The Truth, the Myths and bogus “ Hair Growth” products that are available There are many myths that should be understood as such.
Many companies make money from these myths, which is unjustified.
The picture is of a “Hair Growth” product that was for sale in 1902.
Instructions “Rub it into your scalp, brush the hair vigorously and in 3 months time you will have a full head of hair”.
My Comment
How many times have you seen similar adverts in the newspapers and on the web today? How do they manage to sell these products?! They do so because people who are losing their hair are very distressed and will naturally “grab at straws” when they are unable to find help for their distressing and often visible problem. The Truth is that there are a large number of people who suffer a temporary form of hair loss which rectifies itself in a few months. So it looks as though the pill or potion has worked wonders!
My hair is falling out, so I bought these pills/potions to treat it. It has not worked, why is that, they were very expensive?
My Comment
There are some 50 reasons for hair falling suddenly. One pill or [potion can not cure all. The only answer is diagnosis. Once the reason for the hair loss is found, the cause of that loss must be treated, then in many cases the hair will stop falling. There may be a systemic health reason or scalp scarring disorder. If so this needs diagnosis in order to prevent it getting worse. Ignoring diagnosis and simply taking pills and potions will of course allow the condition to become worse.
A male with male pattern baldness had been using some “ natural remedy” for his hair loss, it was not working.
My comment
There are only two products that have been clinically trialled and have been demonstrated to work in a large number of males in retaining existing hair or in some cases re-growing hair. That is it, there is nothing else. These products are Regaine generic name Minoxidil or Propecia generic name Finasteride. These have been fully clinically trialled and shown that they do exactly what they claim to do.
Natural products are better.
My comment
Natural products are the “in thing” nowadays. Natural is not always better, what of arsenic for example?
Leave the hair without washing it and it will self clean.
My comment
I once saw a person in my clinic that had not washed her hair for one year. Then she came to see me after three months of that annual shampoo. Her scalp was severely infected. The treatment was to first of all clear the foul smelling infection and then recommend washing the hair daily.
My hair dresser says that my colour did not take because I had been washing my hair with a product that contains silicones that protected my hair from the tint.
My Comment
Again this is an historical argument for the failure of a tint to take. Very many years ago, when hair shampoos were in their infancy, they did add silicones. These were (by today’s standards) somewhat crude in their formulation. These have not been on the market for at least 30 years. The shampoos do indeed contain silicones bur they are now very refined and come away readily, and certainly do not interfere with any chemical processing.
