Whats working for me

Hi All,

I haven’t posted on a hair loss forum for a long time but I feel that since I am having so much success with my current regimen that I owe it to the community to contribute.
I have first started reading the valuable input from Immortal Hair on the Regrowth forums about 8 years ago and like many others learnt a lot about not just only the machinations of MPB but the underlying health concerns that are associated with it. This lead me to try many methods including the old top 3, lllt, “Double A” and many others. Last year I went to a HT consultation and was quoted but I didn’t go through with it because I wasn’t confident that I could stave off further loss once the procedure was complete.

I will cut this long story short because otherwise this post would be a novel, my recent situation is this:

31 years old with diffuse thinning at the crown and behind both temples and living in denial that it was very noticeable (I know this now because of the comments mentioning improvement and seeing the difference myself). My hair as a youth was always incredibly thick and I know that different hair types respond differently but I now have had a near complete cessation of hair loss in the bath which used to be littered with hairs after shampooing (with revita, ket and others). I can now not worry about running my hand through wet hair and being horrified at what I saw in my palm, also my uniform at work is free from rogue hairs after a day’s poking at my crown area. Not only this but my hair has noticeable filled in and thickened up at the crown and at the top (behind temples), to such an extent I am daring to dream of full regrowth (got to have faith) I also believe that the temple region at the front is doing far better than before with the sparse hairs there being stronger and “determined”. I have been examining the skin of the scalp in the balding areas for a few years now with my fingertips for and noticed build up, dryness or too much oil. The skin has now smoothed a lot and oil that is present does not have such a strong hormonal smell to it. My scalp also used to be painful and stiff to the touch, this is now a thing of the past. I now no longer need to gel my hair to cover the bald spots.

What I am doing that’s made the difference:

1.Boar Bristle Brushing, every morning and evening after bath. I love the feeling it gives and without a doubt this what is the driving force behind my success which makes me enjoy it even more. Feels like years of scalp tension and build up being dissipated

2.Application of Dr Bronner’s peppermint castille soap and emu oil in equal measure, mix it to a lather on wet hair after the brushing this creates a tingling feeling and I leave the lather sitting until it soaks into the scalp. Then wash it with a thickening shampoo. The only problem with this is I have sprouted a few grey hairs as a result, Peppermint Oil reduces enzymes which causes a reduction in A5 Reductase but also Catalase which is believed to stave off greying hair. For this reason I will switch to Dr Bronner’s Tea Tree Oil Soap for more regular use and peppermint soap at most once a week. This could change depending on my progress.

3.Application of Jojoba Oil as a general hair and scalp lubricant instead of gel

I have just started taking Krill and EC again and hopefully this will help my hair as well as health.

This is unquestionably providing me with dramatic results whether its beacuse of my hair type, reasons for my mpb or perhaps the results are temporary but for the time being I am VERY happy about this. I will report back with further updates as and when.

Cheers

nice story, congrats. keep up us posted...


Did you improve quality of your hair with LLLT? And how often did you do it with which source?

Pictures?

Nice! you mentioned that you brush your hair after shower. So do you brush your hair while they are still wet?

Im curious how long have you used the castile peppermint soap?Daily ? for how long? and how long do you leave on scalp before you wash out?Alot of women at longhaircareforum use the essential oil of peppermint for Strong Growth! You could always take something lke GLISODIN to raise catalase internally....

Beebrox;
I wasnt using a helmet, I was using i stand with five panels with focused lasers. I actually have it packed in my cupboard. Not sure how many diodes it has but it's alot 60? 90? I can check it out. I havent used it for a long time beacuse of the inconvience of regular use but I think it did provide benefits but it is more of a hassle than a helmet. I used it every 3 days or so.

