Castor Oil As A Hair Loss Treatment
- Thread starter thomps1523
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Every hair loss product on amazon has tons of positive reviews.
thomps1523
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So is castor oil effective topically, or does it have to be consumed orally to have any type of impact?
Ive been using topically mostly and noticed only a slight decrease in hair loss. It still comes out, but jist a little less
thomps1523
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Ok I just saw a poster comment on issues with absorption, so I figured is ask if anyone had seen any type of result using it topically despite the issue.
Why tress_dreams would you ever think castor oil is causing regrowth when your on both finasteride+minoxidil? Of course the proven things are probably giving those results which is why you shouldnt use 20 things at once unless you want to forever use 20 things when only 1 or 2 do anything.
Snake oil 101 is take minoxidil or finasteride and combine those with the millions of natural buzzwords like saw palmetto, beta sis, random vitamins, and so on. Then when it works from the minoxidil you say "wow this product works!" I better pay them quadruple what plain minoxidil actually costs which is the only thing getting any result.
Snake oil 101 is take minoxidil or finasteride and combine those with the millions of natural buzzwords like saw palmetto, beta sis, random vitamins, and so on. Then when it works from the minoxidil you say "wow this product works!" I better pay them quadruple what plain minoxidil actually costs which is the only thing getting any result.
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I'm taking a lot of things at once but I don't want to take them forever. I figure that first of all, a lot of hair is now damaged and nearly dead, if I can restore it to a better state it will take less to maintain. Second of all, better treatments are on the way, such as Fidia's formulation, Histogen, etc. Setipiprant trials are underway, if the results are good the black market cost will drop substantially.
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I'm interested in adding Castor Oil to my regime but I don't want the hassle of putting it on my hair. Can I just buy any castor oil and eat a spoonful before bed or is there a recommended brand that is good for this? Also is a spoonful enough?
Also off topic of castor oil but I see people mention Stemoxydine, is it any good?
Also off topic of castor oil but I see people mention Stemoxydine, is it any good?
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Oral castor oil and topical stemoxydine both have anecdotal evidence of intermediate quality.
tress_dreams
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I'm not performing a controlled study here. I'm not attempting to prove the effectiveness of any of these, nor do I care if some of them are ineffective. What I am attempting to do is see regrowth and that is what I am seeing; marginal as it is at this point.
I appreciate those in this community who do change one variable at a time and report their results. I'm well aware that 90%+ of this regimen is finasteride+Min. There exists a small chance that some of these additional treatments could be effective and that's reason enough for me.
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Can you recommend any brands or places to buy these products? Also is it literally a case of just putting some castor oil on a tea or tablespoon and swallowing it?
I assume Stemoxydine is just applied like Minoxidil or Keto shampoo?
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Castor oil, swallow half teaspoon a day, people claim all of the hair on their body grow. Use organic, cold presssed, food-grade, et cetera. I don't know if the darker castor oils are better.
For stemoxydine, I use the Garnier Fructis brand, which is only sold in Europe. You'll have to order it via ebay. I stockpiled when I visited Sweden. Maybe it's sold in London where you live.
For stemoxydine, I use the Garnier Fructis brand, which is only sold in Europe. You'll have to order it via ebay. I stockpiled when I visited Sweden. Maybe it's sold in London where you live.
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I take my castor oil orally, I notice no sides, nothing.
For RU, consider TheKaneShop.com.
For RU, consider TheKaneShop.com.
So what is the general objective or hope with castor oil topically and oral. I've heard that it thickins hair, i've seen reputable members say that it flat out works,and I've read a few long threads on a few sites that it caused regrowth, the best one I seen was used with emu oil. Emu oil should help with the absorption of any topical theoretically
There is slight scientific evidence that Castor Oil (CO) stimulates hair growth. I only found some theoretical evidence, which I will share below.
Let me try to explain how CO promotes hair growth, as it is asked numerous times and many times not explained. It's a good way to understand the process myself and give some info back.
For the CO I will give you guys some scientific references, so you can verify my statements and read on about the usefulness.
Basis knowledge on Androgenetic Alopecia:
Your androgens increase Prostaglandin D2 synthase (PTGDS), which inhibits hair growth by Prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) in your scalp. Secondly, depletion of Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) inhibits hair growth, and it's presence promotes hair growth.
Why Castor Oil may promote hair growth?
Vehicle for Castor Oil:
CO's thick and viscous yellow liquid is highly hydrophilic, which makes it impossible to penetrate the skin [3]. Therefore you need a penetration enhancer like Ethanol 95% (or higher), Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) or Dimethyl Isosorbide (DMI). I have only experience with mixing it with DMSO. For the info, my DMI was about 3 times more expensive than my DMSO. I am not sure how much DMI you would need, could be less than DMSO.
