Any diffuse thinners recovered?
- Thread starter YouKnow
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yello911
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I recovered quite a bit. Here is what I wrote to Richybee in another post:
Richybee, if you dig up some of my old posts, you will see that my story is very similar to yours. I started diffusing right around my 20th birthday. Before, I would never brush my hair and basically, put gel on it the minute I got out of the shower. Then one day in the shower I noticed tons of hairs on my hand while washing it. That lasted for a long time and I lost a lot of hair. I had the same symptoms you have where my scalp would itch and the hairs that came out had either crust on the end or a bulb about 3x the size of the shaft. I also would get scalp zits too.
Back then I didn't have any options until rogaine 2% came out. That helped a little but not much. Then finally, the bigger guns started coming out and I took finasteride and minoxidil regularly.
Here is the good news. I'm 37 now and have grown enough of my hair back that people don't make bald jokes to me anymore. Many think I'm not balding but just have a normal aging hair line and thickness.
Consider yourself lucky to be losing your hair in this day and age. If I had what was known and available today, I'll bet my hair would be thicker.
Here is what I would do ASAP:
1. Buy Head & Shoulders Intensive Solutions shampoo. It has 2% zinc and I have found it to work better than T-sal, T-gel, etc. for me. I use it daily but found that any more than that will actually irritate your scalp instead. Recently I discovered that adding a little tea tree oil to the shampoo made it much, much more effective. After I added the tea tree oil, I don't have any scalp zits and my scalp has not itched since. I really think that the inflammation on the scalp is a HUGE contributor to diffuse thinning!
2. Brush your hair and wash your brush frequently. Don't be scared of the hair falling out when you brush. If the force of brushing is enough to make them fall out, they were on their way out. The only difference is that you see them in your brush instead of not seeing them fall out as you do your daily routine. In my opinion, getting blood to your scalp is important.
3. Minoxidil. I buy mine at Costco (Kirkland brand) and it's very cheap! I've been adding about 10 drops of tea tree oil in a bottle for use at night and found that to help.
4. Keep your hair short. I've noticed my scalp itched less when my hair was cut very short. My hair and scalp dried much quicker (fungus loves moisture), I used less shampoo (value), Minoxidil was easier to apply, and to be honest, it actually brought less attention to my head.
5. Finasteride. The other items work directly for your scalp but it would be a good idea to continue the fight from the inside too. I believe a sensitivity to DHT is a major cause of scalp inflammation as your body interprets it as a foreign object (somebody please correct me if I am wrong). Plus, of course, DHT is the main contributor to male pattern baldness.
6. Fish oil. While I'm not sure the extent to which it is helping my head of hair, it has made my joints feel like a million bucks! Fish oil is a natural anti-inflammatory. It's also good for your cardiovascular system, brain, skin, hair, eyes, etc. It's inexpensive and worth a try. Take with food.
7. Lavender oil. I'm not taking this yet but it's supposedly it has anti-androgenic properties. Maybe mix some of that into your shampoo or minoxidil.
8. Rinse head after sweating a lot. If you hit the gym or have been sweating profusely, try and rinse your head off afterward. If you already shampooed earlier, don't shampoo again, just run some water through to get some of that sweaty sludge out. I have found that works pretty good for me to keep any itch down.
9. Work on yourself as a person. I am 37 now. Back in my mid 20's was the worst of my hair loss when you could see my scalp easily whether wet or dry. I got in a deep depression, avoided going out along with having my picture taken. I shaved my head, started going to the gym and began to work on my self-esteem. After losing my belly and building a little muscle, I started getting compliments. The more compliments I got, the less depressed I felt, the less I worried about my hair. I still fought the battle of the bald but now I wasn't stressed about it. I honestly believe, getting out of my depressive funk and feeling less stressed about my hair helped my hair grow! I am at the stage now where I can actually put gel back into my hair for the wet look, although I only do it when I am going out for a night on the town.
