Hair Growth Products That Work

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Hair Growth Products That Work So Well They Make You Want To Celebrate By Running Through a Random Field With Balloons....

Hey I'm Riley and if you follow my blog then you know I have androgenic alopecia. Because of that... I'm always on the hunt for hair growth products that work. And I don't just mean hair products that have a bunch of reviews on amazon...I mean products that have actually been evaluated clinically. Show me the data...

So here's what I'm serving up for you in this post... This is my list of my favorite hair growth products. I've written about and reviewed lots of the clinical trial data that have evaluated these products in other posts. So I'll have a few links in case you'd like to check out a certain product and learn about it in more detail.  

As always... be sure to consult with your physician prior to changing any part of your hair loss treatment regimen.

1. Products for Hair Growth That Work: Ketoconazole Shampoo

With so many shampoo products on the market with tons of different ingredients claiming to combat hair loss and hair thinning it can be hard to know what one to choose.

You can find ketoconazole over the counter and also available from your doctor by prescription.

It is also highly effective in treating seborrheic dermatitis (this is a skin condition that involves scaly patches to form mainly on the scalp that are red in color). 

But how is Ketoconazole Shampoo thought to work in treating hair loss?

It kind of targets hair loss from a few different directions...

• Ketoconazole is an anti-fungal drug with anti-inflammatory properties (1).

• It also has anti-androgenic properties and this is the most commonly proposed mechanism for how it works in androgenic alopecia (1).

• We know that androgenic alopecia is caused by a genetic predisposition along with hormones such as androgens, testosterone, and testosterones conversion into Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the hair follicles (2). So applying ketoconazole to the scalp might be able to combat androgen-related hair loss (3).

If you want to know more about Ketoconazole and its use in the clinical setting check out my blog post HERE.

I use the 1% solution at least 3x a week as part of my own hair loss treatment regimen. 

I also want to call out that the Ketoconazole shampoo linked above is 1% and does not require a prescription. Whereas Ketoconazole evaluated in the clinical studies I reviewed was at 2%.

2. Hair Products That Work: Microneedling

In case you're not at familiar with this treatment here is a little background:

This therapy is also referred to as: “needling”, “skin needling” “microneedling”, “micro needing”, “needling dermabrasion”, and collagen induction therapy” (6).

Microneedles are…Get ready for it…

Micro-scale needles. They have a typical length from 25 to 2000 μm (7).

Microneedling is a minimally invasive procedure where physical trauma from needle penetration is induced to the outermost layer of the epidermis (8).

Besides just being used as a treatment for androgenic alopecia, microneedling has also been used as a treatment for things like: melasma (which is a pigment disorder), stretch marks, atrophic scars, alopecia areata and more (8).

For more information about microneedling as a hair growth product that works check out my blog post HERE. This is where I review clinical trial data, along with discussing microneedling depths, treatment frequency, and topical application. 

3. Products for Hair Growth That Work: Scalp massage

Scalp massage. But what does scalp massage actually do? Well, massage (depending on factors like device used, technique, and duration) may activate wound healing amongst other mechanisms (4).

You may be familiar with therapies for androgenic alopecia that activate wound healing responses to promote hair growth like platelet rich plasma (PRP) treatment and microneedling. Kind of the same concept here...

Think about what's  happening when you’re massaging. There’s compression, stretching, and contraction happening to the skin. This mechanical force may cause your cells to respond by changing gene expression to initiate cellular damage or repair (5). 

There’s also an increase in blood flow that occurs at the massaged area (5). But keep in mind that more blood flow doesn’t necessarily translate to increased hair count…

I know, bummer. 

Now this is a bit of a wildcard product. Why? The effects of scalp massage on hair growth remain unclear. But after reviewing the data I decided to incorporate scalp massage (4 min daily) into my long-term treatment plan against hair loss. 

The tool I use for this is the scalp massager with soft silicon. None of the studies I reviewed used this tool for scalp massage. I made this selection based on the simplicity of use. I just hold it in my hand and push the soft silicon into my scalp. I set a timer and then hold the tool in place and alter my pressure in a circular motion. Then I move to the next location on my scalp that I'd like to focus on.

I'm convinced using my hands would also be just as effective and one of the studies I reviewed did just use presses, pinches, and stretches, that were all performed with the hand. 

After reviewing the two studies I found on the effects of scalp massage I think that this treatment may increase hair thickness. If you'd like to learn more about scalp massage as a treatment for hair loss then check out my post HERE. This way you can evaluate the studies for yourself.

