Grow New Hair! (The original Papilla Power??)

Yeah my hair is very short and my scalp. Is sensitive so I bought an extra soft 100% boar bristle brick from Sally's for 5 bux. Now during my daily commute (2nd per day) I incorporate brushing along with massage and also do the towel method when in the bathroom. Like I said it isn't a chore if it feels good and brushing sure does

Guys I forgot to mention something important: Start brushing/toweling as early as possible! You will get the best results if you have still some vellushair in your hairline or on your crown!

My personal experience: I lost some hair in my left temple 6 months ago but there were still some vellushair left. After 5 days of brushing those vellushair became terminal and grew back again! After only 5 days! My left temple regrew almost completely! And I know that a lot of people won't believe me but I took before-pictures and I will post after-pictures in 2 months! So you can see the big difference!

EDIT: Since I am brushing my scalp there is ZERO ITCHING anymore!

Yeah I didn't want to sound like I was jumping the gun, but I have noticed 2 separate waves of hair pop out since I started rubbing 1.5 months ago. About 2 weeks ago I felt the "beard" growing up under my current hair. It has since gotten almost 1/8" long. Now a second beard has come up about 3 days ago . I'm not sure if it's hair that shed or new hair, but it is encouraging!

I spend close to 2 hours or more a day on my scalp though so maybe that's why I'm seeing such good results. It might be the ginkgo too though... But probably the rubbing mostly.

angstman wrote:Has using topical cayenne already been brought up regarding circulation?

I first tried this approach in '94, then tried variations of it the following 15 years. Finally research came out later. It's not worth it was my final conclusion.

Internal use can cause a problem unless it's a small amount which will provide the opposite effect.

I have been giving this a go for the 3 weeks now. The towel method, brushing (recently switched to a boar bristle and notice a big difference in stimulation), scalp exercises, inversion, headstands and hand stand push ups, and occasional occlusion using a tensor. Some methods produce a more pronounced, longer lasting sensation of tingling than others but I think they all compliment each other. I am a 48 year old with diffuse thinning in vertex and hairline.

My observations:

1 I've shed a ton of hair. The sink fills when i shake the towel out after rubbing for 3-4 minutes. Similarly I pull a fair amount of hair out of the brush. ALL of it is fine, barely pigmented hair, much or it shorter than the bulk of the hair in my mpb area.

2. The remaining hair in that area seems healthier. Better texture, more body, feels stronger if I pull on it. Under a digital microscope it seems darker, particularly at the roots. This has given the appearance of having more hair despite having less. I am reminded of a comment Prague made to this effect when he really started to experience success with heparin and papain.

3. Like ferox mentioned, my scalp never itches anymore, even if I slip up on diet.

4. For the first time in 2 plus years using the microscope I have caught some terminal hair breaking through the scalp skin and growing. Only 9 hairs to this point and perhaps too early to be associated with these manual methods to increase blood flow (definitely too early to be replacing shed hair) but positive nonetheless.

I have stopped all topicals and am only using the IH top 6 in addition to the manual methods. If I grab a fist full of hair on the top of my head I don't grab much and it's clear I have lost a lot, yet it actually looks thicker. Given my observations, the results others are seeing and the fact that the theory behind this makes sense to me I am going to commit to it and see where it leads.

Interesting that my hair loss began in 2008 after years of neglect. I kept my hair short, never really massaged it throughly when washing it once/week, and never brushing it. Of course once i noticed I was losing it I sort of avoided the kind of stimulation we are trying here because I was afraid I would lose more. Wish I had started these techniques long ago.

Will keep everyone posted.

For many years, for just basic brushing, it has a bit of a massage.

Lack of oxygen (insufficient blood flow) to the scalp is a result of an internal problem. An internal problem
that for many of us will affect our health and our longevity. Having said that, over the years I have received
many anecdotal reports from people who were not necessarily fanatical about preserving hair say that
massaging their hair has made some difference.

The idea of stripping some of the hair away using a method such as a hemp towel, might be a bit difficult if there's
plenty of hair on top already, so perhaps a brush like this--something similar to what I just use for basic brushing might
help a little.

I find this brush comfortable and provides good stimulation to the scalp without stripping hair.

CS do you think that ecklonia cava might be beneficial for scalp circulation? I've red that EC encreases bloodflow and it has the bloodthinning abilities. Do you think that that EC is a good supplement for increasing the bloodflow?

ferox wrote:CS do you think that ecklonia cava might be beneficial for scalp circulation? I've red that EC encreases bloodflow and it has the bloodthinning abilities. Do you think that that EC is a good supplement for increasing the bloodflow?

In short, yes.

On the following link, there are tabs which can refer to for more information:

http://ortho-nutrition.com/ecklonia-cava-research

In general, it's a potent inhibitor of anti-plasmin. In other words, as we age, our blood becomes thicker, more viscous and oxygen transport becomes more sluggish. The vascular system in the follicle area differs from a balding person compared to a non-balding person. In autopsy studies, it was found that there is occlusion in the diploic veins that comprise the blood flow in those who have hair loss.

