Hair Loss/Regrowth Made Simple

  1. If you are given to any hair loss, the sooner you begin treating more hair you will retain.

  2. If you are the kind of person that is losing a whole lot of his hair before the age of 25, good luck, there is probably not a whole lot you can do other than get used to it and be happy with yourself. Nonetheless, if you want to try to do something about it, look at some of the suggestions below.

  3. Real hair regrowth of the kind most of us are hoping for is currently impossible – or at least not possible with widely available techniques or drugs or supplements. If you look at all the pictures who claim hair regrowth, the results can be good, but they are never stupendous. This is because beyond about 2 years after a hair has fallen out of a follice (maybe less), the follicle stops being capable of regrowing hair. People who get regrowth are getting growth back from hair follicles of hair they lost fairly recently.

  4. Stopping hair loss is the key. Looking for dramatic hair regrowth is futile. And by stopping hair loss, this doesn’t mean there won’t continue to be hair growth/loss/regrowth cycles; some hair will always be lost and then, you hope, go on to grow back in the normal cycle. By stopping hair loss, what we mean is one must keep the cycle going and not have the falling out of hair spell the end of the cycle for a follicle. When people talk about regrowing hair realistically, they are talking about keeping active a follicle that hasn’t yet entirely ceased being able to grow hair – again after about two years follicles don’t have this ability anymore typically.

  5. By far the most effective way to stop hair loss is with DHT blockers. There are natural ones and there are pharmaceutical ones. Of the pharmaceutical ones, the most effective: Dutasteride. It blocks both forms of DHT/alpha reductase, and it has generally had the best results. The thing is the results are not universal in terms of helping stop hair loss, and Dutasteride typically comes with a host of nasty side effects. There is a possibility that long-term damage is being done to users of dutasteride, especially in relationship to the brain (dut is known to cause headaches and DHT is found in the brain, though it’s function there is unclear). It is not clear what it does or doesn’t do in the brain. In terms of the prostate, dutasteride will keep a prostate gland from swelling, and this is good.

Other DHT blockers: Propecia, Betasitosterol, Saw Palmetto, Nettles, etc.

Also, you can lower free testosterone amounts by have a binder that binds to testosterone in your blood so it isn’t available to be converted to DHT.

  1. As a general rule, DHT blockers will mess with your libido, especially as you get older. It’s a tradeoff. The tradeoff can sometimes be managed so that you get enough ooomph from your DHT blocking to preserve your hair, but still have ooomphf downstairs. But it can easily get to the point where it’s a one thing or other thing proposition, almost completely, meaning either you are getting helped with your hair or you’ve got your libido but not both.

  2. Other things you can ingest can help you maintain your hair, but not as effectively as DHT blockers: polyphenols and other things that stop inflammation. If you take things like fish oil, grape seed extract, blueberry extract, pine bark extract, green tea, you can reduce inflammation, and this will help your hair. If you eat less sugar and carbs in general, same thing.

  3. Exercise and taking things that enhance your blood flow can help around the edges. Losing weight is very good.

  4. I use Dutasteride topically to manage the tradeoff between its effectiveness for stopping hair loss and the loss of my libido. I recommend this for people, but there are people who have fine luck taking dutasteride orally.

  5. So far there is nothing that will dramatically regrow hair, though within the bounds of what I said, people will have varying results.

  6. If you notice you are losing hair, the best time to start dealing with it is today. That way you’ll lose less, if the things mentioned above can be useful for you.

DON’T EXPECT MIRACLES. BUT START TODAY TRYING TO STEM LOSS.

