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What Is The Best Shampoo To Treat Hair Loss, Shedding, And Thinning?

What Is The Best Shampoo To Treat Hair Loss, Shedding, And Thinning?

I often get emails about hair loss and many of them have to do with advice about shampoos.  People want to know if there’s a shampoo that will stop shedding or TE (telogen effluvium.)  They want to know if a shampoo can really stop or prevent hair loss, and they want to know if there are any shampoos that help with regrowth. I’ll discuss these concerns in the following article.

The Most Effective Shampoo For Your Hair Loss Depends On Why It’s Happening:  First off, I know of no shampoo and product that will stop hair loss over night.  And, if you have medical related hair loss (TE from pregnancy, thyroid or adrenal issues, etc.) no product that you put on your head is going to be able to cure your medical problems.  You will have to work with your doctor to do that. However, if you have androgen or DHT issues (AGA or genetic hair loss) then there are products that reduce these things on your scalp and that, in turn can really make a difference.

If your loss is due to scalp issues and / or inflammation (and there is a lot of inflammation that goes hand in hand with TE and CTE)  then there are shampoos that reduce inflammation or help to heal the scalp.  Often people will go with products like nizoral or even prescription steroid products, but I do need to mention that some find these to be very harsh products that make the scalp even more wounded.

Tea tree and emu oil are ingredients that are also healing and they don’t contain the harsh ingredients like SLS.

In cases of autoimmune hair loss that are often treated with steroids, there have been some studies which have shown some success with some herbs and essential oils rotated and massaged into the scalp (examples are lavender, rosemary, cedar wood, lemon oil, etc.)  Diluting and then adding these things to low PH or natural shampoos is certainly worth a try.  Just educate yourself on how to properly dilute these are they are very concentrated substances.

The bottom line is that, in my opinion, it’s doubtful that any product alone is going to stop hair loss.  But, you can find some very effective shampoos (and you can also customize your own) that can become one targeted tool in your regimen that can be very effective in making your situation better.

People will often ask me if they should hold off on shampooing or washing their hair when they are shedding or losing hair.  It can be very hard to see so much hair going down the drain.  I don’t believe that there is any benefit at all to skipping washes (other than psychological.)  It’s very important to keep your scalp clean especially if you have DHT or inflammation issues.  And, honestly, although washing massages the hairs out, these hairs would’ve eventually fallen out anyway. 

One tip that I can give you if you notice that you get a lot of loss with conditioner, try using the conditioner BEFORE the shampoo or using combination products.  This will keep your thinning hair from laying so flat against your head and will make less manipulation necessary when you are completing this task and combing / styling.  I know it’s very tempting to think that one product will be the magic solution (and there are definitely products that help,) the key is finding which one works for you and rotating that with other regimens that work just as well.

How do I know all of this? Because I lived it.

In my quest to end my hair loss, I tried almost every shampoo on the market. I also look at my iron, my thyroid, my adrenals, my hormones, and my scalp’s health. It was a long, hard, frustrating journey which all but wrecked my self esteem but I finally found something that helped quite a bit. You can read a very personal story at http://stop-hair-loss-in-women.com/.

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