Fibrin are strands of collagen and having enough plasmin (a natural blood thinner) will keep it in check. Unfortunately, we tend to build up too much anti-plasmin.

ECE also improves blood flow caused by ischemia (lack of oxygen) and hyperglycemia.

I was wrong, my brush is wood bristle, not boar bristle.

http://www.amazon.com/Oval-Hair-Brush-Wood-Bristles/dp/B0007V6PFQ

Very strong sensation. It can make the scalp bleed. The first week I actually drew blood one morning. That is not a problem now. I have the routine down, and I believe my scalp has toughened up a bit. It still gets very pink daily.

I've been brushing and scalp stretching for a week now. I'm already seeing fresh dark baby hairs in a couple of places that hair wasnt growing before. I think loosening the scalp is a nice complimentary addition to the brushing method for aiding bloodflow. I'm stretching my scalp by pushing it up into lumps between both sets of finger tips, although I would simply pull my hair if it was longer.

Considering, according to scientific research, it takes at least 5-6 weeks, even up to 3-4 months for the dermal papilla just to form a new hair. This is through the process of "keratinization'", where the blood is converted into the cells that form a new strand of hair. I think it's quite remarkable that you are already seeing new hair growth, after only 1 week of brushing. I suspect that what you are seeing are not new hairs at all, but hairs that were already there, and perhaps just not so visible in the first place.

Wishful thinking perhaps? Maybe you should give it a few months, just to be sure.

http://www.follicle.com/hair-structure-life-cycle.html

hellwig wrote:I've been brushing and scalp stretching for a week now. I'm already seeing fresh dark baby hairs in a couple of places that hair wasnt growing before. I think loosening the scalp is a nice complimentary addition to the brushing method for aiding bloodflow. I'm stretching my scalp by pushing it up into lumps between both sets of finger tips, although I would simply pull my hair if it was longer.

What do you guys make of the fact that vasodilation alone is not enough to produce hair growth? For example, the effects of minoxidil have been compared with those of other vasodilators, and the latter didn't produce any results. This shows that rogaine's mechanism of action is something other than increasing cutaneous blood flow.

imprisoned-radical wrote:What do you guys make of the fact that vasodilation alone is not enough to produce hair growth?

According to my scalp either that fact is inaccurate, or the techniques in this thread are doing more than vasodilation. I do not care - or more accurately I do not trust - most scientific research on hairloss. Much in the same way I do not trust scientific research on antidepressants or cures for cancer.

Scientific research that results in the loss of billions of dollars in revenue for the hairloss industry? I have a hard time seeing funding sources for that research.

The Margo method in this thread was advertised in the back of World Weekly News - a joke magazine. The method costs nothing to do. It's free. And apparently it works...I have new hair growth, so do others here. Most "Scientific research" on this topic can go take a hike

Maybe these methods are producing results because they are causing small-scale injury to the scalp.

Here's a study showing that damage to the skin stimulates the progenitor cells in hair follicles.

When the skin is damaged, a variety of cell types must migrate, proliferate, and differentiate to reform a functional barrier to the external environment. Recent studies have shown that progenitor cells residing in hair follicles (HFs) are able to contribute to this re-epithelialization of wounds in vivo. However, the influence of the hair cycle on wound healing has not previously been addressed. Here, we have exploited spontaneous postnatal hair-cycle synchronicity in mice to systematically examine the influence of the different hair-cycle stages on murine skin wound healing. We report significant acceleration of healing during the anagen phase of HF cycling in vivo, associated with alterations in epithelial, endothelial, and inflammatory cell types. Intriguingly, gene profiling data reveal a clear correlation between the transcription of genes beneficial for wound healing and those upregulated during the anagen phase of the hair cycle in unwounded skin. These findings, which demonstrate a previously unappreciated association between HF cycling and wound healing, reveal numerous molecular correlates for further investigation.

JID JOURNAL CLUB ARTICLE: For questions, answers, and open discussion about this article, please go to http://www.nature.com/jid/journalclub

Another interesting link:
http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/news_releases/dec05/stmclwnd.htm

Previous work by the Penn research team had outlined the hair-growth process to show that stem cells in the hair follicle "bulge" area generate new lower hair follicles, which in turn, generate new hair. Their latest finding-that these same stem cells play a key role in initiating wound healing-will help lay the foundation for designing more effective wound-healing strategies.

Even minor wounding resulted in mobilization of follicle stem cells to generate daughter cells that quickly move into the wound area. “About one-third of the coverage of the wound came from the stem cells in the hair follicle,” says Cotsarelis. “In the future, we think that we will be able to design treatments that enhance the flow of cells from the hair follicle to the epidermis in the hope of enhancing wound healing and treating patients with wounds.”

