Hair Restoration Blog

Q:

Hey Doctor, 

Hope all is well. My name is XXXX. I came in last Saturday for consultation. I forgot to ask you about shampoo use and hair loss. Does the brand of shampoo have an effect? Do you have any recommendations? I use baby johnson, the goldish yellow one. My friend suggested Nioxin, do you know anything about this brand. He gave me one bottle numbered with a 1 for early stages of thinning and the other numbered 2 for noticeably thinning. Should I make use of it? And which bottle would I make use of? Sorry with all the bother and questions.  Thank You so much I really appreciate it. Have a great weekend. 

A:

There are many shampoos currently on the market which have claimed to be useful for hair loss treatment and/or prevention.  Some of them may have active ingredents like minoxidil which is a proven hair loss topical medication.  However,  since shampoos don’t stay on the scalp for an extended amount of time and are rinsed off after only a few minutes, the active ingredients do not have adequate time to be absorbed from the skin level.  Minoxidil is the most effective ingredient of these shampoos.  We do recommend its use as simple topical solution which is to be applied twice a day and left on scalp for its maximum effectiveness.  Most other products and shampoos that contain minerals and vitamins do not help since the active ingredients are not even absorbed from the scalp skin.  You can see more on this in our several posts on hair loss shampoo and the brand shampoos for hair loss that are in the market of different brand.

There are several studies that suggest ketoconazole (Nizoral Shampoo) to be beneficial for men with male patterned baldness.  Ketoconazole has been compared with minoxidil in a research in 1998 that (ketoconazole 2% vs.  minoxidil 2%  in men with typical male patterned alopecia.  The study indicated improvement of hair density and growing hair with both medications.  Both 1% and 2% solutions and shampoos reported to benefit patients with male patterned hair loss.  The shampoo however needs to stay on scalp for at least 3 to 5 minutes before it is rinsed, which is not always easy in our today’s life.  Ketoconazole shampoo is used for treatment of seborrheic dermatitis or hair dandruff.

At this time, Nizoral Shampoo is not FDA approved for the treatment of hair loss and thus is not endorsed for this purpose for public.  We recommend finasteride for most men with active male patterned hair loss which has higher potency for correcting male patterned balding in comparison to minoxidil.  For more information on this topic, please visit our page discussing minoxidil vs. finasteride for hair loss.

Q:

Does Ovation Cell Therapy really work?

A:

I have been asked many questions regarding hair loss products in this blog. The truth is, most hair loss products that claim to help hair growth or prevent baldness do not offer significant information to their consumers about the active ingredients in their solutions and shampoos.  I do research on many hair loss product related questions every month in both my hair restoration clinic and on the site.  Although, in most cases, the more I search for detailed formulas or the specific names of active ingredients within those products the less I can find them.

Sometimes though the list of ingredients is available, you cannot find anything among them that is scientifically proven to help hair loss.  Ovation Cell Therapy is claimed to have essential amino acids.  The website of the company claims that the formula dramatically accelerates hair growth, reduces breakage and hair loss, as well as creates visibly thicker, fuller and longer hair.  However, there is no evidence based proof that shows topical amino acids can be absorbed through skin to help the hair follicles grow stronger hair.

We will be waiting for the producers of these hair loss products to show us better proof of the effectiveness of their products before we begin recommending their use.

Q:

Hi Dr.,  I saw your TV show, and would like to ask you if it is ok for me to buy minoxidil and dissolve it in the shampoo?
Also there are products that says gradually will change the color of my hair to natural color, are they safe to use? wouldn’t they interfere with my scalp respiration?

Thanks a lot

A:

Minoxidil mixed with shampoo

Minoxidil is one of the FDA approved medications for balding prevention and hair loss treatment.  The recommended dose and method for its use is applying it topically on balding area twice a day and leaving the product without washing it off.
Although combination of minoxidil with shampoos are available commercially, I don’t believe you can get a complete result by using them because:
1.    Minoxidil would be diluted with shampoo and water and that will reduce its strength.
2.    The active ingredient (minoxidil) would be rinsed and it would not get enough time to have contact with the scalp skin.
3.    It would be less likely that it is used twice a day, which is the recommended method for its maximum result.

Hair product for white hair

To answer your second question, there are many products that are claimed to change the color of white and de-pigmented hair to a normal one.  Most of them are herbal extracts and there is just not enough long term studies that prove their safety that I am aware of.

Q:

Dear Dr. Mohebi,

I hope all is well with you and the family. I wanted to see your opinion about something. Along with proscar, I use Murad shampoo (i dont know if you have heard of it) but it supposedly strengthens your hair and brings nourishment to the hair, therefore promoting hair regrowth. Remember how short my hair was when we first met, well now its relatively longer. Do you think i should keep it short for several reasons: easier to clean my scalp, exposure to vitamin d (sunlight). When my hair is long, I can see it shed, but when its really short it doesn’t seem that way. However, the downside to cutting my hair that short is that it will become pretty apparent that im experiencing hair loss. Thanks doc! take care!

A:

I hope you are doing well. Last time we met, we decided that you wait on doing a hair transplant procedure until your pattern of hair loss becomes more obvious. Here are the answer to your questions in the order you asked them:

• Murad shampoo has following active ingredients: Pomegranate extract, artemia extract, alpha hydroxy acids, phytantriol and Saw Palmetto. From all these only the last one or Saw Palmetto is proven for its anti hair loss properties through blocking DHT. However, the rate of penetration of this ingredient on deeper layers of skin where follicles reside is not completely clear. I don‚Äôt think it hurts to use it in general, but for someone like you who takes systemic form of DHT blockers (finasteride), I am not sure it can add anything in slowing your hair loss process.
• On whether or not keeping your hair short, it is up to you, you have to try them both and decide, long hair should not create any problem with cleaning hair. Do whatever you are more comfortable with. Neither of the two can affect the speed of your hair loss. If I wanted to choose, I would kept my hair long so layering can help covering the thin areas.
• Vitamin D could be absorbed from everywhere, especially in the sunny State of California.

Again, thanks for good questions,

Good Luck and have a great weekend
Dr. Mohebi