Any success adding inches to ponytail circumference?

[alyanna]

I'm really curious, especially as far as those of us with thinner hair are concerned. Has anyone successfully thickened up their hair through natural or prescription medicines/supplements?

I am wondering if there really is a solution to thinning hair.

I've been using minoxidil 2% for 4 months now and I just had a dermatologist visit at which we decided I have made no progress at all. The derm is not for using minoxidil in the first place but she said I could try the 5% solution. I think I won't. I want to try more natural methods.

Since being on LHC (also 4 months), my hair is healthier, shinier, longer (yay!) and feels fuller. I think my ponytail circumference has increased, but it's mostly due to layers growing out and joining the rest of the hair.

So has anyone been able to increase their ponytail size significantly and what methods were you using?

(note: I'm talking about a routine that thickens hair, not lengthens it, as I believe some methods will make hair grow longer faster, but you won't be getting any more hair)

[LunaMoon]

Yes, for my hair, light protein tratments every week works great. Other days I moisture very well and I don't use shampoo, just CO.
I never tried protein in my hair before LHC. It is very difficult to find CO or protucts with protein around here.
Now I am ordering online Aphogee 2 minutes keratin recontructor and I am impressed with the results.:cheese:

About adding inches to my ponytail: I can't say I have increased some "inches", but 1 cm (half inch?) for sure.

[CarpeDM]

I didn't have much luck with Rogaine myself, it irritated my scalp and seemed to make more hair fall out :( But since I've been focusing on my hair more within the last year I've gained some thickness, about a half inch in my ponytail circumference through more natural methods.

Such as:
-taking biotin, MSM, silica, a good multi vitamin
-increasing my foods with iron
-scalp massages with EO and other oils a couple of times a week (PM me if you want the recipe details)
-natural shampoo and conditioner
-no more chemicals
-no more heat
-a good diet with protein, vegs and fruits
-lots of water and exercise

[MoonLover]

I'm not sure if this will be helpful since I haven't added inches yet but I do see a lot less scalp! It's only been a few months so the new hairs are too short for a ponytail. I see them sticking up all over the place and it's great. When they are long enough I think they will add to my circumference.

What I've been doing:
-Henna and henna glosses: full henna once a month and 1-3 glosses in between
-CO only and detangle with tangle teezer
-scalp oilings with jbco+rosemary eo
-scalp massages while oiling and as many nights as I can remember
-lots of water and I try to eat healthy
-some supplements: Nioxin recharging complex, Biosil & fish oil may be helping (but I've always taken fish oil and it didn't seem to help before)
-bunning with spin pins or other accessory most of the time- I barely use elastics because it might create breakage at the ponytail site
-sleeping on satin
-exercise may play a role too but I haven't been consistent enough with it to know if it makes a difference

minoxidil irritated my scalp and so I didn't give it more than a couple of weeks. I think jbco and rosemary are better. JBCO has even helped me grow back a bit of my over-threaded eyebrows:)

[CrisDee]

In addition to the above, I've seen many people say that castor oil has given them a good amount of new growth as well. I'm going to try this (http://pandoraslocks.blogspot.com/2011/01/pandoras-soothing-scalp-and-growth.html) recipe as soon as I can get to Walmart and get a squirt bottle. If nothing else, I'll sure smell purty! :D

[teela1978]

Quitting hair dye gained me about an inch of circumference (2" to 3"). Took a while for that to show up :)

[celebriangel]

I recently quit dying my hair (a few months ago) and I can just feel and see all those little fried-to-death baby hairs getting longer...I'm not sure how much thickness I'll gain yet though. My hair used to be a iii and now it is a ii (upper end of), so I hope to be back in iii in a few years.

[Aveyronnaise]

In addition to the above, I've seen many people say that castor oil has given them a good amount of new growth as well. I'm going to try this (http://pandoraslocks.blogspot.com/2011/01/pandoras-soothing-scalp-and-growth.html) recipe as soon as I can get to Walmart and get a squirt bottle. If nothing else, I'll sure smell purty! :D

I have had a lot of results of new growth from castor oil. I had a lot of sparse spots and thinning after extended breast feeding.I have been using it since march and I have a huge halo of growth flying out around my head. It isn't long enough to figure into the ponytail yet but i am sure it will add to my circumference when it gets long enough.
The recipe listed looks really cool maybe I will start that , since I just found a cheaper castor oil source .<rubs hands in a maniacal fashion>

[Tea Lady]

In addition to the above, I've seen many people say that castor oil has given them a good amount of new growth as well. I'm going to try this (http://pandoraslocks.blogspot.com/2011/01/pandoras-soothing-scalp-and-growth.html) recipe as soon as I can get to Walmart and get a squirt bottle. If nothing else, I'll sure smell purty! :D

Hey, thanks for the link. I am going to try this, went out today and bought the stuff for it, except the rose water that I already had. My hair is thin, especially right at the top, so I hope this will help.