Good Post

» 1) If you are given to any hair loss, the sooner you begin treating more
» hair you will retain.
»
» 2) If you are the kind of person that is losing a whole lot of his hair
» before the age of 25, good luck, there is probably not a whole lot you can
» do other than get used to it and be happy with yourself. Nonetheless, if
» you want to try to do something about it, look at some of the suggestions
» below.
»
» 3) Real hair regrowth of the kind most of us are hoping for is currently
» impossible – or at least not possible with widely available techniques or
» drugs or supplements. If you look at all the pictures who claim hair
» regrowth, the results can be good, but they are never stupendous. This is
» because beyond about 2 years after a hair has fallen out of a follice
» (maybe less), the follicle stops being capable of regrowing hair. People
» who get regrowth are getting growth back from hair follicles of hair they
» lost fairly recently.
»
» 4) Stopping hair loss is the key. Looking for dramatic hair regrowth is
» futile. And by stopping hair loss, this doesn’t mean there won’t continue
» to be hair growth/loss/regrowth cycles; some hair will always be lost and
» then, you hope, go on to grow back in the normal cycle. By stopping hair
» loss, what we mean is one must keep the cycle going and not have the
» falling out of hair spell the end of the cycle for a follicle. When people
» talk about regrowing hair realistically, they are talking about keeping
» active a follicle that hasn’t yet entirely ceased being able to grow hair
» – again after about two years follicles don’t have this ability anymore
» typically.
»
» 5) By far the most effective way to stop hair loss is with DHT blockers.
» There are natural ones and there are pharmaceutical ones. Of the
» pharmaceutical ones, the most effective: Dutasteride. It blocks both forms
» of DHT/alpha reductase, and it has generally had the best results. The
» thing is the results are not universal in terms of helping stop hair loss,
» and Dutasteride typically comes with a host of nasty side effects. There
» is a possibility that long-term damage is being done to users of
» dutasteride, especially in relationship to the brain (dut is known to cause
» headaches and DHT is found in the brain, though it’s function there is
» unclear). It is not clear what it does or doesn’t do in the brain. In
» terms of the prostate, dutasteride will keep a prostate gland from
» swelling, and this is good.
»
» Other DHT blockers: Propecia, Betasitosterol, Saw Palmetto, Nettles,
» etc.
»
» Also, you can lower free testosterone amounts by have a binder that binds
» to testosterone in your blood so it isn’t available to be converted to
» DHT.
»
» 6) As a general rule, DHT blockers will mess with your libido, especially
» as you get older. It’s a tradeoff. The tradeoff can sometimes be managed
» so that you get enough ooomph from your DHT blocking to preserve your hair,
» but still have ooomphf downstairs. But it can easily get to the point
» where it’s a one thing or other thing proposition, almost completely,
» meaning either you are getting helped with your hair or you’ve got your
» libido but not both.
»
» 7) Other things you can ingest can help you maintain your hair, but not as
» effectively as DHT blockers: polyphenols and other things that stop
» inflammation. If you take things like fish oil, grape seed extract,
» blueberry extract, pine bark extract, green tea, you can reduce
» inflammation, and this will help your hair. If you eat less sugar and
» carbs in general, same thing.
»
» 8) Exercise and taking things that enhance your blood flow can help around
» the edges. Losing weight is very good.
»
» 9) I use Dutasteride topically to manage the tradeoff between its
» effectiveness for stopping hair loss and the loss of my libido. I
» recommend this for people, but there are people who have fine luck taking
» dutasteride orally.
»
» 10) So far there is nothing that will dramatically regrow hair, though
» within the bounds of what I said, people will have varying results.
»
» 11) If you notice you are losing hair, the best time to start dealing with
» it is today. That way you’ll lose less, if the things mentioned above can
» be useful for you.
»
» DON’T EXPECT MIRACLES. BUT START TODAY TRYING TO STEM LOSS.

Thanks for the post!

How is it going for you with the DUT topically? Any side effects from it? Do I need a prescription to get dut? where do you get it from? hopefully I won’t need a prescription as I’m unemployed and of course not medical insurance right now…Thanks!

» Thanks for the post!
»
» How is it going for you with the DUT topically? Any side effects from it?
» Do I need a prescription to get dut? where do you get it from? hopefully I
» won’t need a prescription as I’m unemployed and of course not medical
» insurance right now…Thanks!

