As you age your hair thins. After reading Mindy Kaling’s book where she says everyone you see on TV has hair extensions, I started to feel a bit better. How can all these actresses my age still have full hair?! Do I need to go buy a wig STAT? The answer is they don’t have full hair.
But for those of us who don’t want to deal with hair extensions, there is a giant industry of shampoos and supplements dedicated to trying to help your hair. The real question is do they work? What is hype vs. real? And is there an underbelly?
I realize this is not Plastic Surgery per se, but so many of the changes I see in the body around menopause are Plastic Surgical, and I am super interested in menopause changes. It turns out to be quite the hot topic and burgeoning field. And as a woman of *ahem* a certain age, I am interested.
Like really interested.
So I went onto Google and looked at hair supplements. I read tons of nonscientific articles in women’s magazines, where they listed the top supplements they recommend. I don’t really believe the millions of 5 star reviews (are they even real people?), and I take all magazine articles with a grain of salt (are they really unbiased reviews?- did the reviewer get free product or the magazine get $?), but I wanted to see what names kept popping up. Nutrafol and NourishVITA were two that I kept seeing.
Both are based on Vitamins (A, C, D, B1, B2, B12), Biotin, Niacinaminde. Both have amino acids. Nutrafol seems to have collagen in it as well.
So does it work?
I don’t know. Nutrafol is carried by many doctor offices and has a more scientific background to show efficacy. I don’t know that either help as much as minoxidil does. And do doctors carry it because it really works? Or because no one else carries it?
What do I think I know?
- Nutrition does play a role in aging.
- Starting earlier is better.
- Blood flow to the scalp is a good thing.
- PRP (I tried it) was expensive and could only treat a small area. Good if you have a spot of thinning, likely not as good for diffuse hair loss
- Many of the treatments may have other effects. I don’t think you should do multiple products, as you may be getting 500% of your daily recommended amount of a Vitamin, which can lead to other health issues. More does not equal better.
- You should do basic labwork before starting on a regimen. If you Vitamin D level is normal, you shouldn’t be taking tons of D. Same for B12 and other vitamins. I have seen women who come in for surgery be in liver failure and THEY DIDN”T KNOW and we traced it back to supplements.
I will check back in a few months from now with an update.