Overview of Towel method / unanswered questions / Tips (+ Farewell)

With Margo's method being out in the open, I'm not sure there is much more I can contribute at this point.

Many people have found some great resources and papers and similar methods. Thanks to all of them.

In short:

There is a lot of evidence of success for the "towel method"

• We have several papers showing temporary hypoxia induces aniogenesis
  We have several papers showing temporary hypoxia induces hair growth
  We have one paper showing Minoxidil works by increasing fenestrations (leaky blood vessels)- not aniogenesis - no doubt this relates to the opening of certain channels
  We have one paper showing that vellus hair is a hair without a capillary loop (relying on tissue infusion levels)
  We have several papers showing hair thickness relates to the number of cells in the papillia
  We have two papers showing massage induces temporary hypoxia

That many of these methods report an initial shedding (forced cycling of hair?)

I would propose the following:

• Towel massage creates temporary hypoxia
  That the 'tingle' is either caused by temporary hypoxia or blood rush (?)
  That this causes aniogenesis
  That either aniogenesis or a rush of blood triggers a feedback mechanism that forces hair to cycle back to a growth phase due to excess blood being chanelled into capillary loop development

Questions

Does towel massage rely solely on temporary hypoxia (aniogenesis trigger) or does it also rely on increased blood flow?
What is the tingle the result of - increased blood flow or hypoxia? (I suspect hypoxia as deep breathing will increase it (carbon blow off reduces blood oxygen levels))
What can extend the tingle effect?
Extra credit - Do athletes training at high altitude have differing levels of MPB?

Tips
Try massaging the sides and temples of your head more than the center, as you being the 'travel' of the rubbing action - it increases the tingle
Try exercising intensely straight after the massage - it increases the tingle
Try deep breathing (borderline hyper ventilating) - it increases the tingle
Try rubbing the back of your skull after the massage - it increases the tingle

So - my final questions are - is the tingle a result of restored bloodflow, or temporary hypoxia? Is regrowth geometric or linear?

Currently, I've had no growth in the past month that I can see - but some of the new hairs have gotten a lot thicker. The regular sheds seem to be getting a lot less intense.

I barely dare say this, but it seems like the top of head behind the ears is getting thicker in terms of hair - I'm seeing the scalp less often.

Anyway - that's me finished for now.

I've tried to give as much to the forum as I can - in terms of linking up papers that establish a scientific basis for the method - providing strategies and thoughts for going forward.

I no longer believe supplements are enough - and I think many people will dismiss this method as being too easy, too basic. In reality - doing it everyday takes more commitment than taking supplements - I almost wonder if it functions like HIT exercise as well..

So - I'll be back at the start of July, the end of my Papilla Power trial - when hopefully, I will have something more substantial to report. Beyond that there isn't much I can add to the forum - I don't expect many people to stick with this method - rather I expect people to have moved on, as I think this is too hard for most people - and I've come to the conclusion that most people don't want their hair back that much. I do.

Good luck to you all! I hope the research etc has proved useful - I had hoped a more intelligent forum poster - such as JDP or Prague or CS or A>R might have had some insight on the method and its functioning.

It's time for me to just make the method routine - and focus on other things. If the method continues working - I'll be back in three months with an update.

Thanks for having me!

GBP2000








Hair Pulling:
Dick Clark
JFK
Anthony Perkins
Christopher Walken
Bill Clinton?
Bradley Cooper

Most probably don't want to go through shed phases either. I thought it was explained that causing to parts in the scalp that were not receiving blood before revives/rejuvenates the papilla to push out new hair or is that oversimplifying it?

Margo specifically said that towel massage causes blood to flow to the scalp. Since blood is the carrier if oxygen, I would assume that scalp massage does not cause a condition of low oxygen.

When I apply the topical onion/ cayenne paste, then sit in the tub and soak my pores open up and my scalp starts to burn. Then after I wash it out and do the towel massage, it really amplifies that burn and my scalp continues to feel very invigorated for at least 30 minutes. I can't be sure whether or not the burn and the tingle are evidence of the same process, but my research points to both of them increasing blood flow to the scalp.

SlowMoe wrote:Margo specifically said that towel massage causes blood to flow to the scalp. Since blood is the carrier if oxygen, I would assume that scalp massage does not cause a condition of low oxygen.

When I apply the topical onion/ cayenne paste, then sit in the tub and soak my pores open up and my scalp starts to burn. Then after I wash it out and do the towel massage, it really amplifies that burn and my scalp continues to feel very invigorated for at least 30 minutes. I can't be sure whether or not the burn and the tingle are evidence of the same process, but my research points to both of them increasing blood flow to the scalp.

Massage causes temporary hypoxia (deprivation of oxygen) to the area being massaged.

The body's response to this is release factors like VEGF and Nitric Oxide which in turn help strengthen and grow capillaries.

There's some studies that confirm this posted in the other thread. So it's not necessarily just about increasing blood flow but also about increasing and strengthening the capillary network... Though the body also clearly temporarily increases blood flow in response to the massage too, hence the tingling/pumped sensation I get.

Increased blood flow, VEGF and NO are probably protection responses in reaction to the massage which all ultimately help strengthen the scalp for hair growth.

Seems counter-intuitive but body building is a good analogy... you hit the weights which causes micro tears in your muscles, your body responds by creating bigger stronger muscles.

Forgive me for not understanding this. If blood flows to the area being massaged, how do oxygen levels decrease?

SlowMoe wrote:Forgive me for not understanding this. If blood flows to the area being massaged, how do oxygen levels decrease?

