Hi guys
Just thought I'd update you all on my quest to hold onto my hair just using shampoo's.

I had been using just T-gel therapeutic (coal tar) shampoo for a number of years (5-10) due to itching scalp etc and about 2 years ago noticed my hair was starting to thin.

Through reading this forum about 18 months ago I added Nizoral, and then recently 6 months ago also added Alpecin double effect caffeine shampoo and things have started to improve and I would say I think I've actually halted the hairloss and stopped it getting any worse..., which suits me as not really into taking strong meds etc..

Just thought I'd post on a partial success, even if only halted rather than re-grown.

Thanks
Ianw2000uk

Glad to hear that your hair loss has halted, but I'm sceptical about the efficacy of the shampoos. A BMJ article that noted how some men experience periods of accelerated loss lasting 3-­6 months, followed by quiescent periods of up to 18 months. Some men can take up to 25 years to bald - and this is all in the absence of treatments.

anyone tried Dr. Proctors Nano shampoo?

I've heard people raving about it.

Shampoo will not fight the real cause of hairloss - DHT.

It's worth trying out some Body Shop Ginger Anti Dandruf shampoo (with Piroctone Olamine). It's only about £5. It performs slightly better in tests and I personally find it not nearly as harsh as Nizoral.

Here's the study from a legitimate source.

Nudging hair shedding by antidandruff shampoos. A comparison of 1% ketoconazole, 1% piroctone olamine and 1% zinc pyrithione formulations.

Piérard-Franchimont C, Goffin V, Henry F, Uhoda I, Braham C, Piérard GE.

Department of Dermatopathology, University Medical Center Sart Tilman, B-4000 Liège, Belgium.

Hair shedding and hair thinning have been reported to be affected by dandruff and seborrhoeic dermatitis. The present study was conducted in 150 men presenting with telogen effluvium related to androgenic alopecia associated with dandruff. They were randomly allocated to three groups receiving each one of the three shampoos in the market containing either 1% ketoconazole (KTZ), 1% piroctone olamine (PTO) or 1% zinc pyrithione (ZPT). Shampoos had to be used 2-3 times a week for 6 months. Hair shedding during shampoo was evaluated semiquantitatively. Hair density on the vertex was evaluated on photographs using a Dermaphot. Trichograms were used for determining the anagen hair percentage and the mean proximal hair shaft diameter using computerized image analysis. The sebum excretion rate (SER, mug cm(-2) h(-1)) was also measured using a Sebumeter(®). The three treatments cleared pruritus and dandruff rapidly. At end point, hair density was unchanged, although hair shedding was decreased (KTZ: -17.3%, PTO: -16.5%, ZPT: -10.1%) and the anagen hair percentage was increased (KTZ: 4.9%, PTO: 7.9%, ZPT: 6.8%). The effect on the mean hair shaft diameter was contrasted between the three groups of volunteers (KTZ: 5.4%, PTO: 7.7%, ZPT: -2.2%). In conclusion, telogen effluvium was controlled by KTZ, PTO and ZPT shampoos at 1% concentration. In addition, KTZ and PTO increased the mean hair shaft thickness while discretely decreasing the sebum output at the skin surface.

Piroctone Olamine(PTO) outperformed Nizoral (KTZ) and Head and Shoulders((ZPT) in its ability to increase hair shaft diameter in AGA. Both Nizoral and PTO also reduced sebum emission, demonstrating an anti-androgenic effect.

The implication of this study is that P.O. shampoo, used 2-3 times weekly will likely provide even more of a benefit to treating hormonal hair loss than Nizoral shampoo. This is exciting news given Nizoral’s proven track record.

what other shampoos contain Piroctone Olamine? Sounds like it's worth trying

Thanks withnail that's what results I was hoping for when I put this regime together

I was hoping for each shampoo to do the following jobs:

*T-gel therapeutic (coal tar) shampoo: clear dandruff and keep it at bay
*Nizoral: have the anti-androgenic effect, slow hair shedding, and increase hair shaft diameter, thus slowing down hairloss
*Alpecin double effect caffeine shampoo (contains Piroctone Olamine and caffeine): as Nizoral but with the added effect of caffeine to stimulate hair root growth (I am hoping it has a similar effect as minoxidil)

I mainly keep using the T-gel as I wash my hair daily and didn't want it to be blasted too much by the ketoconazole (Nixoral) and piroctone olamine (Alpecin).. Over the week I use T-gel x3, Nizoral x2, Alpecin x2.

If anyone has any ideas about changing this routine to maximise hair retention please let me know.

I want to have a regime that had both ketoconazole and piroctone olamine to give myself the maxiumum chance of retaining my hair without resorting to meds..

I may add the Body Shop Ginger Anti Dandruf shampoo (with Piroctone Olamine), or do people think that would be subjecting my scalp to too much PTO each week...? Any comments on the vurtues of caffeine in hairloss would also be welcome.

Cheers everyone and good luck
Ian

I've seen at least one study suggesting that caffeine may stimulate hair growth, however the research was performed on cultured hairs, not human heads - i.e. it was in vitro rather than in vivo. So topical caffeine lotions still belong to the realm of unproven treatments.

http://www.cosmeticsdesign.com/Formulation...-slows-baldness

Withnail has cited some interesting evidence but it's worth noting:
* there was no control group in the study, so we can't rule out pure placebo effects;
* there was no assessment of hair count; and
* the line "at end point, hair density was unchanged" (which you could read as either good or bad news).

While there are a couple of interesting little studies on ketoconazole and hair loss, the fact remains that no-one has studied its effectiveness in large-scale, long-term trials, and we still don't know if it just has an anti-inflammatory benefit or an anti-androgenic one. So just sticking to a treatment regimen based on shampoos is a brave choice but a bit of a long shot!

It would be interesting if anyone knows of any current or future longer term studies using any of these ingredients with regard to their effects on hairloss i.e. ketoconazole, piroctone olamine and caffeine..?

Thanks
Ian

The US National Institute of Health has a clinical trials database that you can search to see what's going on.

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/home

There's probably no way anyone would study caffeine and the like for a long period (i.e. 12 months or more) with a large study group. Clinical trials are very expensive and only pharmaceutical companies, which can expect to reap multi-billion dollar sales from their new drugs, can afford them.

Besides, if you simply want to market a cosmetic product for hair loss, you don't have to do any trials because you're not selling a drug. All you have to do is be careful with your marketing claims to ensure that the medical regulators don't come down on you!

Thanks for the feedback Pondle

Bearing in mind what I'm trying to achieve (ie using shampoos and not meds, and at low cost) and your knowledge of hairloss / the effects of various compounds, let me have your views as to whether I should change or add-in any new shampoo products to increase success...

Many thanks for your input
Ian

Ian, within the constraints you've identified, I think that Nizoral is the only thing with enought of an evidence base to make me confident that it could do some good.

Of course, there are loads of other shampoos, tonics, and lotions on the market that claim to fight hair loss, but they generally cost a lot and/or have only ever been studied in a test tube, rather than in placebo-controlled trials with human subjects. What seems to work in a test tube doesn't necessarily work in vivo.

Why are you avoiding meds? Are you afraid of potential for side effects?

A little, although the fact that I am now over 40 and in a happy stable relationship with children also makes me more confident not to be too worried or concerned that if i do lose my hair it will be a problem to me

Also the cost of such meds has to be a factor in today's credit crunch world when your balancing a budget.., especially when it comes to either spending money on the family or my own vanity...