I get my DUT from inhousepharmacy.com. Don’t need a prescription. I get generic dutas by I think it’s Dr. Reddy’s. It’s been fine. I use the standard formula – a bit of aloe vera gel mixed with the contents on one capsule and applied for more or less 3 minutes on a wet head. I wet my hair to mat it down and allow the mixture to touch the scalp. If you have no or little hair, you might not need to wet (but if you have no hair, I don’t think this will help).

This minimizes the side effects – such as libido loss – but doesn’t get rid of them. I know it’s working for my scalp because my scalp gets really itchy when my hair begins to do a DHT shed. The DUT stops the itching and the shedding for the most part.

Good luck. I also use some of the other things I mentioned, but the key is the DHT blocker.

you mentioned important things in this post.
i wanted to ask sth that caught my attention.

i got lots of shedding when my scalp itches ( by the way , i suffer from sebhorric dermatitis) so usually my scalp is itchy.
i told the dermatologist and he said that’s nonesense. although i’m sure that the itching affects the shedding a lot, especially that u notice that the itchiness happens always on the parts within the edges of the norwood digram, meaning u dont usually itch on the sides.

i started taking rogaine foam , and was ok and then after 2 months now the scalp gets really itchy and fall out is way more. u suggested grape seed extract, does this help ? where do i get these things and how r they applied?

appreciate ur response

» you mentioned important things in this post.
» i wanted to ask sth that caught my attention.
»
» i got lots of shedding when my scalp itches ( by the way , i suffer from
» sebhorric dermatitis) so usually my scalp is itchy.
» i told the dermatologist and he said that’s nonesense. although i’m sure
» that the itching affects the shedding a lot, especially that u notice that
» the itchiness happens always on the parts within the edges of the norwood
» digram, meaning u dont usually itch on the sides.
»
» i started taking rogaine foam , and was ok and then after 2 months now the
» scalp gets really itchy and fall out is way more. u suggested grape seed
» extract, does this help ? where do i get these things and how r they
» applied?
»
» appreciate ur response

Thank you, Quarterhead, for your question.

I am going to try to describe something and to guess at what is going on. I can only discuss my experience because that is all I know.

My scalp would itch where I was losing hair. Anti-DHT medication takes it away – Nizoral cream would work very locally and for a short period of time and DUT taken orally or applied topically completely rid my scalp of this itch completely.

This itch was driving me crazy, and the only thing I can describe is that it felt like the itch on a scab over a wound that was healing. When I took DUT orally, my scalp no longer itched much to my great relief, but it did feel tight. Look at the DUT thread here. Others have described this feeling. I very much preferred the tight feeling to the itchy feeling.

When I started to add in Monoxidil later, I would get a flaky and itchy scalp as well, but the itchiness was much different. I liken the magnitude of difference to that of the poison oak versus dandruff. Well, poison oak itchiness is much worse than my scalp itch ever was, but the Minoxidil itch was much weaker is my point, and much more superficial.

I don’t know about the nature of your itch. As regards grape seed extract, Costco sells a good brand and I take it orally. It has polyphenols and antioxidants that reduce micro-inflammation. Inflammation is one of the key reasons why aging occurs or maybe I should say is a key mechanism of aging.

I don’t think you’ll feel good results from the grape seed extract, but I am convinced it is doing good and around the edges anti-inflammatories should work to slow hair loss as well as long as you are otherwise eating a healthy diet. How do I know grape seed extract was doing something for me? Because the science is there, and furthermore, I had multiple sclerosis symptoms after my sister developed the disease, but my symptoms subsided after I started taking grape seed extract and a few other potent antioxidants.

I hope this helps. I am not sure I’d have any better answer to offer than this.

Good luck.