Tea Lady

[seaj]

Hair only grows so fast, so it would take quite a while to get a real measurement of how successful a hair treatment is, especially if you are using ponytail circumference as a baseline. All those new hairs would need to be able to reach the point at which the ponytail is tied. It took me a whole year before I could get all my hair in a high ponytail when I grew it out from a buzz cut.

[shikara]

Oooh I like this thread because I have recently started a program that I am hoping will bring me these results. My recipe is just: about a tbsp castor oil and coconut oil and 4-5 drops of rosemary straight up, massage into scalp (a little longer than I used to) the night before wash. Rosemary is said to stimulate new growth, among other things. Same with castor. I think I will add lavender as mentioned in a previous post with the 'recipe' as I have heard some very good things about it. Hope to have a separate album in a year (or less) showing good progress;)

[Mesmerise]

Hair only grows so fast, so it would take quite a while to get a real measurement of how successful a hair treatment is, especially if you are using ponytail circumference as a baseline. All those new hairs would need to be able to reach the point at which the ponytail is tied. It took me a whole year before I could get all my hair in a high ponytail when I grew it out from a buzz cut.

Yes, this is true. My "high ponytail" circ is .25" thicker than my "low pony" circ, and it's because my regrowth just isn't long enough to get all down to chin length yet! Even the high pony doesn't fit in all my hair.

Obviously, any thing you do to thicken your hair will take quite awhile to show up in hair circumference. I am recovering from a shed a year ago, and that regrown hair is not nearly long enough yet! It will take another solid year, I think, before it will all be in a low ponytail (if not slightly longer).

As for that mixture that uses rose water and oils... how do you get the oils to all mix in with the water?? I am thinking you'd need to give it a good shake, but even then it may clog up the spray bottle?! I'd like to hear from someone who's actually tried this!

I, for one, would prefer to mix my oils into a runnier solution than using Castor oil alone (or mixed with lavender oil and some sweet almond oil, which is what I do) because it's thick... and hard to wash out!

[Anje]

Hanging out on LHC alone seems to increase a lot of ponytail circumference, sometimes significantly. (Usually not multiple inches, though.... That would be a huge increase in total numbers of hairs, especially for a i or ii.)

Unfortunately, it hasn't worked for me. My thickness pretty much stays the same, but it's moving down my braid at least! Henna does plump hair up for a time, if you want red.

[islandboo]

As for that mixture that uses rose water and oils... how do you get the oils to all mix in with the water?? I am thinking you'd need to give it a good shake, but even then it may clog up the spray bottle?! I'd like to hear from someone who's actually tried this!



I use Pandora's recipe and as you surmised, I just give it a good shake before spraying. I have had no issues with any clogging.

[alyanna]

In addition to the above, I've seen many people say that castor oil has given them a good amount of new growth as well. I'm going to try this (http://pandoraslocks.blogspot.com/2011/01/pandoras-soothing-scalp-and-growth.html) recipe as soon as I can get to Walmart and get a squirt bottle. If nothing else, I'll sure smell purty! :D

Hey! I just got some castor oil myself. I mixed 1 part castor oil with 2 parts olive oil and applied to scalp. I did not enjoy it! It was really hard to wash out even with nearly half a bottle of suave conditioner. I think scalp oiling might be too heavy for my fine hair :( It's too bad because I was really looking forward to trying castor oil.





I, for one, would prefer to mix my oils into a runnier solution than using Castor oil alone (or mixed with lavender oil and some sweet almond oil, which is what I do) because it's thick... and hard to wash out!

I'd like to try this too, but I'm wondering if that would get enough castor oil on the scalp to make a difference. I hear if you use a diluted solution then you have to apply every night.



