My Return, Hair Regrowth - and some parting advice

MilBA wrote:Brushing/toweling seem to be the poor mans option to lasering, although it may not provide all the benefits that lasers are capable of.

I started off toweling and now I'm brushing just because I find it easier and more convenient. Minox has been the only thing that has really made a big difference for me over the years, so I'm hoping this method of scalp stimulation will mimic the effects of minox without the side effects. Since I've been balding I've been so gentle with my scalp, not even really using a towel when I come out of the shower for fear of shedding hair. So should be interesting to see how it works, great to see people are having success.

I'm only about a month in, so nothing to report so far. I've also started consuming french green clay for detox purposes, and kefir. Will report back with any successes.

Milba--

I use the boar bristle brush myself pretty regularly..largely for exfoliation, though it is very good for blood stimulation as well. I think it's a great idea to use a boar bristle brush before applying any topical to remove debris and, perhaps, enhance absorption.

Nid, that's interesting. Seems like dermarolling could be a good adjunct therapy to LLLT to really optimize some of those benefits.

Law--

I agree. I have a couple dermarollers and used to do it a few years back, but man, the annoying pricks really got to me. Perhaps a little lidocaine applied topically to numb the pain prior to rolling?

In some years past, there was a lot of discussion about wound healing and small abrasion into the skin, so let's take a look at some of those studies:

J Dermatol Sci. 2010 Dec;60(3):143-50. Epub 2010 Oct 26.
Small cutaneous wounds induce telogen to anagen transition of murine hair follicle stem cells.
Jiang S, Zhao L, Teklemariam T, Hantash BM.

Department of Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA 94305, United States.

BACKGROUND:
Recent studies suggest that large (>1 cm) diameter circular cutaneous wounds induce follicular neogenesis in mice. However, the effects of non-circular wounds or smaller circular wounds on the hair follicle cycle remain poorly understood.
OBJECTIVE:
We investigated whether non-circular wounds or smaller (≤1 cm) circular wounds could induce early entry of hair follicle stem cells into anagen.
METHODS:
We created different shaped and sized full-thickness incisional wounds on the dorsal skin of 6-wk old mice (BALB/c, C57BL/6, and CD1), and then assessed for hair growth, wound contraction rates, and growth factor and/or immunomodulatory cytokine involvement.
RESULTS:
By day 16 and through day 26 post-wounding, we observed hair growth in the skin around the wound, but not in distant unwounded skin of BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. In contrast, CD1 mice showed hair growth in both the wounded and unwounded skin. In all mice, the hair growth pattern was independent of wound type. The area of hair growth induced by a 2 cm linear wound was roughly 2-fold that induced by a 1 cm linear wound and 4-fold that of a 0.5 cm linear wound. Increased γ-glutamyl transpeptidase activity was observed in hair follicles growing in the wounded area as well as an up to 8-fold upregulation of Wnt- and Shh-dependent signaling, consistent with anagen growth.
CONCLUSION:
Our data strongly support that small cutaneous wounds induce telogen to anagen transition of murine hair follicle stem

Nature. 2007 May 17;447(7142):316-20.
Wnt-dependent de novo hair follicle regeneration in adult mouse skin after wounding.
Ito M, Yang Z, Andl T, Cui C, Kim N, Millar SE, Cotsarelis G.
Department of Dermatology, Kligman Laboratories, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.

The mammalian hair follicle is a complex 'mini-organ' thought to form only during development; loss of an adult follicle is considered permanent. However, the possibility that hair follicles develop de novo following wounding was raised in studies on rabbits, mice and even humans fifty years ago. Subsequently, these observations were generally discounted because definitive evidence for follicular neogenesis was not presented. Here we show that, after wounding, hair follicles form de novo in genetically normal adult mice. The regenerated hair follicles establish a stem cell population, express known molecular markers of follicle differentiation, produce a hair shaft and progress through all stages of the hair follicle cycle. Lineage analysis demonstrated that the nascent follicles arise from epithelial cells outside of the hair follicle stem cell niche, suggesting that epidermal cells in the wound assume a hair follicle stem cell phenotype. Inhibition of Wnt signalling after re-epithelialization completely abrogates this wounding-induced folliculogenesis, whereas overexpression of Wnt ligand in the epidermis increases the number of regenerated hair follicles. These remarkable regenerative capabilities of the adult support the notion that wounding induces an embryonic phenotype in skin, and that this provides a window for manipulation of hair follicle neogenesis by Wnt proteins. These findings suggest treatments for wounds, hair loss and other degenerative skin disorders.

gbp - I am also doing massage (without towel) and so far optimistic since it get rids of pain and itch
in the scalp. Interestingly, the sides of my head and behind ears seem to have already thickened up! (I also massage there), even its only been one week. I use two drops of
indian massage oil containing some 13 herbs indicated for tension and stress release.

I like doing the massage since it feels good doing and gets rid of pain in the scalp, and after the hair is fuller and more alive.

Would like to keep in touch so we can compare results, dont see the logic in leaving this board, but good luck and thanks if you do.

how can ur hair thicken up in one week. the most that could physically be thicker is < one mm, with the rest of the shaft being the same size assuming of course towelling does in fact thicken hair.

wat ur experiencing must just be cosmetic.

^ this. bald guys see things that arent there due to wishful thinking. being objective can only help your battle, not harm it. dont give in to wishful thinking and skewed perception.

LawOfThelema wrote:^ this. bald guys see things that arent there due to wishful thinking. being objective can only help your battle, not harm it. dont give in to wishful thinking and skewed perception.

I agree but it plays both ways. Balding guys tend to see their situation as much worse than it is too at times. Being objective is great, but ultimately it is how we percieve our balding that causes suffering. How much hair we actually have doesn't matter if we don't percieve it as a problem, so I'd much rather see "false" optimism than read the suicidal rants that I have come disturbingly close to subscribing to in the past. I can't count the number of times I have read the same optimism over many different new methods or experiments that have long come and gone. The test is in the long term and that is what I'm waiting to finally see here. It's not a race it's a marathon. Cpio just happens to be a positive guy with a cheerful disposition.

Anxiuous, yes defintly cosmetic. I guess it is the increased bloodflow that makes the hair look nicer and thicker. Good motivation to keep doing the massage!

Anxious1 wrote:how can ur hair thicken up in one week. the most that could physically be thicker is < one mm, with the rest of the shaft being the same size assuming of course towelling does in fact thicken hair.

Yup, the rest of the shaft would be the same, and you wouldn't notice anything. On the other hand, 1 mm of new terminal hair (/ vellus hair that became terminal) is noticeable when looking at the skin of the scalp itself.

This might be what some people are referring to, maybe.

yeah those who share their head frequently would notice changes in their hair i guess faster.

Anybody use nizoral?