» you mentioned important things in this post.
» i wanted to ask sth that caught my attention.
»
» i got lots of shedding when my scalp itches ( by the way , i suffer from
» sebhorric dermatitis) so usually my scalp is itchy.
» i told the dermatologist and he said that’s nonesense. although i’m sure
» that the itching affects the shedding a lot, especially that u notice that
» the itchiness happens always on the parts within the edges of the norwood
» digram, meaning u dont usually itch on the sides.
»
» i started taking rogaine foam , and was ok and then after 2 months now the
» scalp gets really itchy and fall out is way more. u suggested grape seed
» extract, does this help ? where do i get these things and how r they
» applied?
»
» appreciate ur response

I looked on the internet for “itchiness and hair loss” and I came across a lot of entries by people who had been told by dermatologists that they were crazy for saying itchiness and hair loss went together. Other sites were dermatologists saying the same thing.

But there were several sites that acknowledged a correlation. After I stopped using DUT for awhile because the side effects I experienced(especially headaches and forgetfulness and depression) were getting to me, it took a long time but the itchiness started to come back.

My theory is that there are portions of the scalp that are sort of like the prostate in the sense that DHT will cause them to swell or otherwise go awry. I believe that that’s what causes the itchiness, and it also causes the hair to fall out. Once I started applying DUT topically, the itching stopped again, and my scalp felt tight again as well.

Again, good luck.

Thank you chief
i really appreciate it. i would go for the grape extract plus try others.
see what works for me
cheers

While I agree with the general sentiment of your post, there are a few things I would like to comment on:

» 6) As a general rule, DHT blockers will mess with your libido, especially
» as you get older.

I think that is a not an accurate statement for the currently available DHT blockers (I assume you primarily mean 5a reductase inhibitors). Finasteride, which is the most common drug of that type, has sexual side effects in about 2% of its users at typical doses. Even if you think that it is all a conspiracy and that the numbers are actually, say 10 times that, it would STILL not be accurate to say that it generally messes with your libido. There is a risk of side effects, but it is small.

» 9) I use Dutasteride topically to manage the tradeoff between its
» effectiveness for stopping hair loss and the loss of my libido. I
» recommend this for people, but there are people who have fine luck taking
» dutasteride orally.

Why do you assume that topical Dutasteride has anything but a systematic effect? I haven’t seen any studies to support that notion. In other words, you might as well swallow it, which is more convenient, (at least) as effective and has exactly the same amount of side effects. Did I miss a study or something?

Other than that, thanks for a good post! :slight_smile:

» While I agree with the general sentiment of your post, there are a few
» things I would like to comment on:
»
» » 6) As a general rule, DHT blockers will mess with your libido,
» especially
» » as you get older.
»
» I think that is a not an accurate statement for the currently available
» DHT blockers (I assume you primarily mean 5a reductase inhibitors).
» Finasteride, which is the most common drug of that type, has sexual side
» effects in about 2% of its users at typical doses. Even if you think that
» it is all a conspiracy and that the numbers are actually, say 10 times
» that, it would STILL not be accurate to say that it generally messes
» with your libido. There is a risk of side effects, but it is small.

This is not true in my experience. First of all, people don’t define libido and sexual side effects. I can usually perform just fine on or off. Another issue is desire. My desire is definitely curbed by the use of DHT blockers.

I don’t like how this issue is specified in studies because ability to perform and desire to perform are two different things.

Look, I am talking about myself. I have no idea if the number is really 2%, 20% or 80%. I don’t feel the need to get this exactly right. If people find I am wrong and that they have no sexual side effects they can ignore what I say and take as many DHT blockers as they want to and bully for them.

I am in my mid-40s. I first tried finasteride I don’t know about 10 years ago. I have always had a fairly lively sex drive and ability to perform and it still messed with my abilities. I am suspicious that the numbers are wrong, but I haven’t run any studies. Do I completely trust the studies? No. But the key point is everyone should chart their own course in this respect.

»
»
» » 9) I use Dutasteride topically to manage the tradeoff between its
» » effectiveness for stopping hair loss and the loss of my libido. I
» » recommend this for people, but there are people who have fine luck
» taking
» » dutasteride orally.
»
» Why do you assume that topical Dutasteride has anything but a
» systematic effect? I haven’t seen any studies to support that
» notion. In other words, you might as well swallow it, which is more
» convenient, (at least) as effective and has exactly the same amount of side
» effects. Did I miss a study or something?
»

I’ve used studies and posts here as a starting point. Of course, I am not silly enough to think that dutasteride has no systematic effects. It gets absorbed through skin after all; that’s why I put it on my head. From there some of it undoubtedly circulates in the bloodstream.

