My gf's hair is really thinning. Supplements? Hair products? Both?

[beautyconsumersucker]

Hello

My gf who is in her 20's has recently been losing a lot of hair. When I first met it, it was reasonably thin, but not alarmingly so, but over the past year or so it's becoming really obvious and I think it's really getting her down. It's not the ends so much, but mainly the scalp, which is really visible in some parts. I don't think it used to bother her that much and I certainly wasn't going to say anything, but then a month or so ago, so went to the hairdresser and she asked if she'd been having treatment. As in, had she been ill and had the medication affected her hair This really upset her, obviously.

Is there anything that can be done to help? The hairdresser gave her a quick fix, thickening fiber product, which you shake onto the scalp. Definitely worked, but yeah, only in the short term.

Any advice would be very much appreciated and passed on.

Thanks ladies

*When I first met her, not it

It might be worth getting a blood test from her GP? Some medical conditions like Hypothyroid can cause hair loss.

Hair and nail vitamins can really help. My gp recommended a silica and selenium supplement. It made a big difference.

Thanks Probably. Actually she had a blood test not that long ago, But it all came back clear. She was diagnosed with ME a while a go though and I'm wondering if there's a link somewhere.

Burn, I used to take that, but stopped in the end because it was too bloody expensive and to be honest, I didn't really need it. How long was it before you started seeing a difference?

Was reading good reviews on viviscal, but again, very expensive.

mint, well yes.....she doesn't use mumsnet and I do.

Did she discuss the thinning hair with her dr? Bloods test does not equal blood test and she may not have had the ones that can sometimes give a reason for hair thinning (she'd need her iron, protein and thyroid checking at the very least).

Hair care products make very little difference to actual hair growth/thickness but may help with appearance.

Supplements can help, they take a month or two fork the effects to be obvious. Evening primrose oil is not that expensive and may be worth a try?
All the 'hair, skin and nails' supplements are approx £1/day which seems a total rip off

I don't suppose she's had a baby in the last few months? Or been ill a while ago? I am not aware to a link with ME unless she is not eating well.

And then there are some people who simply have v thin hair, which gets thinner in time, sorry.

Being even slightly anaemic can cause hair loss. She could maybe start with with an iron supplement like Spatone for a month or two.

Pacific, no, I don't think she did discuss that with her doctor. She's had a lot of stress in her life and I know there's a very real link between stress and hair loss. She's been much less stressed in the past couple of years though, so not sure. There's no female balding in her family, so I don't think it's genetic.

Mc, I was severely anemic a few months back and whereas I didn't notice a problem with my hair, cos it's always been really thick, as soon as I took my iron supplements, I noticed my hair looked much better. I'm pretty sure my gf had her iron levels checked not long ago and
they came back normal.

She needn't have to put up with this. Her doctor should be able to refer her to a dermatologist. My GP did that for me and dermatologist investigated, took biopsies of my scalp and subsequently found I had a treatable condition and was was prescribed meds-hasn't completely cured it but slowed down the hair loss a lot

feeling, that's encouraging

I can't believe I didn't mention this in my OP, but she also has quite large bumps on her scalp, which have been looked at, but the doctor was reluctant to take it further, ie refer her, because I think she felt it was purely cosmetic. It looks to me like blocked hair follicles, but then I'm no expert.

She's not on depo the contraceptive injection is she? That's a side effect

Well we don't have much cause for contraception but I understand women take the pill for other reasons, so maybe it's the same for the injection. But no, she isn't.

I really feel for her. I mean, she's completely gorgeous as far as I'm concerned, regardless, but I've noticed since the hairdresser made that comment, she's much more self conscious and if it is something which will continue to get worse, I'm not sure how she would deal with it.

Best she gets some tests done then. Poor thing it is hard on your self esteem

vitamins and shampoos will do NOTHING. Hair is dead and nothing you put on it makes it grow more.

she needs to see a medical professional. Hope something can be done.

How is her diet/eating? Lack of nutrients can cause hair loss. She definitely needs to speak to a doctor.

I noticed that the hairloss stopped fairly quickly and within a month I was seeing fine regrowth like the regrowth after postpartum hairloss. Silicea and Selinium are available on their own fairly cheaply but I found Tesco own brand hair and nail vitimans had what I needed. The suppliments will only work if the hairloss is caused by a vitamin or mineral deficiency. I was very run down at the time and haven't had a problem since.

John Freida Luxurious Volume products are pretty good at making the hair appear thicker. Obviously they are hiding the problem rather than fixing it but every little helps.

is she eating enough

Thanks for the advice everyone

Yeah, she's eating enough and what she is eating is mainly healthy I would say.

Is she vegetarian??
Just asking because some (poor) vegetarian diets are low in protein and can affect hair.

Are her skin and nails ok?

Lumps on head could be sebaceous cysts and in that case would have nothing to do with hair growth. Is her scalp skin healthy looking? Not scaly or shiny or red or summat?

IME stress does not cause anything to happen, but can certainly trigger something you might have been prone to anyway IYSWIM.

Re iron levels: Iron is quite a tricky mineral to measure and assess accurately. The routine blood test looks for ferritin, our iron stores. The range of normal is vast (it depends on the lab, here it's goes from 15 to 150) and even a low 'normal' can affect how people feel. A multivitamin with iron might be good idea whatever her blood test tbh.

As with everything else that won't kill her , but bothers her, I think pursuing further advice and ?specialist help is worthwhile doing. Because it bothers her.

I think she should get her bloods checked just to check of any deficiencies.

My sister has very thin hair more on the scalp. She uses a thing called Toppik you get the colour to match your hair it effectively covers the scalp it can be a bit messy but you get used to using it. It gives my Ds more confidence. Derm match is another colour cover up.

unfortunately these products are only cosmetic cover ups they don't give hair regrowth.

No she's not a vegetarian. Her skin is
really good actually.

Ginseng supplements are supposed to work wonders for thinning hair