Capsaicin prevents hair loss?

[sk8charlie]

I read in an article that capsaicin may have an ability to halt hair loss and increase the amount of time that the hair spends in anagen phase. Something to do with substance P etc. Has anyone tried it? I know they make a few capsaicin gels and lotions that are easily applied onto the scalp.... let me know if you know more about this treatment.

 

[Old Baldy]

Well I use a homemade concoction of it about once, or twice, a week to clean out the scalp and get the blood flowing. I don't know if it really does more than that though? (Don't even know if it "cleans" out the scalp, it feels like it does though.)

Btw, it's kind of funny, I let it soak for about 30-60 minutes. It dries out, then I rinse it out. It "tingles" just as much after it is rinsed out as it did when I initially put it on my scalp. (Residual action I guess?)

When I say "tingle" I mean "TINGLE"!! :shock:

I put one part cayenne powder (extra hot) mixed with 10 parts of 100 proof vodka and let it soak in the bottle for 2 weeks. Filter it through cheesecloth than use the remaining extract.

 

[Bismarck]

I think it's a substance P receptor antagonist. Substance could play a role in stress induced hairloss.

 

[iamnaked]

An article:

Lab Invest. 1994 Jul;71(1):134-40. Related Articles, Links


Hair growth induction by substance P.

Paus R, Heinzelmann T, Schultz KD, Furkert J, Fechner K, Czarnetzki BM.

Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Rudolf Virchow, Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany.

BACKGROUND: In vitro, some neuropeptides, including the tachykinin, substance P (SP), act as growth factors. The cyclic growth of the richly innervated hair follicle offers a model for probing such functions in a complex, developmentally regulated tissue interaction system under physiologic conditions. Dissecting the role of neuropeptides in this system may also reveal as yet obscure neural mechanisms of hair growth control. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: The neuropeptide-releasing neurotoxin, capsaicin was injected intradermally, or SP slow-release formulations were implanted subcutaneously in the back skin of C57BL/6 mice with all follicles in the resting stage of the hair cycle (telogen) in order to see whether this induced hair growth (anagen). In addition, the endogenous SP skin concentration and the activity of the main SP-degrading enzyme, neutral endopeptidase, were determined during the induced murine hair cycle by high performance liquid chromatography-controlled radioimmuno-assay (SP) or by fluorometry (neutral endopeptidase). RESULTS: Both capsaicin and SP induced significant hair growth (anagen) in the back skin of telogen mice. This was associated with substantial mast cell degranulation. The endogenous SP skin concentration showed significant, hair cycle-dependent fluctuations during the induced murine hair cycle, which were largely independent of the activity of neutral endopeptidase. CONCLUSIONS: SP may play a role in the neural control of hair growth. Whereas this pilot study does not address the underlying mechanisms of action, it demonstrates that SP has potential as a hair growth-stimulatory agent in vivo, and serves as a basis for exploring the role of tachykinins in epithelial-mesenchymal-neuroectodermal interaction systems like the hair follicle.

Not the words 'mouse' and 'inject'.

disclaimer 1: Unless you are a mouse, this treatment may not work.
disclaimer 2: Injecting chilli powder into your scalp blatantly hurts like f***.

 

[iamnaked]

IMPORTANT: Before smearing chilli on your pates, you may also want to take a look at this article; a study on capsaicin on human hair which may prove distressing reading to those with low attention spans and a non-science grounding (i include myself in this).

"In organ culture, TRPV1 activation by capsaicin resulted in a dose-dependent and TRPV1-specific inhibition of hair shaft elongation, suppression of proliferation, induction of apoptosis, premature HF regression (catagen), and up-regulation of intrafollicular transforming growth factor-ß2. Cultured human ORS keratinocytes also expressed functional TRPV1, whose stimulation inhibited proliferation, induced apoptosis, elevated intracellular calcium concentration, up-regulated known endogenous hair growth inhibitors (interleukin-1ß, transforming growth factor-ß2), and down-regulated known hair growth promoters (hepatocyte growth factor, insulin-like growth factor-I, stem cell factor)."

apoptosis means cell-death btw.

The long and the short of this seems to be that far from capsiacin promoting growth, it in fact right royally fucks it up. (BUT THEN WHY DOES IT GROW IT ON MICE?!!!) There's a conspiracy theory in there somewhere...

 

[Bismarck]

In vivo under -certain circumstances- minoxidil inhibts hairs growth as well.

 

[iamnaked]

Granted, it is possible that the same is the case with capsaicin. Perhaps hysteria is unwarranted, but that article still makes for sobering reading, especially given that capsaicin is by no means a tried and tested antidote for male pattern baldness. I'd advise anyone trying this treatment to try it on their arms or something first.

 

[Old Baldy]

I agree Iam, it makes for sobering reading. That's why I only use it about once a week. I'm playing the "odds" if you know what I mean. More studies indicate capsaicin is good for scalp health than detrimental but I admit there's been more than one study that gave the "bad" info. your cited study gave us.