Hair only grows so fast, so it would take quite a while to get a real measurement of how successful a hair treatment is, especially if you are using ponytail circumference as a baseline. All those new hairs would need to be able to reach the point at which the ponytail is tied. It took me a whole year before I could get all my hair in a high ponytail when I grew it out from a buzz cut.

Very true! I've gained about .25 to .5 an inch since being here but that's just layers growing longer :D I imagine itt would be really hard to judge if a "treatment" is working long term.

[RitaCeleste]

Yes, for my hair, light protein tratments every week works great. Other days I moisture very well and I don't use shampoo, just CO.
I never tried protein in my hair before LHC. It is very difficult to find CO or protucts with protein around here.
Now I am ordering online Aphogee 2 minutes keratin recontructor and I am impressed with the results.:cheese:

About adding inches to my ponytail: I can't say I have increased some "inches", but 1 cm (half inch?) for sure.

I'm going to start this on my daughters hair. I've not been doing hers every week but she has had a few treatments and her hair looks thicker and stronger afterwards.
My sister is also looking to thicken up her hair. She went on an insane diet and lost some hair, its never come back. Shes trying ACV rinses on her scalp to see if its her scalp.

[Macaroni]

In addition to the above, I've seen many people say that castor oil has given them a good amount of new growth as well. I'm going to try this (http://pandoraslocks.blogspot.com/2011/01/pandoras-soothing-scalp-and-growth.html) recipe as soon as I can get to Walmart and get a squirt bottle. If nothing else, I'll sure smell purty! :D

Sounds lovely, thank you :)

[santie]

Ever since I began taking multivitamins and fish oil capsules back in January, I've definitely noticed a ton of new hair growth! I have a halo of new hairs (which is actually quite annoying) and feel that my hair has gotten thicker. So if you're not currently taking a multivitamin, I definitely recommend that you try it.

[Arianoor]

Like the poster above, I have seen results from a multivitamin. However, normal ones make me sick, so I use the pre-natal ones. Which I think works better for me because they have higher amounts of iron and calcium, which I tend to be deficient in.

[Macaroni]

In addition to the above, I've seen many people say that castor oil has given them a good amount of new growth as well. I'm going to try this (http://pandoraslocks.blogspot.com/2011/01/pandoras-soothing-scalp-and-growth.html) recipe as soon as I can get to Walmart and get a squirt bottle. If nothing else, I'll sure smell purty! :D

I bought everything this morning at Whole Foods. The rose water was in the International Foods aisle.

[Tea Lady]

I've used the Pandora spray several times now. I like it. It smells nice and feels nice on my scalp. The only problem I have run into is that I don't think I shook it enough initially. You know how oil and water separate, and the oil rises to the top? So it happens with this of course, and the shaking should emulsify it. But I don't think I shook it enough before and, most importantly, during the application. So the first two times I used it, it was more watery, because the end of the spray pump mechanism (where the solution gets drawn up into the sprayer) was sitting in its usual place at the bottle of the bottle. So the water that wasn't well mixed with the oil got drawn up into the sprayer first. So the second two times I used it, it was very oily. My hair did not object, but I do want to have an even application of ingredients so I will be more attentive to the shaking of the solution next batch.

I plan to keep this spray in my repertoire for a night-before-washing overnight hair treatment.

Tea Lady

[Madora]

Does anyone know if I could do both the Pandora's formula and an EVOO treatment on my hair the night before I shampoo?

I have 2 small bare spots near my crown (souvenirs of my anemia scare several years ago) plus the hair on my right side is not as thick as it once was.

It would be wonderful if I could regain some of what I lost!

Thanks!

[ArienEllariel]

The only thing that has made a difference so far is not using one of those brushes with the nubby things on the end. I added somewhere between 1/3-1/2" to my ponytail circumferance because I changed to a brush that didn't break off and rip out as much hair. Other than that... nothing else has really thickened my ponytail up. Of course, I haven't really tried castor oil out for any significant length of time or the monostat stuff either.

[boudica]

Have had great success with Mane and Tail on my fine hair. Since I've started using it after shower - putting a diluted amount on my fingertips and massaging it into my scalp - I've grown quite the halo. And my baby hairs are now long enough to call bangs (fringe) - for me this is a huge bonus, as my forehead is really high.

Another added benefit, if you need it, is if you have it on your roots it'll provide a little lift when it dries.