How Hair Grows
There are three stages to hair growth:
(1) Anagen - roughly 90% of your hair is currently in this active growth phase.
(2) Catagen - the phase where your hair begins to shed.
(3) Telogen - the resting phase for hair before it begins to grow new hair again.
Causes of Hair Loss
The challenge with hair thinning and hair loss is that it can have a wide variety of potential causes. These can include health conditions (thyroid problems, autoimmune diseases, etc.), side effects from medication, hormonal changes (postpartum, menopause), stress, iron deficiency, etc. It is best to first discuss hair loss with your primary care physician and/or your OB/GYN, then perhaps see a dermatologist for further evaluation.
Treatments
It seems like everywhere you look these days, there are products being marketed that claim to give you thicker hair and jumpstart hair growth. I have tried a lot of products, from vitamins to Rogaine to PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injections, but I have not tried them all! Here are some samples of what is available. Keep in mind that what may work for one person may not work for another and vice versa. Treatments can range from inexpensive and natural to VERY expensive and complex.
Supplements/Vitamins:
Biotin - part of the B complex group of vitamins that may help with hair growth/loss.
Viviscal, Nutrafol, Vegamour - all supplements marketed for hair growth/improvement.
Medications:
Minoxidil - The brand name is Rogaine, but you can buy as a generic. This is a pretty effective product with proven results, but you have to use it daily and continue forever. You can buy it at Costco! Also, Minoxidil comes in a pill form as well, but keep in mind that the drug is used to treat high blood pressure so if you take this internally, you may experience dizziness. I tried the oral form and stopped fairly quickly for this reason. I think the liquid application is great, though.
Finasteride - Only approved for men.
Spironolactone - This is actually a pill used to treat fluid retention and high blood pressure, but has shown some efficacy in treating female pattern hair loss. There are side effects, however.
Procedures:
Lasers, red light therapy, PRP, hair transplants...here we start getting into more expensive and complicated therapies. I have tried a few rounds of PRP and I do think it worked, but it is expensive and not super pleasant (several vials of your blood are drawn out of your head then spun through a centrifuge to separate out the plasma rich part, and then this is returned to your scalp via injection (sounds so fun, right?).
Other:
Castor oil - Some swear by Jamaican black castor oil for hair growth, but there is no definitive clinical proof of its effectiveness.
Rosemary oil - There are some small studies showing that rosemary oil, applied topically, can have beneficial effects on hair growth.
What others have you tried or heard of?