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

Please get her to see a dermatologist. I had lumps/bumps on my scalp as well and was diagnosed as having lichen planopilaris - google it. If she has the same it really needs treatment before it gets any worse

I sympathise OP, I had significant hair loss after cancer surgery/treatment. Can she get to see a trichologist? I saw Phillip Kingsley and had my mind put to rest. After that it was just time, patience, good diet and his supplements (PK4 I think). It has taken almost three years to grow back but it still isn't as thick as pre-illness. I wish her the best of luck in finding a solution.

Any thyroid problems? Seems to come up a lot in ME.

www.investinme.org/Documents/Guidelines/Myalgic%20Encephalomyelitis%20International%20Consensus%20Primer%20-2012-11-26.pdf

www.drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Hair_loss

Feeling I had a google. Tbh, it doesn't sound like what my gf has, but I'm going to be dragging her to the doctors if she doesn't make an appointment soon.

Texan, I'm glad that you've had some success with the supplements. Stay well x

CFS, I'm pretty sure she's had those tests, but could be wrong. Thanks for the link, I'll have a look.

I've always had v thin hair but taking HRT really seemed to trigger a major deterioration. It was incredibly fine (each strand much finer than cotton), shedding and thinning over the scalp.

I had blood tests which showed iron in the normal range but too low for hair growth and also low Vitamin D. I was put on ferrous fumerate 210mg tabs and vit d 1000mg and I also added in silica tablets, biotin and Vitamin b12 just because I'd read they could be helpful. I started with the problem a year last March (approx) and in the last 2 months the shedding has slowed a lot and the hair feels every so slightly thicker. Friends are saying it looks thicker and better than it has for a long while, so I think something has started kicking in.

Definitely worth a blood test that covers vit d and to get a print out of results so you can see the actual figures. I was told my iron was normal but the dermatologist I was referred to that it needed to be much higher to encourage hair growth/health.

Hope your gf manages to get to the bottom of things. It's a real confidence sapper and really does affect how you feel about yourself in my expereince.

Has she had her Iron & Thyrone levels tested? There's also a hormone test that should be done. Silica and Selenium supplement is good, as another poster said. I also swear by Brewers Yeast it really does do wonders for the hair

Could she have psoarisis on her scalp? That might cause thinning. You need to ask for a referral to a dermatologist to get the lumps on her scalp and the hair loss investigated as well as a full blood screen tbh.