Having said that, both oral dut and topical dut do something very clearcut for me. They stop the itching on my scalp that correlates in my case with the location of hair loss. It also causes a special sensation that makes my heart race ever so slightly; it’s a hard sensation to describe totally.

When I take it orally, the itching disappeared, my scalp became “tight” feeling and my hair loss ceased/slowed. When I take oral dut, I get this effect but I also experience depression, forgetfulness, headaches, and totally dead libido. When I take it topically, the itching goes away and I feel the same tight scalp as well as the heart racing sensation. However, all the other side effects are non-existent. I leave my topically applied dut on my head for 3-5 minutes daily.

Dut does something at the follicle or on the head to reduce the itching that I feel. The itching is acute, but after topical dut it’s non-existent.

For me, there is a tradeoff here. I am probably getting less serum DHT reduction that if I took it orally, but it is obviously doing something to alleviate my itchiness and seemingly my hair loss.

Ultimately, depending on studies is only a starting point for me. What is most important is my own experience. I wrote it up here because I thought it might help people. I really don’t care if you think that I am wrong; it may be that I am wrong for you. Maybe you don’t have any dut-related side effects like I do. That’s good for you. If you found some of my post helpful, that’s good enough.

The main point of my post overall is that people can expect some benefit if they go with the right stuff, but they shouldn’t expect no problems and they should expect miracles.

I have spent enough time on these boards and with my own hairloss treatment experiences to know that there is only so much that is worth doing, and that people can only expect so much. Spending hours wondering what various new treatments may/may not do to reduce hair loss minimally ultimately is a waste of time. Go with a few proven methods, adjust them to what fits you personally, and move on. Don’t obsess.

Just my opinion.

» Other than that, thanks for a good post! :slight_smile:

goingallout do u use dut topically evert day? and what do u think about natural dhtblockers(sp, beta sistorel…)

» goingallout do u use dut topically evert day? and what do u think about
» natural dhtblockers(sp, beta sistorel…)

I was using dut topically every day. Now I am starting in with one oral dose a week and then topical usage as well. Because hair loss is slow and incremental, it’s hard to guage any treatments effectiveness on anything less than a 6-12 month timeframe at the best. (This is what makes this site so valuable because we get a chance to see what’s happened to others.)

What I generally use to guage effectiveness on a daily or weekly basis is the itchiness of my scalp. When I am not using dht blockers – or more specifically dut – my scalp has a deep-seated itchiness that correlates with where my hair loss is the greatest. Dut completely eradicated the itchiness when I took it orally for a longer period of time. When I take it topically, it eliminates the itchiness, but for a shorter period of time. I am trying to shoot for the best combination or oral and topical right now.

When I took beta sitosterol, it definitely had effects on my desire. It also made my scalp itch in a different way from the itch that dut took away. I got a lesser effect from saw palmetto. It was hard to tell if I was getting much effect, though number of hairs found in the sink, on pillow, etc. may have decreased.

In conjunction with minoxidil, dut seemed to give me hair growth. The result was I seemed to maintain hair at the level it was at when I started taking it.

Your results may vary.

If I were reading this post, I would be skeptical that dut’s effectiveness with my scalp itchiness is a good indicator of its effectiveness for hair loss. To a certain degree this is supposition on my part, but again, it is where my hair loss is greatest that I have the most itchiness. Also, I could see a greater instance of hair growth in certain areas. It’s possible that I am going to all the hassle with a dut and the only effect I am really getting is relief from scalp itch. But my hair seems to maintain its somewhat decent coverage when I take dut and, conversely, to continue its inexorable loss when I don’t.

Good luck!