Hi Fred;
I dont have pictures but I will see if I can come up with something, when i look at the mirrrors at work and see the difference old pictures seem irrelevant

Ferox;
I do brush after the bath, mostly because i find it fascinating to see how strong the hair is, also it feels good. I dont brush so hard that it goes red or check on that side of things. i just brush the scalp on instinct until i feel i have done enough. I add jojoba oil to the wet hair and brush it through evenly afterwards.

PS how is your progress?

Hi Bocor,

At first I was using the peppermint soap as a shampoo and leaving it on in the bath Revita style, then a month ago i started adding the emu oil as both a carrier and to thicken the skin of the scalp. I find that mixing the emu oil with the soap makes it much easier to apply as up until then topical emu application seemed to be too messy a prospect. Also I am not sure if its the peppermint oil that is necessarily providing the benefit as the soap also contains hemp oil, olive oil, jojoba oil and coconut oil. I think I start using the tea tree soap instead as I have had good experience with tea tree shampoo in the past also if it sits on the scalp with the emu oil it should be address the demodex issue more effectively than peppermint (although i believe i experienced a die off along my hair line when i started using the peppermint). Tea Tree Oil has also been shown to interfere with androgen receptors and "block" them.

That said I do believed peppermint has helped alot but i am concerned that while it may be good short term that long term use could be problematic. Could be BS but thats my hunch at the moment

Congrats! Always good to hear of people's success! I'm going to try mixing some emu in with my Dr. Bronners now too! I only use it a couple times a week anyhow.

Did you do much to correct any problems your body may have been having in the first 8 ears? like gut health and heavy metals etc?

How can you guys brush without the hair getting tangled up?

Or is your hair very short so it doesnt tangle? Mine is wavy and medium length and
gets tangled up really quick.

Palcom; What's your diet like? Are you only taking Krill Oil and EC?

Duketronix:
Thanks yeah try the mix emu oil see how it goes.. I cant say I did anything to correct an problems related to metals etc but my diet has improved since 8 years ago

cpio:
I cant brush very well with dry hair for me it is better damp or wet, hair is medium length

MisterMr:
I avoid meat most of the time eat quite alot of raw garlic and drinks lots of water
I have taken EC and Krill Oil in the past but didnt really take it regularly enough. I dont believed What i have experienced with my hair is connected but they may haveslightly improved my hair previously

The grey hair thing would worry me about that stuff you were using. How big of am issue was it actually for you?

Nuuu-DX: You seem to worry a lot. Just saying.

cpio- I have long wavy hair past my shoulders, I don't find tangling a problem so long as I take my time and don't rush. Maybe get a wider toothed brush? some brushes will tangle my hair in half a stroke, but I don't use those.

But you have to do it vigourously to get any effect? I guess otherwise it would just be like combing ..

Duketronix wrote:Nuuu-DX: You seem to worry a lot. Just saying.

cpio- I have long wavy hair past my shoulders, I don't find tangling a problem so long as I take my time and don't rush. Maybe get a wider toothed brush? some brushes will tangle my hair in half a stroke, but I don't use those.

cpio:
I do it vigourously enough to get what i believethe LLLT guys to call the pump, its the vigourous combing of the scalp particluarly in problem areas until i feel definate release of tension and i can see from examining my looking at my frontal thinning areas under bright light that the follicles seem completely clear of construction whereas before they were not. Saying this I have never checked my scalp to see if its red. I get a pleasant burn, i suppose it feels good because my scalp had thrown in the towel and its been shaken back to life.

I am not saying this is the cure for everyone, in fact i think it will probably be best for those with thicker existing hair and in diffuse cases but what I have been doing has led to a few comments from people who had mentioned my hairloss before and probably like a lot of people during my day there are a few mirrors that i check my hair in consistently, some more brutal than others. In ALL of them there is big improvement, the one in the lobby where i work, where i have two mirrored doors that I can open and see both the front and back with a light above (the really unkind one) when i see my progress and think how obvious my loss would have been before. ie "this is what first glance undetectable hair loss really is"

The very regular movement of the scalp i beleived to be a key factor in my own experience. Another long story cut very short but my mother suffered an ijnury to her hand a few years ago and it left it in a locked postiton and a condtion called CRPS. The hand was bascially frozen into a claw and she was expereiencing phantom pains from the accident, the reason this is relevant to me at least is that she managed to bring her hand back to life from a state that doctors here in the UK thought was impossible by constant massage. obviously starting very very very softly over a course of a year and a half or so, there were other things she did but she believes this is the most important factor in retrieving use of her hand. constant movement, freeing up the fibrosis.