I'm doing the brushing and towel method, but where can I find out how do do the "stretching" or massage?

I have been pushing my finger tips against both sides of my scalp where it starts to "curve" and kind of "scrunching" or squeezing the scalp up by pushing my fingers up toward the top of my head. I alternate with actually sliding them all the way to the top.

wildman wrote:Considering, according to scientific research, it takes at least 5-6 weeks, even up to 3-4 months for the dermal papilla just to form a new hair. This is through the process of "keratinization'", where the blood is converted into the cells that form a new strand of hair. I think it's quite remarkable that you are already seeing new hair growth, after only 1 week of brushing. I suspect that what you are seeing are not new hairs at all, but hairs that were already there, and perhaps just not so visible in the first place.

Wishful thinking perhaps? Maybe you should give it a few months, just to be sure.

http://www.follicle.com/hair-structure-life-cycle.html

It may be wishful thinking for the temple hairs but there is one particular hair near the middle of my hairline, right on my hairline, that I know for a fact hasnt been there since I can remember, which leads me to believe that the small temple hairs are fresh growth as well. My hair is only half a centimetre thick so I know every single hair on my hairline. I always here this "it takes X-long to regrow new hairs" but it's just not true because I was seeing new hairs below my hairline within 2 weeks of taking dutasteride.

Paradox wrote:I'm doing the brushing and towel method, but where can I find out how do do the "stretching" or massage?

I have been pushing my finger tips against both sides of my scalp where it starts to "curve" and kind of "scrunching" or squeezing the scalp up by pushing my fingers up toward the top of my head. I alternate with actually sliding them all the way to the top.

I came up with my own scalp stretching technique. Basically I tried to simulate the same effect that hair tugging has since my hair isnt long enough for that. I've noticed a definate loosening of the scalp with my method. The massage I do I copied from some old model women mentioned in this thread. Just place all fingers on each side of your head, press hard and slowly make circles, keeping your fingers on the same piece of skin, but moving the scalp. Do that all over.

hellwig wrote:

wildman wrote:Considering, according to scientific research, it takes at least 5-6 weeks, even up to 3-4 months for the dermal papilla just to form a new hair. This is through the process of "keratinization'", where the blood is converted into the cells that form a new strand of hair. I think it's quite remarkable that you are already seeing new hair growth, after only 1 week of brushing. I suspect that what you are seeing are not new hairs at all, but hairs that were already there, and perhaps just not so visible in the first place.

Wishful thinking perhaps? Maybe you should give it a few months, just to be sure.

http://www.follicle.com/hair-structure-life-cycle.html

It may be wishful thinking for the temple hairs but there is one particular hair near the middle of my hairline, right on my hairline, that I know for a fact hasnt been there since I can remember, which leads me to believe that the small temple hairs are fresh growth as well. My hair is only half a centimetre thick so I know every single hair on my hairline. I always here this "it takes X-long to regrow new hairs" but it's just not true because I was seeing new hairs below my hairline within 2 weeks of taking dutasteride.

Same here! New hairs in my temple! After 1 week of brushing. And also old vellushair became terminal again!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG614N_NQ6Y

whenever i massage my forehead particularly upper middle area i feel tingling sensation on top of my head all the way to the vertex. margo theory makes sense to me, need to buy one of those bristle brushes

I read most of Margo's book and here are my opinions:

1. She claims the technique worked for 1000's of men, if this was the case you would think after 30 years this would be accepted as a working work around, with lots of men doing this technique and we would have 100'000's of proof that this works.
2. She is a barber, she bashes doctors.
3. This statement by her is laughable: 'Women have avoided serious thinning problems precisely because of their long history of daily care, massaging, and brushing. A woman's full head of hair attests to the fact that you cannot injure hair by overattentiveness.
Since hair has no gender, it strikes me as absurd to believe that men will go bald by applying the same hair-care practices that have promoted luxuriant growth in women.' So all the women vigorously dry there hair and is somehow similar to male hair.
4. I disagree with her statement that short of rubbing off skin, you can't rub hard enough and only hair that is going to shed will be removed. Rubbing too hard short of shedding skin will remove hair that was not due to be shed.
5. Another laughable statement: 'An alcoholic drink from time to time is good for your hair because it bursts the capillaries in your
scalp, flooding nearby tissues. That's why so few alcoholics — and derelict winos — are bald.' My dad is bald and he is an alcoholic, maybe he isn't a big enough alcoholic!
6. From memory she also dismisses genetics.

Maybe she is onto something with blood flow and she needed to refine her technique. Surely there are things we can take to increase blood flow to the top of the head other than rubbing your head hard.

So can someone list their brushing and towel routine? How long? When? Techniuqe? What kinda of brush? What about massage or scalp stretching?

Thank you!!

just read the damn book

I shed too many hairs when I tried the towel method. It doesnt really make any sense to do it when a brush can cause just as much friction (bloodflow) without the excess shedding.