I'm not entirely sure of the mechanism. Perhaps the pressure from massage temporarily/quickly constricts bloody flow which creates the temporary hypoxia (resulting in increased blood flow a few moments later to compensate). Quite honestly, I've no idea.

Interesting...

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/phys-ed-does-massage-help-after-exercise/ wrote:The results, published in the latest issue of the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, are a blow, at least to those of us who justify our massages as medicinal. It turned out that massage did not increase blood flow to the tired muscle; it reduced it. Every stroke, whether long and slow or deep and kneading, cut off blood flow to the forearm muscle. Although the flow returned to normal between strokes, the net effect was to lessen the amount of blood that reached the muscle, particularly compared with the amount that flowed to the forearm muscle during 10 minutes of passive recovery. Meanwhile, active recovery reduced blood flow as well, since muscular contractions, however slight, compress blood vessels in the muscle briefly. But the overall reduction of blood flow was significantly less during active recovery than during the massage session.

As a “direct result” of the lessened blood flow to their muscles, Mr. Tschakovsky says, the volunteers being massaged wound up with far less lactic acid removal than the groups who recovered passively or actively. Massage “actually impairs removal of lactic acid from exercised muscle,” Mr. Tschakovsky and his colleagues wrote in their published study.

Although the findings may seem counterintuitive (and, frankly, depressing), they actually are in agreement with a growing body of science about sports massage. Multiple other recent studies have found that massage tends to impede rather than improve blood flow to tired muscles. Mr. Tschakovsky’s experiment, however, directly correlates that impact with lactic-acid removal in the affected muscle.

Ah, here we go...

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/487870 wrote:Post-exercise massage increases blood flow to skin but not to the femoral artery, potentially diverting blood flow away from recovering muscles, according to the results of a trial published in the August issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Which raises a bunch of other questions... hypoxia only happens in the muscle? VEGF and NO only localised to the muscle or does it effect the skin too? etc.

Well summarised, gbp. Upping the circulation and bringing in the tingle works when going from back of the scalp to top and then front, and from sides onto top.

But to me there seems to be one missing element in the circulation approach so far. Bringing in the blood and tingle from the front, from the internal carotid artery. Moving, tugging, stretching and massaging from above the eyes via the forehead to the front and temples does not seem to bring the feel good tingling sensation to the temples and frontal scalp. The internal carotid artery circulation may be key.


You brought attention to this matter in this thread of yours-
https://immortalhair.forumotion.com/t7220-the-fallacy-of-blood-flow-as-a-non-factor-in-balding-and-what-to-do-about-it

We need to find a way to effectively massage and start angiogenesis in this area. So far, I have not come across or developed an effective personal method for a good forehead and frontal massage.

Ideas invited.

gbp2000 wrote:
It's time for me to just make the method routine - and focus on other things.

Thanks for all the info you've posted before!

9rugrats5 wrote:But to me there seems to be one missing element in the circulation approach so far. Bringing in the blood and tingle from the front, from the internal carotid artery. Moving, tugging, stretching and massaging from above the eyes via the forehead to the front and temples does not seem to bring the feel good tingling sensation to the temples and frontal scalp. The internal carotid artery circulation may be key.

I manage to get a tingle sensation at the front/top/temples; I was researching veins/arteries in the face and tried forcing blood up through the arteries to the head from the front... Here’s what I do;

* 1# First I lay down (for extra tingle) and start by pushing whilst gliding my little fingers from my nose sides, up through the middle of the eyebrows (by now the side of the hand is in heavy contact too) and up to the hair line/middle peak...

* 2# Next I use all four fingers starting from the eyebrows and push up towards the hair line/temples, I slightly open and close my fingers to touch on different areas to make sure I massage fully...

* 3# lastly I place the whole four fingers in both temples and rub like crazy, so the skin has friction between the galea (not the fingers and skin... but you can do that to)


I have read somewhere that the forehead veins/arteries degrade, get weaker and smaller over time, this is why I think frontal hair loss happens???

Fate?, how long have you been on your signature routine and what results have you seen?

Judging by the tightness of the skin on my scalp, I'd say tight Galea has as big a role to play as the internal carotid

gbp2000 wrote:...Extra credit - Do athletes training at high altitude have differing levels of MPB?

well, FWIW, I spend a significant portion of my work life at or above 4300 m (14,000+ feet) in the Peruvian Andes and now that you mention it, I haven't seen a bald local. But then again, they also only eat natural foods and drive donkeys instead of hummers.

gbp2000 wrote:
Hair Pulling:
Bill Clinton

she was pulling something alright, but it wasn't his hair.

calvicie wrote:

gbp2000 wrote:...Extra credit - Do athletes training at high altitude have differing levels of MPB?

well, FWIW, I spend a significant portion of my work life at or above 4300 m (14,000+ feet) in the Peruvian Andes and now that you mention it, I haven't seen a bald local. But then again, they also only eat natural foods and drive donkeys instead of hummers.

A few years back there was a health program on BBC. They went to some high altitude village somewhere, and I can't remember why, but anyway, they used a tool to visually measure the capillary density in the lip of a native versus the density in the lip of a regular guy.

What I do remember was the native guy had masses and masses more capillaries than the Western guy.

I for one, have always believed circulation to be a major factor. Similar to a plant, if the roots system is slowly destroyed the plant will start to die unless you can get the roots to propogate again. Ive been trying the towel method and i like it. Also started rubbing a cayenne, iodine, diatomaceous earth, emul oil topical in to my scalp. What i want to understand is the reason for the decrease in capillary flow - plaque? ccsvi?

Brings back the art of cupping, could help.