At this moment I am using 67% Home Health's CO from iHerb with 33% DMSO (99,99% purity) from Regency Labs on eBay. But of course you can decide to buy other brands. Both looked very pure to me, and both are manufactured in the USA. AS I live in Europe, I had to import these. This CO is unrefined and cold pressed, which has being said to be important for hair growth use.
Vehicle on DMSO:
It takes about 15 minutes to penetrate with this vehicle, without DMSO it just stays on top of my head until I wash it out. I have tried it with 20% DMSO, but that's too little; it stays sticky, and it just partly penetrates my skin. From my experience I would say 40% of DMSO would be even better than 33%.
Be aware that DMSO freezes below 17 °C, and it will sink to the bottom, even after mixing well above 30 °C. So it's important to shake the bottle with mixture before using. Any plastics of the bottle should be made of HDPE, otherwise it will melt the plastic. If you have a glass bottle, the cap of the bottle should be of HDPE!
Although I have HDPE bottles, I was mistakenly using a non-HDPE syringe and non-HDPE pipette, which were melting by the DMSO. The mixture got contaminated, and I had to make a new one.
I am thinking about changing the vehicle because of the large amount of DMSO. ANY ADVICE IS WELCOME. I have Propylene Glycol, Ethanol 95%, DMI and PolySorbate 80 directly available.
Next to topical CO, I take 1300mL orally by taking two capsules from the NOW brand from iHerb. I also started using Rosemary Oil (RO), which contains Carnosic Acid (CA), and is less sticky than CO, it penetrates more easily and quicker and feels much better than CO on the skin. CA itself does not increase PGE2 production, but many of it's derivates do [4]. I have to read more into this, but I think RO could be second important oil to CO.
I also bought pure L-Menthol crystals and pure Peppermint Oil. Unfortunately I found an article on Pubmed concluding Mentha Piperita Oil inhibits PGE2 production by 40% at already 0,01%/mL!
Okay, I hope this was helpful.
MindfluX
References
1 Wang, M.L., Morris, J.B, Tonnis, B., Pinnow, D., David, J., Raymer, P., Pederson, G.A. (2011). Screening of the Entire USDA Castor Germplasm Collection for Oil Content and Fatty Acid Composition for Optimum Biodiesel Production. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 59, 9250-9256.
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf202949v
2 Fond, P., Tong, H.H.Y, Ng, K.H, Lao, C.K., Chong, C.I., & Chao, C.M. (2015). In silico prediction of prostaglandin D2 synthase inhibitors from herbal constituents for the treatment of hair loss. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 175, 470-480.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874115301677
3 Tunaru, S, Althoff, T.F., Nusing, R.M., Diener, M. & Offermans, S. (2012). Castor oil induces laxation and uterus contraction via ricinoleic acid activating prostaglandin EP3 receptors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109, 9179-9184
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3384204/pdf/pnas.201201627.pdf
4 Theoduloz, C, Pertino, M.W., & Schmeda-Hirschmann, G. (2014). Gastroprotective Meachanisms of Action of Semisynthetic Carnosic Acid Derivatives in Human Cells. Molecules, 19, 581-594.
http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/19/1/581/pdf
Let me try to explain how CO promotes hair growth, as it is asked numerous times and many times not explained. It's a good way to understand the process myself and give some info back.
For the CO I will give you guys some scientific references, so you can verify my statements and read on about the usefulness.
Basis knowledge on Androgenetic Alopecia:
Your androgens increase Prostaglandin D2 synthase (PTGDS), which inhibits hair growth by Prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) in your scalp. Secondly, depletion of Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) inhibits hair growth, and it's presence promotes hair growth.
Why Castor Oil may promote hair growth?
- CO consists of about 84% of Ricinoleic Acid (RA)[1]. RA is able to inhibit PTGDS, by binding to PTGDS (residues Tyr152, Met99, Trp104, Ala105, Met 11 and Arg14), and in turn inhibits the amount of PGD2 in your scalp [2].
- Secondly, RA stimulates the production of PGE2, it binds to two of the four receptors of PGE2, namely EP3 and EP4[3]. Topical pure PGE2 binds to all 4 receptors. Pure is hard to get and very expensive for most people.
- Thirdly, it could be that RA's anti-inflamatory, -bacterial, -viral and -fungal properties have a healthy effect on your scalp. I did not searched into this third effect.
Vehicle for Castor Oil:
CO's thick and viscous yellow liquid is highly hydrophilic, which makes it impossible to penetrate the skin [3]. Therefore you need a penetration enhancer like Ethanol 95% (or higher), Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) or Dimethyl Isosorbide (DMI). I have only experience with mixing it with DMSO. For the info, my DMI was about 3 times more expensive than my DMSO. I am not sure how much DMI you would need, could be less than DMSO.
At this moment I am using 67% Home Health's CO from iHerb with 33% DMSO (99,99% purity) from Regency Labs on eBay. But of course you can decide to buy other brands. Both looked very pure to me, and both are manufactured in the USA. AS I live in Europe, I had to import these. This CO is unrefined and cold pressed, which has being said to be important for hair growth use.