Richybee, if you dig up some of my old posts, you will see that my story is very similar to yours. I started diffusing right around my 20th birthday. Before, I would never brush my hair and basically, put gel on it the minute I got out of the shower. Then one day in the shower I noticed tons of hairs on my hand while washing it. That lasted for a long time and I lost a lot of hair. I had the same symptoms you have where my scalp would itch and the hairs that came out had either crust on the end or a bulb about 3x the size of the shaft. I also would get scalp zits too.
Back then I didn't have any options until rogaine 2% came out. That helped a little but not much. Then finally, the bigger guns started coming out and I took finasteride and minoxidil regularly.
Here is the good news. I'm 37 now and have grown enough of my hair back that people don't make bald jokes to me anymore. Many think I'm not balding but just have a normal aging hair line and thickness.
Consider yourself lucky to be losing your hair in this day and age. If I had what was known and available today, I'll bet my hair would be thicker.
Here is what I would do ASAP:
1. Buy Head & Shoulders Intensive Solutions shampoo. It has 2% zinc and I have found it to work better than T-sal, T-gel, etc. for me. I use it daily but found that any more than that will actually irritate your scalp instead. Recently I discovered that adding a little tea tree oil to the shampoo made it much, much more effective. After I added the tea tree oil, I don't have any scalp zits and my scalp has not itched since. I really think that the inflammation on the scalp is a HUGE contributor to diffuse thinning!
2. Brush your hair and wash your brush frequently. Don't be scared of the hair falling out when you brush. If the force of brushing is enough to make them fall out, they were on their way out. The only difference is that you see them in your brush instead of not seeing them fall out as you do your daily routine. In my opinion, getting blood to your scalp is important.
3. Minoxidil. I buy mine at Costco (Kirkland brand) and it's very cheap! I've been adding about 10 drops of tea tree oil in a bottle for use at night and found that to help.
4. Keep your hair short. I've noticed my scalp itched less when my hair was cut very short. My hair and scalp dried much quicker (fungus loves moisture), I used less shampoo (value), Minoxidil was easier to apply, and to be honest, it actually brought less attention to my head.
5. Finasteride. The other items work directly for your scalp but it would be a good idea to continue the fight from the inside too. I believe a sensitivity to DHT is a major cause of scalp inflammation as your body interprets it as a foreign object (somebody please correct me if I am wrong). Plus, of course, DHT is the main contributor to male pattern baldness.
6. Fish oil. While I'm not sure the extent to which it is helping my head of hair, it has made my joints feel like a million bucks! Fish oil is a natural anti-inflammatory. It's also good for your cardiovascular system, brain, skin, hair, eyes, etc. It's inexpensive and worth a try. Take with food.
7. Lavender oil. I'm not taking this yet but it's supposedly it has anti-androgenic properties. Maybe mix some of that into your shampoo or minoxidil.
8. Rinse head after sweating a lot. If you hit the gym or have been sweating profusely, try and rinse your head off afterward. If you already shampooed earlier, don't shampoo again, just run some water through to get some of that sweaty sludge out. I have found that works pretty good for me to keep any itch down.
9. Work on yourself as a person. I am 37 now. Back in my mid 20's was the worst of my hair loss when you could see my scalp easily whether wet or dry. I got in a deep depression, avoided going out along with having my picture taken. I shaved my head, started going to the gym and began to work on my self-esteem. After losing my belly and building a little muscle, I started getting compliments. The more compliments I got, the less depressed I felt, the less I worried about my hair. I still fought the battle of the bald but now I wasn't stressed about it. I honestly believe, getting out of my depressive funk and feeling less stressed about my hair helped my hair grow! I am at the stage now where I can actually put gel back into my hair for the wet look, although I only do it when I am going out for a night on the town.
YouKnow
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Thanks for the reply. I am using propecia, revita shampoo, msm, green tea extract, and l-lysine, and fish oil right now. I tried one of those herbal supplements where the main ingredient was saw palmetto, but I dont think that did anything. I have only been on propecia for a little over a month so I can not say what kind of results I will have. I am waiting to start minoxidil until I see what kind of results I get with just propecia. I am not bad enough yet where anybody but me, my dermatologist, and my hairdressor can notice anything. If it gets too bad soon I am just going to buzz my head. I just wonder what I will tell people was the reason I buzzed it, probably just trying something new.