In my line of work (that is, reporting on matters of men’s grooming), I find that there are no greater confusions and rumors than in the line of hair loss, hair regrowth, and hair retention. All of those things are intertwined, and keeping your fullest possible head of hair requires the right know-how. Read on for the facts—the best men’s hair growth tips I could ever share with any of you.
Also, after reading all this, you might wonder “is going bald really all that bad?” The answer is no. Plus, it can save you a ton of time, stress, and money—aside from those routine head shavings, of course. No shame in going bald, but if you are considering keeping it, read on for the 10 hair retention commandments.
1. Hair retention is a lifelong endeavor.
If you start hair loss treatments, you need to continue with them indefinitely. As soon as you stop, so do the benefits. (This includes if you get a hair transplant… keep reading.)
2. You cannot naturally restore a recessed hairline.
With hair loss treatments you can restore a thinning crown, but any hair lost to recession is permanently gone, unless you opt for a hair transplant.
3. You can revive some crown thinning from the past year or few.
Don’t hang your hopes on restoring long lost hair follicles. Anything follicles that have miniaturized in the past year or two (ish) are your best chances for regrowth. Anything hairs lost beyond that are beyond resurrection, as their follicles are long shriveled and gone.
4. Clinical medicines are your best option.
Remember the names: minoxidil and finasteride. They are the clinically proven ways to retain hair and to fortify thinning hair—or to regrow hair that has been shed in the past year or so.
For the best hair loss treatments:
Try brands like Xyon, Ro, Hims, Feel Confident, and Happy Head. They all deliver right to your door and have doctors who can prescribe treatments through the web.
5. Wait 6-7 months before you do your first true assessment.
If you are taking treatments to regrow/revive hair density: be patient. You are reactivating shriveled-down, dormant follicles—or thickening your thinnest strands. These all need time to thicken up and to express fully. Around month 6 or 7 is when you should start noticing good results in terms of density, and the benefits continue until months 12-18 until you are in a good maintenance mode. (Again, don’t stop—you need to maintain those result indefinitely.)
6. A hair transplant is not a last resort, nor a first one.
You should only get a hair transplant if you have been taking minoxidil and finasteride for 7-12 months minimum, so that you know exactly how much hair you are potentially working with—and to prove that you can keep the habit of taking those medicines after a hair transplant. see, those hairs that you rearrange from the back of your head to the top… they will never fall out, while the rest of your hairs up top (the ones native to the dome that haven’t yet thinned out)… they will continue to fall without treatment (minoxidil and/or finasteride). So if you aren’t taking the medicines or discontinue them after a hair transplant, you could end up looking like a Franciscan monk.
Learn more about hair regrowth expectations and treatments:
7. Topical finasteride drastically reduces risk of sexual side effects (those seen with oral finasteride).
This is huge news for anyone too nervous or completely opposed to oral finasteride; in reliable studies, topical finasteride is shown to perform almost exactly as effectively as oral finasteride, while circulating in the body at 1% of oral consumption. Both are only available with a prescription.
Read more about finasteride here, how it targets the hormonal byproduct that shrinks your follicles, and associated risks.
8. Oral minoxidil is perhaps the gold standard in clinical treatments.
But topical is great too. Minoxidil enhances your hair’s growth cycles and improves nutrient delivery to follicles. Oral minoxidil is prescription only, while topical minoxidil is available over the counter.
Read more about minoxidil here—and learn about the difference between oral and topical options.
Once more: for the best hair loss treatments…
Try brands like Xyon, Ro, Hims, Feel Confident, and Happy Head, for teledoc meetings and hair loss treatments sent right to your doorstep.
9. Certain supplements offer extremely promising support.
For those curious about hair growth supplements: Saw palmetto is shown to have similar impact on dihydrotestosterone (DHT—the thing that shrivels your hair follicles) as finasteride. Ditto for pumpkin seed oil. Also, ashwagandha is terrific at lowering cortisol’s impact on your entire body, including your hair’s health. A general multivitamin will be terrific for fortifying your hair health too, in addition to other biological benefits. Some nutraceuticals like Nutrafol combine all the nutrients in multivitamins with targeted hair growth nutrients too, to streamline supplementation.
But remember: They are supplements, above all. Start with clinical solutions, and stick with brands that are trusted by doctors and experts, because supplements are like the wild west (they are unregulated by the FDA).
10. Plasma injections and laser treatments are a terrific way to boost results—albeit expensive.
PRP (platelet-rich plasma) as well as LLLT (low-level laser therapy) are high-powered ways to fortify your follicles. PRP injects your own body’s growth factors right into the scalp, acting like a steroid for those follicles, while LLLT can help regulate and enhance hair growth cycles as well as stimulate follicles. (And some studies suggest it can neutralize DHT at the scalp, too.)
Both options are extremely expensive clinical treatments, and still secondary to the more affordable at-home clinical options like minoxidil and finasteride. Also, many companies are now selling at-home LED and laser treatment caps, so you can do LLLT for a few minutes a day (but for a couple thousand dollars or more per cap, too). Still compared to clinical treatment sessions, it could be a sound investment.
Bonus: Busting one hair loss myth
There is no such thing as hair loss shampoo. It’s just shampoo. But one active ingredient in some dandruff shampoos (ketoconazole) is believed to have DHT-busting benefits. Still, it pales as an option compared to clinical treatments—plus, dandruff shampoo can sure dry out your hair.
