Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Retirement
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 04-22-2019, 02:00 PM
 
13,262 posts, read 7,958,007 times
Reputation: 30752

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu View Post
I lose a handful of hair every day. During serious illnesses it is evenworse. But strangely I'm not getting bald. I had beautiful and full hair up until I was in my 40s. Menopause and the loss of estrogen are why most women start to lose their hair. Doc said try biotin. All it did for me was give me nails of steel! No change to hair. Now 72 I wonder when I start looking like my grandmother did when she died. White hair makes thin hair look thinner. I'm still salt and pepper.

White hair IS thinner. Each white strand is thinner than a strand that still has pigment.


Also, it's been my experience that dyed hair actually looks thicker than natural. The dying process actually roughs up the hair shaft, which gives more volume to the hair strand.


I'm not implying one is better than the other. I dyed my hair for years, and LAST April, decided to go natural. I'm experiencing the thinner hair shaft, but liking the white color. lol
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 04-22-2019, 02:13 PM
 
8,238 posts, read 6,546,727 times
Reputation: 23135
Bumble and Bumble Thickening Volume Shampoo really works - doesn't grow hair, but adds a lot of volume https://shop.nordstrom.com/s/bumble-...lts&color=none

Viviscal tablets are effective. (Walmart.com has the best price at $33.60 for 60 tabs). Viviscal.com

Kerotin (brand name) capsules seem helpful too. (Amazon.com)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-22-2019, 02:28 PM
 
2,759 posts, read 2,027,016 times
Reputation: 5005
Quote:
Originally Posted by BBCjunkie View Post
I began noticing thinning (wider parts) on top about six months ago (I'm in my late 70s) which means it's been probably happening gradually and I didn't notice it.

Yikes, major typo gone unnoticed till now: I meant to type "late 60s" not late 70s!!!

Oooopsy.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-22-2019, 03:16 PM
 
Location: Redwood City, CA
15,243 posts, read 12,853,520 times
Reputation: 54018
Quote:
Originally Posted by matisse12 View Post
Viviscal tablets are effective. (Walmart.com has the best price at $33.60 for 60 tabs). Viviscal.com

I read a double-blind study on Viviscal. It reported that study participants who got the medication instead of the placebo showed new growth.


Unfortunately, the study was funded by the company that makes Viviscal. So...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-22-2019, 03:44 PM
 
Location: Eastern Washington
17,138 posts, read 56,828,659 times
Reputation: 18420
Quote:
Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat View Post
I read a double-blind study on Viviscal. It reported that study participants who got the medication instead of the placebo showed new growth.


Unfortunately, the study was funded by the company that makes Viviscal. So...

A true double blind study will be valid regardless of who funds it. The "double" in the expression refers to the fact that neither the patients, nor the doctors treating them and evaluating results, know who is on placebo and who is on active drugs. You can't fudge data you don't have.



Let me repeat again, the one thing that has been shown to work and approved by FDA is minoxidil (Rogaine is the most famous name brand version of this drug). The mechanism it works by is poorly understood, but the testing data is in, and has been for decades - somehow, it works.



A simple, effective, cheap remedy to female hair loss is right there on the grocery store or drug store shelf.



There is some "anecdotal evidence" that Nizoral anti-dandruff shampoo, used a few times per week, not daily, can help with hair loss driven by dihydrotestosterone. I'm not an endocrinologist, but I think DHT is the problem in women losing hair as well as men. There are certain vitamins that are intended to support hair health, but no one has done any real studies of effectiveness or lack of it for the vitamins. There are all sorts of "nostrums" out there, as there have been for centuries, back before minoxidil and finasteride were put on the market as medically sound treatments. There are all sorts of "male enhancement" pills out there too. These things stay on the market because people really want to have such a drug, even though the non-approved "treatments" are careful to never say that they will fix your problem, they operate in the grey area of the law.



Men, BTW, can also benefit from finasteride (most famous name brand is Propecia). Finasteride works by inactivating 5-alpha reductase, which is the enzyme that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone.


Most of my Mom's several brothers had pretty severe balding by my age (61). Of course the heredity of MPB is more complicated than just looking at your maternal grandfather, but I think this is the single best data point, if you are going to take just one data point (and he was bald, at least later in life). I have been on minoxidil since it came out as prescription in the late 80's, and on Propecia brand, and now a much cheaper generic finasteride, since that came out. I still have a good head of hair. While my own situation is not proper data, my dermatologist has told me he thinks the treatment program I am using is working (but he makes money if I stay on it, so maybe I shouldn't believe him?)