4. Hair Growth Products That Work: Minoxidil

Did you really think we were going to get through this post without talking about Minoxidil? I use minoxidil nightly and I just use whatever is cheaper. I mainly stick with 5% foam and have zero loyalty to brands.

Just some background in case you aren't familiar with  minoxidil...

Topical minoxidil is the only US FDA approved drug for the treatment of female pattern hair loss (FPHL). 

However, 5% minoxidil foam is only effective at re-growing hair in a minority of women (approximately 40%) (10).

Another thing with minoxidil is that with prolonged treatment it takes time to see results. I'm talking months...

In the past I have reacted to some minoxidil formulations after years of use which resulted in my scalp becoming red, itchy and inflamed. This type of reaction which is called contact dermatitis was the main reason I decided to search for other minoxidil formulations that were gentle on the scalp.

Eventually I landed on Lipogaine’s 3% minoxidil formulation for sensitive scalps. I applied this topically two times per day. I loved that Lipogaine would dry quickly and was not greasy unlike some of the other minoxidil formulations I had tried. 

5. Hair Growth Products That Work: Low Level Laser Therapy

You may have also heard of this treatment referred to as photobiomodulation or laser therapy.

I've used the devices linked above and I use the helmet regularly with the comb not as often.

Because I use multiple treatment modalities it's difficult to determine where my results are coming from. So it's hard to say whether I've noticed a ton of growth from laser therapy...But I still include it as part of my routine. 

But laser therapy devices aren't limited to just caps/helmets and combs/brushes. They can also be found in the form of headbands and stationary hoods (You might've seen these hoods in an office-based setting).

As of September 2020 there were 66 of these laser therapy devices registered with the FDA so there's definitely lots to choose from (9).

If you want to know what the data shows about low level laser therapy and its effects on hair growth...Or what features you may want to look for when choosing a laser cap or comb then check out my blog post linked HERE.

As always thank you so much for reading! Sending love to my fellow alopecians! Be sure to subscribe to make sure you never miss a post!

xoxox

-Riley

References:

2) El-Garf, A., Mohie, M. & Salah, E. Trichogenic effect of topical ketoconazole versus minoxidil 2% in female pattern hair loss: a clinical and trichoscopic evaluation. biomed dermatol3, 8 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41702-019-0046-y

3) Sonino N, Scaroni C, Biason A, Boscaro M, Mantero F. Low-dose ketoconazole treatment in hirsute women. J Endocrinol Invest. 1990 Jan;13(1):35-40. doi: 10.1007/BF03348578. PMID: 2138647.

4) English, Robert S Jr, and James M Barazesh. “Self-Assessments of Standardized Scalp Massages for Androgenic Alopecia: Survey Results.” Dermatology and therapy vol. 9,1 (2019): 167-178. doi:10.1007/s13555-019-0281-6

5) Koyama, Taro et al. “Standardized Scalp Massage Results in Increased Hair Thickness by Inducing Stretching Forces to Dermal Papilla Cells in the Subcutaneous Tissue.” Eplasty vol. 16 e8. 25 Jan. 2016

6) Ocampo-Garza SS, Fabbrocini G, Ocampo-Candiani J, Cinelli E, Villani A. Micro needling: A novel therapeutic approach for androgenetic alopecia, A Review of Literature. Dermatol Ther. 2020 Nov;33(6):e14267. doi: 10.1111/dth.14267. Epub 2020 Sep 28. PMID: 32882083.

7) Bok, Moonjeong et al. “Effective Dispensing Methods for Loading Drugs Only to the Tip of DNA Microneedles.” Pharmaceutics vol. 12,10 954. 10 Oct. 2020, doi:10.3390/pharmaceutics12100954

8) Iriarte, Christopher et al. “Review of applications of microneedling in dermatology.” Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology vol. 10 289-298. 8 Aug. 2017, doi:10.2147/CCID.S142450

9) U.S. Food & Drug Administration. 510(k) Premarket Notification. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfPMN/pmn.cfm. Accessed September 23, 2020.

10) McCoy J, Goren A, Kovacevic M, Shapiro J. Minoxidil dose response study in female pattern hair loss patients determined to be non-responders to 5% topical minoxidil. J Biol Regul Homeost Agents. 2016 Oct-Dec;30(4):1153-1155. PMID: 28078868.