Vehicle on DMSO:
It takes about 15 minutes to penetrate with this vehicle, without DMSO it just stays on top of my head until I wash it out. I have tried it with 20% DMSO, but that's too little; it stays sticky, and it just partly penetrates my skin. From my experience I would say 40% of DMSO would be even better than 33%.
Be aware that DMSO freezes below 17 °C, and it will sink to the bottom, even after mixing well above 30 °C. So it's important to shake the bottle with mixture before using. Any plastics of the bottle should be made of HDPE, otherwise it will melt the plastic. If you have a glass bottle, the cap of the bottle should be of HDPE!
Although I have HDPE bottles, I was mistakenly using a non-HDPE syringe and non-HDPE pipette, which were melting by the DMSO. The mixture got contaminated, and I had to make a new one.
I am thinking about changing the vehicle because of the large amount of DMSO. ANY ADVICE IS WELCOME. I have Propylene Glycol, Ethanol 95%, DMI and PolySorbate 80 directly available.
Next to topical CO, I take 1300mL orally by taking two capsules from the NOW brand from iHerb. I also started using Rosemary Oil (RO), which contains Carnosic Acid (CA), and is less sticky than CO, it penetrates more easily and quicker and feels much better than CO on the skin. CA itself does not increase PGE2 production, but many of it's derivates do [4]. I have to read more into this, but I think RO could be second important oil to CO.
I also bought pure L-Menthol crystals and pure Peppermint Oil. Unfortunately I found an article on Pubmed concluding Mentha Piperita Oil inhibits PGE2 production by 40% at already 0,01%/mL!
Okay, I hope this was helpful.
MindfluX
References
1 Wang, M.L., Morris, J.B, Tonnis, B., Pinnow, D., David, J., Raymer, P., Pederson, G.A. (2011). Screening of the Entire USDA Castor Germplasm Collection for Oil Content and Fatty Acid Composition for Optimum Biodiesel Production. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 59, 9250-9256.
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf202949v
2 Fond, P., Tong, H.H.Y, Ng, K.H, Lao, C.K., Chong, C.I., & Chao, C.M. (2015). In silico prediction of prostaglandin D2 synthase inhibitors from herbal constituents for the treatment of hair loss. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 175, 470-480.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874115301677
3 Tunaru, S, Althoff, T.F., Nusing, R.M., Diener, M. & Offermans, S. (2012). Castor oil induces laxation and uterus contraction via ricinoleic acid activating prostaglandin EP3 receptors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109, 9179-9184
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3384204/pdf/pnas.201201627.pdf
4 Theoduloz, C, Pertino, M.W., & Schmeda-Hirschmann, G. (2014). Gastroprotective Meachanisms of Action of Semisynthetic Carnosic Acid Derivatives in Human Cells. Molecules, 19, 581-594.
http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/19/1/581/pdf
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lickawrist
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i cant speak for castor oils effectiveness, personally i dont think its going to do squat for two reasons 1) the oil is too thick to penetrate human skin; you're going to need a vehicle 2) although there seems to be a correlation between high pgd2 levels in the scalp and balding, it does not strictly imply causation--we dont know if prostaglandins are a direct factor in Androgenetic Alopecia or just proteins operating downstream. even though pgd2 was shown to inhibit hair GROWTH, it does not mean its directly responsible for the miniaturization and eventual apoptosis of the hair follicle.
Warning: don't to mix Castor oil with Rosemary oil in DMSO.
When I apply 1mL of each in my hand palm the substance gets really warm. Yesterday I applied it to my scalp and it burned like hell, then instantly hairs were fallen out. At least 20 hairs in less then 30 seconds after applying the mixture! I grabbed for the soap and washed it all out immediately.
No issues when I use them solo with at least 4 hours in between. I definitely need to read a lot more on Rosemary oil.
@sweden: Do you have information if Ethanol is a good penetration enhancer for Caster Oil? How long does it take for you to have a fairly acceptable non-sticky scalp after applying the mixture?
I don't like the DMSO. It melts plastic in the same way as thinner. Some drops already burned very ugly in my brand new beard trimmer. I can't be thinking of using this stuff for years.
When I apply 1mL of each in my hand palm the substance gets really warm. Yesterday I applied it to my scalp and it burned like hell, then instantly hairs were fallen out. At least 20 hairs in less then 30 seconds after applying the mixture! I grabbed for the soap and washed it all out immediately.
No issues when I use them solo with at least 4 hours in between. I definitely need to read a lot more on Rosemary oil.
@sweden: Do you have information if Ethanol is a good penetration enhancer for Caster Oil? How long does it take for you to have a fairly acceptable non-sticky scalp after applying the mixture?
I don't like the DMSO. It melts plastic in the same way as thinner. Some drops already burned very ugly in my brand new beard trimmer. I can't be thinking of using this stuff for years.
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