacking in the components already

Personally I swear by my supplements, but that it my own opinion

My own hair (and nails too!) grew significantly thicker once I had built a stabile and healthy supplement routine, so in that way, yes it works if you will consider “regular” vitamins as a treatment for (thinning) hair

The thing is, however, that most of the products out there are nothing more than an overpriced vitamin pill

Most vitamins and minerals do directly or indirectly affect your hair and growth. That’s the good old rule “If it’s good for your body in general, its good for your hair too”

I have tried a few products, but in my opinion it has no effect if you already have a supplement routine and you’re not ill in one way or another

The testosterone inhibitor sounds like it could work. If, and only if you have a high level of testosterone and that is the single medically confirmed cause of your thinning. But, personally I would not want to mess with my hormone levels especially with pills bought over the internet

One particular “hair growth supplement” I was taking boasted that it contains lots of the amino acid L-cystine which is a key component in keratin, the protein that is the building block of hair. Now that does sound pretty good, doesn’t it?
But L-cystine probably has a thousand other uses in the body and won’t be sent exclusively to the hair and then it probably won’t have any effect…
I could buy a regular multi vitamin, multi mineral and some protein tablets for the same price as this one bottle
Later I learned that the “super important key component of hair growth” is approximately 5% of the human hairs mass. Fooled by clever advertising :lol:

Who says that these products that target hair loss or hair stimulation so specifically will have any effect if your body isn’t lacking that key component?
For instance, biotin (Also known as B12 and vitamin H) seems to be widely recommended for hair growth. In fact it seems to be one of the first advices you will encounter on LHC. However, if your body is already low on biotin through a dietary deficiency, the added biotin will most likely be used in the cells in your body instead of the hair

You can’t “direct” your supplement. The body sends the molecules where it is needed in the body’s chemistry

In conclusion my advice is to not buy any of these. They are most likely overpriced, not controlled by FDA and wont have any effect. Instead, get a physical and a blood test to check if you have any deficiencies and otherwise buy a few good, trusted supplements

[urara12]

So I googled "follicle" "stimulate" "strengthen" and a ton of products came up for treating thinning hair. Some of them just look like vitamins, some of them just look like herbs, and some of them just look like hype. Some of them look interesting, though - especially a couple with testosterone inhibitors. Has anyone tried a commercial, formulated hair growth or for-thinning-hair product and liked it? I wanna hear *real, unbiased* reviews before I'm convinced they're worth money! :) anyone? any product???


since last year. I thought that my hair is thinning.
I've spent soooooo long day's sleepless cause it and depression. I did try nioxin. it's didn't make my hair more volume. but made thick & less shedding than Before.
however I can't use it because I am reacting some of the ingredient even I have couple extra shampoo....

also I did try Phyto shampoo. and Fekkai's DHA??( something like that) blocker shampoo, Paravana Biojen 9.
but I found out that i can't use them any more cause my sensitive scalp.

I really not sure if those worked or not??

also I took vitamin *Revive*
it's really made my hair grow so so so fast. it's made me bit scarry because the result.

I also took GMC's hair vitamin. can't see any change.

[Fractalsofhair]

Rograine is the only one that's proven that I know of, to help for thinning hair that I know of. Men's is stronger and costs less...

Now, other ones might work, but I wouldn't spend tons and tons of money in concern to random products. I find scalp massages make lots of baby hairs pop up(in addition to making my hair grow faster). I have rather high testosterone levels for a woman, and it hasn't affected my hair's thickness(III xD), but it does make sense that it could help for some.

[vanity_acefake]

i would second the biotin but if you have spot prone skin drink tonnes of water as you will break out horribly without it! I also take skin hair and nails from holland and barrett which i love (it is basically a multivitamin), msm and silica complex (yes it's the LHC influence!). I do not measure my hair but one of my best friends who had not seen me for ages came round the other day and was convinced that my hair never used to be this thick so something must be working. She's known me most of my life so she is a great judge of this. I am no longer on antibiotics for my skin which i have spent half my life taking, my skin looks so much better, my nails are growing like crazy and i have to pluck my eyebrows more often so i do think it is working and i've only been taking these supplements for about a month.

[HotRag]

For instance, biotin (Also known as B12 and vitamin H) seems to be widely recommended for hair growth. In fact it seems to be one of the first advices you will encounter on LHC. However, if your body is already low on biotin through a dietary deficiency, the added biotin will most likely be used in the cells in your body instead of the hair
Biotin is not B12 (I sound like practical pig here...).

My derm doctor told me to eat 300 mg of biotin, since I had hair loss problem last year, medical induced, but also made my scalp itchy, so I don't know if the med itself, or via itch, caused the hair loss.