Anyway, if the above does not convince you that I have researched this topic thoroughly, and know what the score is regarding DHT driven balding, I'm not sure what you want to see.



As I have posted up on other threads, I (and maybe even most men) like to see a good head of hair on a woman. Balding is much worse than a "man cut".



Final remark - stress, bad diet, etc. can cause temporary "shedding" type hair loss, and if this is what's going on in your life, you need to fix the "root cause" rather than try to medicate your way out of it. Also low thyroid can cause hair loss, so check for that, because the hair loss is perhaps the least obnoxious issue with low thyroid.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-22-2019, 03:46 PM
 
Location: planet earth
8,620 posts, read 5,605,169 times
Reputation: 19639
Use a good therapeutic rosemary essential oil on your scalp and organic rosemary shampoo.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-22-2019, 06:45 PM
 
29,453 posts, read 22,406,540 times
Reputation: 48131
My mum is in approaching her late 80's and the hair on top of her hair is very thin, looks like a guy that is balding badly.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-22-2019, 08:14 PM
 
11,582 posts, read 12,603,728 times
Reputation: 15698
Quote:
Originally Posted by BBCjunkie View Post
I began noticing thinning (wider parts) on top about six months ago (I'm in my late 70s) which means it's been probably happening gradually and I didn't notice it.

I have fine straight hair and so I do worry about what will happen going forward.

Can't use any products on my hair except a fragrance-free shampoo. No conditioners, mousses, sprays, etc. Never colored it. I went through chemo in 2010, my hair first grew back in spectacular Helen-Mirren-silver soft curls (I was thrilled, lol), then four months later my usual mousy-brown-with-gray straight hair came back. I never colored my hair, and my last "body perm" was back in the late 1980s probably. All my life I have had naturally straight hair but at least it was always thick.

I've been on a very restricted diet for the past 5 years, so am probably missing some nutrients etc for sure. Gut can't tolerate multivitamins though. I may try taking some pantothenic acid and/or biotin separately though. If the touchy tummy allows, of course. That's the permanent ongoing issue for anything I ingest.

I figure that if/when worse comes to worst, I still have a stack of really pretty cotton voile headscarves from my chemo days. And hats.
Have you tried any henna products? It won't regrow hair, but it thickens the hair that you do have. Cassia Obovata is the "henna' product that just conditions without adding color. You can also try alma. The best brands are found online, not in the stores. It's relatively cheap. Don't buy any brands where you have to add stuff or leave it out for a night. Just get the ones where you add water and apply. You can use it after chemo.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-22-2019, 08:50 PM
 
2,360 posts, read 1,419,143 times
Reputation: 6372
Quote:
Originally Posted by Windwalker2 View Post
How much did you take for this purpose?

Take the strongest dose of biotin that you can find. I think I’m currently taking 10,000 mcg. Brand doesn’t matter. I’ve taken it for years, starting when I had telogen effluvium from illness/surgery/work stress. It also strengthened my nails, perhaps too much.

For anyone who is losing hair by the handful, I would try generic Rogaine (I think it was Costco brand). When I had the above problem, I was really young, and no way was I going bald! I used it twice a day and it arrested the hair loss (mostly at temples), and hair grew back.

My SIL is losing his hair. He uses Nioxin shampoo & conditioner, and says it’s slowed down the loss and makes his curly-but-fine hair look & feel thicker.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-23-2019, 04:34 AM
 
10,597 posts, read 12,034,874 times
Reputation: 16748
Quote:
Let me repeat again, the one thing that has been shown to work and approved by FDA is minoxidil (Rogaine is the most famous name brand version of this drug). The mechanism it works by is poorly understood, but the testing data is in, and has been for decades - somehow, it works.
It may work for others, and other conditions, but in my case, my doctor was not confident this would work for my alopecia.

Maybe I gave up to easily, I don't know. But I saw him every five years or so asking if there was anything new. And he said, "you can't try it if you want, but....." That's not exactly a ringing endorsement.

It's only hair. I don't need to stress myself, searching for medications and chemicals to put on, or in, my system just to hang on to hair.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Retirement

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top