Getting some growth

First off,

I am a 31 year old male with a hairline that started receeding at 18 or so years of age.I developed a bald spot on top around 21 and it has gotten bigget and bigger. I was on rogaine twice, for about 6 months at a time, and, although I saw a lot of hair grow back, when I stopped even more fell out.

I am somewhat healthy, i eat a bowl of oatmeal with frozen blueberries, as well as a whole egg and two more whites for breakfast, with a glass of whole milk to drink. I try to eat fresh(er) foods during lunch and supper, but more times than not i probably dont get as much nutrition as i should.

Anyways, about four weeks ago I started making a tea with dried ginkgo biloba leaves with my breakfast. I do this mostly for the mental benifits of ginkgo. About a week later i decided to cut my hair very short (1/8") cause im getting tired of trying to conceal my bald spots with longer hair.

Something I noticed was that when I ran my hand through my hair it felt really bristly where I had (thin, but still there) hair on top. I also noticed that in the bald region it felt smooth like no, or very fine hairs were there. I also decied that I wasnt content being a baldie and i was going to do something and get my hair back, and photographically document the results.

So I did research and started doing the scalp exercise where you wiggle your ears. I also started paying a lot of attention to my head, namely rubbing it for probably 15-30 minutes throughout the day. I will also incorporate a topical consisting of onion juice, garlic juice, and cayenne pepper once a day.

Well last week I shaved my head to the skin to see if the look worked for me (it didnt) so ive been letting it regrow......What ive noticed the past few days is pretty encouraging.....When i rub my bald spot, it feels nearly as bristly as the other hair on my head. Visually, it does seem that the blonde hairs are getting darker, but there is no denying that the hair in this area is thicker than it was before I started paying attention to my scalp.

Dont know if it can be attributed to the scalp exercises, rubbing (probably the biggest factor because of the way it makes my head tingle), ginkgo or what, but I will say that there is a noticeable improvement in the thickness of my hair follicles.

Just thought I would share, and I will post up some pics tomorrow of my head a month ago and yesterday. There is a visible difference.

Thanks for reading
-Marcus

Pics or it didn't happen.

SlowMoe,

I'm sure you know this already, but thought it wise to mention it as a reminder.

If you think this is working for you, don't relent! Keep doing what you're doing every day for at least 4-6 months before deciding if you're getting favorable results.

As you know it takes a long time for hair to grow and changes don't happen overnight.

Good luck with it and keep us posted!

Ok, I took this the day I cut my hair short.







This is a month later after shaving it and letting it grow out




If you look closely you can see alot more thick hairs. Not saying that my c=scalp was completely bald there before, but the hairs were definately thinner and had less color.

I also started using the onion juice, garlic juice and cayenne pepper topical and I started rubbing my head with a towel, as shown in that grow hair book, which I will do for 5-10 minutes a day as well.

Here is a current pic of my hairline for reference

Thats really good Slowmoe, I hope things keep getting better and better for you!
The thing I wonder with regrowth (like this) is;

* Why do hairs regrow in random areas of where the hair has/has balded and not in order of a timeline of hairs lost or close to
the remaining hair line?

FATE? wrote: * Why do hairs regrow in random areas of where the hair has/has balded and not in order of a timeline of hairs lost or close to
the remaining hair line?

Not sure...Might be similar to reverse diffuse thinning?

https://imgur.com/4X6xG

I took this pic a few minutes ago.
It you look at the thin patch in the front, there are at least 5-10 more hairs there than there were a week ago. Im not sure what is going on but it seems like my hair is growing really fast. Its pretty encouraging

https://imgur.com/TtbJm

Top of my head

Does the topical leave any smell?

gbp2000 wrote:Does the topical leave any smell?

A little. BUT I don't use shampoo. It may be worse with long hair though

Slow Moe,
thanks for the info and pics. It does indeed look like you are seeing some progress. keep it up!

what brand / vendor are you using for the ginkgo leaves?

is the grow new hair method something you just started recently, or have you been doing this from the start?

First link I found on "ginko hairloss":

Ginkgo Biloba has been in use in China for more than 5 centuries, from last 2 decades even Europe is widely using this tree's extracts for various purposes. Ginkgo Biloba possess special property of helping regulate the blood circulation in a body, when the extract is taken.

Certain diseases which are caused by poor circulation are being treated with herbal remedies; most of which include Ginkgo Biloba and Cayenne pepper. Cayenne strengthens the heart giving it the ability to pump blood to the furthest reaches of the body while Ginkgo Biloba increases the blood circulation in the brain and all parts of the head.

Many diseases like thrombosis, Reynaud's phenomenon, hair loss etc which are resultant of poor blood flow are treated successfully with Ginkgo Biloba extracts.

The use of Ginkgo Biloba will boost the blood flow to the peripheral parts of the body and the fine capillaries, both of which indicates scalp as one of the parts.