She told me the importance of not eating too much of some vitamins (water soluable included!), and that B-vitamins are really hard to measure in blood, especially if the person has eaten B-vitamin supplement in the nearset months. I ate B-12, and the blood work showed several times too high, but tests that show indirectly (homocystein) showed I was optimised, not overeating. (I have also tested, with doctor, B12 injections for my fatigue, despite of the good values, since it is so hard to measure at some people, but then it is about people beeing really ill/fatigued/having ME/CFS.)

She (the derm) also said that if one has a real problem with hair loss, it is more important to be in the higher range in iron for example (measured NOT as hemoglobin, but serum iron and ferritin).

I had to not eat iron supplements for two weeks at least before the blood test.

Here is where many doctors do wrong, they don't care about the person eating supplements (get false fine or too high values for some stuff), or about the symptoms (low in range, feeling fine = ok, low in range + symptomes = put supplement in or check further).

I have a great doctor now :) Acting as he (I got to this doctor after the hair was solved) should, following the optimal values for stuff that could cause my symptomes.

This was not meant to "talk against" igor, just to add the info I got. It is like she wrote also.

[princessp]

Okay thanks this makes a ton of sense. When I was vegan my hair thinned and I had some other issues. Because of this I decided to add eggs back into my diet (still vegetarian though) and my hair quickly improved. So I am thinking it was the biotin in the eggs. I did a quick internet search and here is what I came up with:

Foods that provide biotin:

Excellent sources of biotin include chard, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, and carrots. Very good sources include almonds, chicken eggs, onions, cabbage, cucumber, and cauliflower. Good sources includes goat's milk, cow's milk, raspberries, strawberries, halibut, oats, and walnuts.

[Tiina]

I agree with Igor. Our bodies are very complex systems and modern medicine still doesn't know exactly how we work. Taking supplements of any kind can sometimes be dangerous. Overusing vitamins can in long term lead to illnesses as well. Something that promises to affect one thing, affects other things too. I'd be vary of anything that can change hormone production. For example, testosterone is closely linked to fertility in both men and women. Most birth control pills affect sex hormones, that is how they work. I don't know exactly if (and which) supplements are dangerous but I wouldn't risk it either. A well-balanced diet and healthy lifestyle may sound cliché but it is the safest option.

Just my :twocents:

[dropinthebucket]

thanks for detailed replies! :)

[bahoban]

since last year. I thought that my hair is thinning.
I've spent soooooo long day's sleepless cause it and depression. I did try nioxin. it's didn't make my hair more volume. but made thick & less shedding than Before.
however I can't use it because I am reacting some of the ingredient even I have couple extra shampoo....

also I did try Phyto shampoo. and Fekkai's DHA??( something like that) blocker shampoo, Paravana Biojen 9.
but I found out that i can't use them any more cause my sensitive scalp.

I really not sure if those worked or not??

also I took vitamin *Revive*
it's really made my hair grow so so so fast. it's made me bit scarry because the result.

I also took GMC's hair vitamin. can't see any change.

:thudpile: ohhh WOW that stuff "Revive" is powerfull!!!!!:mrt::mrt:

is almost 10 times what I take on 1 day,, the suggested use are:
Take 4 capsules daily for at least eight weeks

ingredients:
Stress Nutrition Complex 965 mg See below
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, ascorbates) 752 mg
B1 (thiamin) 10 mg
B2 (riboflavin) 20 mg
B3 (niacinamide) 20 mg
B6 (pyridoxine HCI) 25 mg
Folic acid 800 mcg
B12 (cyanocobalamin) 10 mcg
Biotin 6000 mcg
B5 (pantothenic acid from calcium d-pantothenate) 20 mg
Calcium (from ascorbate and d-pantothenate) 74 mg
Zinc (ascorbate) 40 mg
Copper (ascorbate) 2 mg

Hair Growth Complex
N-acetyl-cysteine, horsetail herb, stinging nettle leaf, bamboo stem and leaf 1340 mg

Hormone Balancing Complex
Phytosterol complex (includes beta sitosterol), kelp, L-tyrosine. 430 mg

Chinese Herbal Hair Complex
Fo-ti root, notopterygium root, rehmannia prepared root, rehmannia raw root, eclipta herb, ligustrum fruit, chinese peony root peeled, chinese peony root, dong quai root, sichuan lovage root, tree peony root bark. 190 mg

:blueeek:WOW
1 capsule 4 times a day....WOW :blueeek:

[zule]

Nothing external will help.

If you're nutritionally deficient, vitamins and minerals will help. If you're nutritionally borderline, they may help. If you're normal, they won't.

Physician-prescribed hormones can help, as can Rogaine. Rograine must be used continually since the effects wear off as soon as the treatment is stopped. It can cause body and facial hair growth in some people, especially women who use a higher strength.

Women need some androgens to function normally. I wouldn't take a testosterone antagonist unless under medical care with regular blood level testing.

Just the scientist in me. I demand evidence.