Looking for opinions regarding shampoo/treatment

[hairlosslonghorn]

Hello, I'm a new user. I am 18 years old. I first started losing my hair when i was 15 or so. It started slowly, and I'd always had thick, thick hair. I also wore my hair long, so it really didn't show at all for at least a year and half to two years. Not much hair loss on the crown, but sometime around age 17, I started losing hair on the top of my head badly. Close to the front, but still an inch or two from the hairline.

My hair loss is sort of weird. My actual hairline has small holes in it, but it hasn't really receded too much. It's really mostly this area in the middle of my head an inch or two from my hairline...extremely noticeable when my hair is wet.

I didn't really do much about it until this past year. I've been on propecia for around 9 months and Biotin 2500 for around 6 months, and while the hairloss has definitely slowed down, I still lose a considerable amount in the shower each day.


I currently use Pantene full and thick, which I've heard is not such a hot idea. I tried L'oreal Vive thickening, but I felt like I was losing more hair while using it, so I went back to Pantene. I'm considering moving to American Crew's Revitalize line(And the spray as well)...would this be a wise decision? Also, should I get the moisturizing or the non-moisturizing shampoo?

Also, are there any other products that you all would recommend?

Thanks and Hook 'Em Horns!

Edit - I guess the obvious answer to my last question is Rogaine, but my question is ...is it worth it? Seems like quite the hassle? Would it even help someone who isn't losing hair on the crown?

 

[Hans Gruber]

hey,use nizoral 2% shampoo 2-3 times a week,will inhibit dht ,use rogaine on your scalp and to fill in the hairline,using nizoral,rogaine and the finasteride you are already on is youe best bet by a mile,and yes rogaine is worth it,it doesnt take long to apply .its esp good on the crown and you could well have success with it on the hairline

nizoral/rogaine/finasteride is 'the big 3' the best and most proven regimen,so get on it!

hope that helps

 

[The Gardener]

First off, congrats on the Rose Bowl win. Nicely done. :notworthy:

Now to the hair...

Let me introduce you to a few concepts of hairloss 101, so to speak.

Our hair grows in cycles. It starts as a sprout, takes about three months to grow to a length long enough to be visible outside of the follicle, and then remains in growth phase for a few to several years. Then, the follicle ejects the shaft, the hair is "shed", and the follicle then begins production of it's next hair, and the cycle repeats.

As a typical man gets older, each successive "growth phase" lasts a little bit shorter. Now, this does not happen uniformly amongst ALL hairs, but will happen to a few follicles at a time. Because of this, men who wear their hair long will start to see changes as they age faster then men who wear shorter hair. This is NOT because wearing hair long causes hair to fall out any faster than short hair, but rather, because your hair follicles are constantly in different stages of growth mode, those with long hair will notice subtle changes in growth volume more readily than those with short hair.

Let me try to give you an analogy to illustrate the point. Two neighbors both have lawns. One fertilizes his lawn, the other does not. Now, let's assume that both allow their lawns to grow very high.

The guy with the fertilized lawn will have a much thicker-looking lawn, as the fertilizer allows the grass shafts to grow much longer, on average. The guy with the un-fertilized lawn will have some grass shafts that grow as long as his neighbor's, but others will not grow as quickly or thickly.

Now, if both neighbors mow their lawns, it would be hard to tell them apart.

Well, as men age, most men's hair goes through a similar slowdown in growth as a lawn that is fertilized less and less. Guys who keep closely trimmed hair will not notice this as much, but guys who have longer hair might start seeing the differences more quickly, as the longer hair length requires a longer growth phase. In a nutshell, as the hormone DHT completes it's purpose of bringing you through puberty, and assisting your physical development as a man, these changes are inevitable. That's why it becomes increasingly difficult for men, and women as well, to maintain luxurious manes of long hair, unless you are one of the small genetically-blessed minority whose hair is impervious to this.

However, just because your hair growth cycle might be shortening due to age does not necessarily mean that your overall haircount is dropping. You might very well have the same number of hairs, but the shafts just aren't growing as long, and as such, it looks more thin.

If you are only noticing thinning, and your hairline is generally holding its integrity, then I'd recommend picking up some Nizoral 1% shampoo at the grocery store, and using it 2 or 3 times a week. Lather it in, let it sit for 3-5 minutes, and rinse. Nizoral contains Ketoconazole, which is a mild anti-androgen, a mildly contradictory effect on the underlying thinning. It, in my opinion, would be a far superior treatment than Revitalize, but if you like Revitalize and it suits your hair, then go for it too on the off days. Another option might be adding in a copper peptide spray, there are two that people use most often here, Folligen, and Tricomin. Both have their pros and cons, you might want to do some reading here on the site to determine which one might suit you best.

Hope this helps, and good luck!... (and fight on, SC!.. we'll be gunning for you next year!... and between now and then, hopefully our linebackers will finally learn how to tackle.)

 

[Aplunk1]

OMG, Gardener, that was a great analogy there.

Hairloss, as Compared to a Lawn, by Gardener

Well written.

 

[Britannia]

I use American Crew revitalise shampoo and conditioner in rotation with Nizoral 2%. I also use the spray. In case you werent aware, AC revitalise is a copper peptide based treatment.

 

[hairlosslonghorn]

First off, congrats on the Rose Bowl win. Nicely done. :notworthy:

haha, great, amazing game. Looks like both of our teams will be losing a lot to the NFL, but I'm looking forward to another great year!

Thanks guys for all the suggestions. I'm going to order some of the American Crew line(Shampoo, conditioner, spray). I'm sort of hesitant to go on Rogaine, just because I know it will be difficult for me to stick to it and apply every morning/night. Is the Nizoral 2% that much more effective than the 1% that it's worth getting the prescription?

 

[andyhunt]

Are there any shampoos and conditioners out there that you don;t have to use every day. I shower every day but only like to wash my hair every 2 days.
I am on Dutasteride and have had 2 transplants and use Justin Jay products to increase blood supply and Nanogen treatments to thicken up what's on top at the moment.

 

[Britannia]

Are there any shampoos and conditioners out there that you don;t have to use every day. I shower every day but only like to wash my hair every 2 days.
I am on Dutasteride and have had 2 transplants and use Justin Jay products to increase blood supply and Nanogen treatments to thicken up what's on top at the moment.

Nizoral 1% or 2% is only used twice a week. And there the only shampoos proven to help hairloss.