The increased circulation will hence bring more oxygen and more nutrients to the scalp, these nutrients are basically essential vitamins A and E along with some other important nutrients which are in our blood after digestion but are not transported to the right place to act, just because of lack of circulation.

http://www.myginkgobiloba.com/Ginkgo-Biloba-Hair-Growth.php

No references for these claims, but interesting.

here we go:

1: Ckin Hemorheol Microcirc 2002;23(2-4):133-8

The therapeutic effect of Ginkgo biloba extract in SHR rats and its possible mechanisms based on cerebral microvascular flow and vasomotion.

Zhang J, Fu S, Liu S, Mao T, Xiu R.

Institute of Microcirculation, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing. jianzhang20@163.net

This paper aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of an extract of Ginkgo biloba leaves (EGb 761) on hypertension and its possible mechanisms in the view of cerebral microcirculation. Twenty normotensive rats and 24 SHR rats were used. Surgical preparation was made to produce a cranial window for observation of the capillary network on the cerebral cortex. The intravital videomicroscopy equipped with digital image processing system and laser Doppler flowmeter were used for this study. The arterial blood pressure, red cell velocity (V), microvacular diameter (D), number of open capillaries (OCN), circulating endothelial cells (CEC) in blood, relative blood flow (Flow) and frequency (Fc), amplitude (AMP) of vasomotion were measured. The obtained data were compared between EGb-treated rats that received per os 100 mg/kg/d for 9 days and placebo control rats. Untreated SHR rats showed very severe dysfunction in the microcirculation with high blood pressure (213 +/- 16.7 mmHg). The blood pressure decreased significantly to 153 +/- 20 mmHg in EGb-treated SHRs group, compared with those of untreated rats (p < 0.01). Both normotensive and hypertensive rats increased the blood flow velocity and LDF flow after EGb-treatment. The vasomotion property, the CEC and OCN changed greatly in EGb-treated SHR rats, but no significant difference was observed in normotensive rats. It was suggested that EGb 761 had therapeutic effect on SHR rats by increasing blood perfusion, regulating vasomotion function, opening efficiently capillaries and releasing the peripheral resistance. The injured vascular endothelium of SHR rats was also partly reversed by EGb-treatment. It was concluded that EGb 761 could be used to regulate hypertension and to protect the cerebral microcirculatory function.

Marcus - the tingle is the key part of regrowth - I'm convinced of that.

gbp2000 wrote:Marcus - the tingle is the key part of regrowth - I'm convinced of that.

I agree. Anthing that makes the scalp/ follicles/ papillae invigorated.
I really think that my short stubbles being stimulated from 1-2 hrs a day has a lit to do with it. I believe I am able to dedicate so much time consistently because it feels really good just to lightly rub my short hair, it takes the "chore" aspect out of it.

Ginkgo I use is mountain rose herbs organic dried ginkgo leaf. About 1 tbsp dry leaf in the bottom of a four cup coffee pot. Then pour 2.5 cups of water and turn machine on. Then I let steep for around 15 min.

Aum wrote:Slow Moe,
thanks for the info and pics. It does indeed look like you are seeing some progress. keep it up!

what brand / vendor are you using for the ginkgo leaves?

is the grow new hair method something you just started recently, or have you been doing this from the start?

I just started the towel method.

It was either the Ginkgo or the constant rubbing of my hair that started whatever regrowth I have experienced.

I just started the topical/ towel method so I doubt they have much to do with my progress so far.

I believe that the manual stimulation of the scalp/ hair follicles is what really makes the hair grow.
I also believe that you need to increses scalp circulation to see growth, especially if you have poor circulation already, like I do.
Like I said earlier, once shaved, I could really tell how tight my scalp was in the balding areas by pinching there and then pinching .5" over where the hair was full. The balding areas, and only the balding areas had very tight skin, at least twice as tight as the full areas.

That made it quite obvious to me that the tightness played a major role. The most logical explanation is that the tight skin caused a decrease in circulation to the top of my head. So what I do is grasp my head at the edge of the galea to stretch the muscles on the sides, and also the front and back of my head. Then I rub/ massage my hair then stretch the muscles again. By the time I get done my scalp is relaxed and not nearly as tight, almost the same as the full areas.

Can you please keep us updated with your progress.

I've just started the towel method, so I hope it goes some way towards restoring my temple loss!

How gradual is the change your experiencing?

My hairline has really Started filling in since I checked in about a month ago. There are a lot of new, thick black hairs where my new hairline is forming. Also under the thick black hairs the vellus hairs are turning dark and are getting thicker and a little longer.

Also the bald spot on the top of my head has dark hairs sprouting all over, and the vellus hairs are getting darker and thicker as well.

I would say that in a year my hairline will have moved up a solid inch and my 4 inch diameter bald spot should easily be 20-25% filled in.

I will try to post pics later

If you zoom in you can really see the baby hairs coming to life. Two months ago there were just a few darkish hairs in the Pocket of my receding hairline; now, there are many times more than that darkening up. There is no doubt my hairline is marching forward and my bald spot closing up.

https://imgur.com/p3ggO

This little thin part in the front used to be easily distinguished from the fuller area behind it, now the baby hairs are starting to fuse them together. Again, zoom in and you can see the new growth well.

https://imgur.com/UobEl