» 1) If you are given to any hair loss, the sooner you begin treating more
» hair you will retain.
»
» 2) If you are the kind of person that is losing a whole lot of his hair
» before the age of 25, good luck, there is probably not a whole lot you can
» do other than get used to it and be happy with yourself. Nonetheless, if
» you want to try to do something about it, look at some of the suggestions
» below.
»
» 3) Real hair regrowth of the kind most of us are hoping for is currently
» impossible – or at least not possible with widely available techniques or
» drugs or supplements. If you look at all the pictures who claim hair
» regrowth, the results can be good, but they are never stupendous. This is
» because beyond about 2 years after a hair has fallen out of a follice
» (maybe less), the follicle stops being capable of regrowing hair. People
» who get regrowth are getting growth back from hair follicles of hair they
» lost fairly recently.
»
» 4) Stopping hair loss is the key. Looking for dramatic hair regrowth is
» futile. And by stopping hair loss, this doesn’t mean there won’t continue
» to be hair growth/loss/regrowth cycles; some hair will always be lost and
» then, you hope, go on to grow back in the normal cycle. By stopping hair
» loss, what we mean is one must keep the cycle going and not have the
» falling out of hair spell the end of the cycle for a follicle. When people
» talk about regrowing hair realistically, they are talking about keeping
» active a follicle that hasn’t yet entirely ceased being able to grow hair
» – again after about two years follicles don’t have this ability anymore
» typically.
»
» 5) By far the most effective way to stop hair loss is with DHT blockers.
» There are natural ones and there are pharmaceutical ones. Of the
» pharmaceutical ones, the most effective: Dutasteride. It blocks both forms
» of DHT/alpha reductase, and it has generally had the best results. The
» thing is the results are not universal in terms of helping stop hair loss,
» and Dutasteride typically comes with a host of nasty side effects. There
» is a possibility that long-term damage is being done to users of
» dutasteride, especially in relationship to the brain (dut is known to cause
» headaches and DHT is found in the brain, though it’s function there is
» unclear). It is not clear what it does or doesn’t do in the brain. In
» terms of the prostate, dutasteride will keep a prostate gland from
» swelling, and this is good.
»
» Other DHT blockers: Propecia, Betasitosterol, Saw Palmetto, Nettles,
» etc.
»
» Also, you can lower free testosterone amounts by have a binder that binds
» to testosterone in your blood so it isn’t available to be converted to
» DHT.
»
» 6) As a general rule, DHT blockers will mess with your libido, especially
» as you get older. It’s a tradeoff. The tradeoff can sometimes be managed
» so that you get enough ooomph from your DHT blocking to preserve your hair,
» but still have ooomphf downstairs. But it can easily get to the point
» where it’s a one thing or other thing proposition, almost completely,
» meaning either you are getting helped with your hair or you’ve got your
» libido but not both.
»
» 7) Other things you can ingest can help you maintain your hair, but not as
» effectively as DHT blockers: polyphenols and other things that stop
» inflammation. If you take things like fish oil, grape seed extract,
» blueberry extract, pine bark extract, green tea, you can reduce
» inflammation, and this will help your hair. If you eat less sugar and
» carbs in general, same thing.
»
» 8) Exercise and taking things that enhance your blood flow can help around
» the edges. Losing weight is very good.
»
» 9) I use Dutasteride topically to manage the tradeoff between its
» effectiveness for stopping hair loss and the loss of my libido. I
» recommend this for people, but there are people who have fine luck taking
» dutasteride orally.
»
» 10) So far there is nothing that will dramatically regrow hair, though
» within the bounds of what I said, people will have varying results.
»
» 11) If you notice you are losing hair, the best time to start dealing with
» it is today. That way you’ll lose less, if the things mentioned above can
» be useful for you.
»
» DON’T EXPECT MIRACLES. BUT START TODAY TRYING TO STEM LOSS.

The aim should be to slow hairloss, then control it and then thicken existing hair:

  1. Saw Palmetto, Pygeum & Nettles
  2. Piroctone Olamine shampoo
  3. Low carb,low saturated fats, low duretics

Regards
Pete