Which remedies for hair loss are there?

Which remedies for hair loss are there?

Hair loss is something that almost all men will experience throughout their lifetime. By the age of 50, around half of all men will have been affected by the most common type of hair loss: male pattern baldness, or androgenic alopecia. This can start as early as your teens or early twenties. 

Most hair loss, like male pattern hair loss, is hereditary. However, there are a range of different hair loss treatments that you can buy to help promote healthy hair growth and regrowth.

These include: 

Medications: like Procepia and Finasteride and Minoxidil
Natural methods: the right vitamins, minerals and nutrients for your hair to grow
Shampoos: like Nioxin or Alpecin. 

Last reviewed: 16-04-2020 by Dr Simran Deo

Mythbusting Hair Loss Remedies

Back in the 17th century, men were told that coating their balding heads with chicken faeces would help them regain a full head of long glossy locks. While we might have moved on somewhat since then, we still don’t fully understand the science behind hair loss and hair regrowth and, unfortunately, there are still some very common myths about hair remedies that we are far too quick to believe. 

Here are some of the most common (and false!) beliefs about hair loss remedies: 

1.Standing on your head will make your hair grow: apart from making you feel incredibly dizzy (and maybe a little silly), standing on your head won’t do anything to help your hair grow back or stop it from falling out especially if the hair loss is related to underlying medical causes or genetics. 

2. Cutting or shaving your hair short will help reduce hair loss: this is something men who start to lose their hair can be quick to do but, unfortunately, it has no effect. It is the health of your hair follicles that will determine whether or not you lose it, and cutting it shorter won’t influence these follicles at all. 

3. Natural supplements can help battle hair loss: people have tried any number of natural ways to help remedy hair loss, ranging from stinging nettles to palmetto, but so far there have been no clinical trials to prove that these have ever helped prevent or stop hair loss. 

4. Regularly brushing or massaging your scalp with help reduce hair loss: just like standing on your head, aiding blood circulation by massaging your scalp is unlikely to boost hair loss and being too rough with weak or brittle hair can actually lead to hair breakage.