When her hand was frozen and locked and gripped by fibrosis the skin was very thin and looked like the scalp of very old men that have been bald for a long time. She can now move her hand freely now and the skin on seems far thicker and healthier. this was a long process but it worked. Make of that what you will.

Hi Palcom,

I've been doing the towel method for 3.5 months, and my hairline is taking a bit hit in loss. It has definitely receded noticeably in this time. Do you think I should switch to brushing?

Wow truly amazing story - congrats to your mother with her success.

cpio
Thanks!!

helpmyhair1
Sorry to hear that, just remember things can get better. People have manged to get their hair looking better than it did years ago. I dont want to tell people the best way to handle their loss because I think that people respond differently but brushing seems to be a great way of distributing the natural oil of the scalp where it needs to be; all the way down the hair shaft. Maybe due to the texture of the the sebum, mites or clogged follicles for some people the sebum just gathers on the scalp. I havent experience a shed with what I have been doing and in the past when I have changed approach i have and its not nice. Perhaps try to apply oils to your scalp, I think thats important. But again, If I magane to compltely regrow my hair and it stays that way for a time then I will post all over the internet the method that cured my condition but for the moment i just have really improved my situation hopefully that continues.

How often do you guys wash your hair - every day . every other?

cpio- Definitely don't brush TOO intensely imo. I go slow with my brush too to stimulate but not irritate it. I find it gets just as flushed/pumped but takes a bit longer of course.

As for showering: I definitely rinse at least everyday but I tend to shampoo/condition based on how my hair feels. If it's really dirty I use a shampoo I got from a site and a conditioner that goes with it. If it's only mildly dirty I use the Bronner's peppermint. I alternate those two most of the time but some days it really feels like it doesn't need a wash so I just give it a hot/cold rinse.

OK - thanks for the caution Duketronix.

Duketronix wrote:cpio- Definitely don't brush TOO intensely imo. I go slow with my brush too to stimulate but not irritate it. I find it gets just as flushed/pumped but takes a bit longer of course.

As for showering: I definitely rinse at least everyday but I tend to shampoo/condition based on how my hair feels. If it's really dirty I use a shampoo I got from a site and a conditioner that goes with it. If it's only mildly dirty I use the Bronner's peppermint. I alternate those two most of the time but some days it really feels like it doesn't need a wash so I just give it a hot/cold rinse.

Duke, do you use any filtering for your water when you just rinse?

Palcom wrote:cpio
Thanks!!

helpmyhair1
Sorry to hear that, just remember things can get better. People have manged to get their hair looking better than it did years ago. I dont want to tell people the best way to handle their loss because I think that people respond differently but brushing seems to be a great way of distributing the natural oil of the scalp where it needs to be; all the way down the hair shaft. Maybe due to the texture of the the sebum, mites or clogged follicles for some people the sebum just gathers on the scalp. I havent experience a shed with what I have been doing and in the past when I have changed approach i have and its not nice. Perhaps try to apply oils to your scalp, I think thats important. But again, If I magane to compltely regrow my hair and it stays that way for a time then I will post all over the internet the method that cured my condition but for the moment i just have really improved my situation hopefully that continues.

Palcom,

Do you have a link for the BBB you use?

unfortunate
I bought my brush from my local boots store not online

I have a chlorine filter on my shower, but otherwise no. I live in Canada though so the water doesn't have as much stuff added.