My hair health program (with regular updates)

[NickSE]

Hello everyone!

I'm a 20-year-old italian guy and I'm glad to discuss with you here.

In this topic I want to share my story with hair health and the way I take care of it.
I'm briefly going to describe my situation and what I do regularly and then, every 4 to 6 months, I'm coming back here to post and tell you the news, if any.

I'm still young but three years ago I started to do some research on hair loss. I assume I did it because my father is bald (and has been since the age of 25, with MPB starting before 20!) and I don't want to share his fate. I stumbled across Tom's Scalp Exercise and since I've always been able to move my ears and to contract the occipitalis, I started doing it with enthusiasm. However, since at 17 I had no problem with hair loss, I wasn't consistent at all nor I did feel any sense of urgency.

Three months ago, while looking at the mirror, I started noticing a thinning in my temporal areas and I thought this wasn't a good sign at all. My situation was similar to Mr.Hagerty's one at the same age. I'm not sure it was the beginning of MPB, but I decided to prevent it anyway by doing research and especially by taking more care of my hair.
This is what I do on a daily basis:

1) Scalp Exercise: 2 sessions, 10 minutes each one
2) Tom's exercise for neck muscles (Platisma I think): 2 sessions, 10 repetitions
3) Physical activity: walking, swimming + some workout at home not till I'm exhausted though
4) Better diet: less sugars and saturated fats, more vegetables
5) Natural shampoo instead of industrial one (I read some chemical compounds like Sodium Laureth Sulfate, usually found in industrial products, don't do any good to the skin)

After three months I don't really see any difference, maybe just some more vellus hair on the temporal area, but as I read often on forums like this, "no news is good news". I'm going to be consistent and before Christmas I'm posting here again to tell you how I'm doing. Thickening my hair on the temporal area would be incredible news, but still mantaining this hairline would be OK.

Thanks for your attention

Nicholas

[NickSE]

I forgot to tell you that scalp itch (I regularly had it 3-4 months ago) is not completely gone, but it's reasonably less frequent.
This may be the first result, along with some little vellus hair.

[Tom Hagerty]

The scalp itch (I regularly had it 3-4 months ago) is not completely gone

Maybe this suggestion will help with your scalp itch and possibly dandruff too. After shampooing with preferably a clarifying shampoo, use an "acid rinse." A clarifying shampoo is one with simple ingredients, only detergent cleansing agents, none of that other stuff that will cause buildup. An acid rinse you make yourself. I add two tablespoons of raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar to one cup of water. I just pour that concoction of acid rinse over my head after I shampoo. Then after a minute or two I continue showering with warm water. The water takes away all the vinegar smell - and the itch and dandruff too.

It might be hard to find unfiltered apple cider vinegar in Italy. I get Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar at Whole Foods in the United States. But look around and I'm sure you'll find it.

[NickSE]

Thank you very much Tom, I'll give it a go

UPDATE: I just searched for Bragg Organic. They regularly ship it here

[NickSE]

I promised that I would update regularly.
I can confirm that I have some new hair in my temple area. I say "new" because they (is it correct to use the plural form when talking about hair in english???) weren't there when I started my hair health program (3-4 months ago). These are still short and not as thick as the hair on my vertex, but it's still better than no hair at all.
However, the progress is REALLY slow. I'm impatient: if this is a sign of regrowth that would mean the SE is working, but it's really too early to tell. More hair will have to grow and, most importantly, more months will have to pass. I won't give a definitive testimonial before May 2017. I'll update again before Christmas.

[VegetaHairline]

You guys are lucky. I lose hair and don't even feel any itch.
At least you can use the itch to monitor the situation.

[OhS]

You guys are lucky. I lose hair and don't even feel any itch.
At least you can use the itch to monitor the situation.

AFAIK itching is actually not a good sign... I get a feeling of electricity after some SE but that's not itch. I guess NOT to get itch is a good sign.

[NickSE]

VegetaHairline:
No scalp itchiness is a positive sign. I still struggle with it from time to time, not understanding if it's a sign of baldness or not, since I sometimes experience it even on the lateral side of my head - where no one ever loses their hair. So don't be so negative if you don't have it. You can only "monitor" the situation in the long term by looking at your hairline and your hair density. Not from the level of itching and no, not from the number of hair you lose everyday. 50 to 100 hair everyday can seem alarming to many people, but it's actually the normal rate of loss.

[NickSE]

Hi guys, here's my third and last update for 2016.

I've been doing the scalp exercise religiously for the last 4 months. I'm exercising regularly and eating nutritious and healthy. Tons of fruits and vegetables, fewer and fewer sugar. I've also added 10 minutes of scalp massage to my routine in the last month. The rest of my program can be read above. So what can I tell you so far?

Since I started, there hasn't been any hairline recession at all. The thinning of the temporal area's hair that began about one year ago hasn't progressed any further. But my hair there haven't become thicker yet. Anyway, the few new hair I thought were coming up didn't fall, so follicles at the beginning of my hairline are still alive. Most importantly, some of these hair are stronger and thicker than vellus and weren't there 4 months ago. Let's see in 6 months - 1 year from now...

Dandruff and itch are still there - though. But I'm still observing and paying high attention to the conditions related to scalp health. What I'm noticing is that scalp itch seems to be more frequent when I'm stressed or sleep deprived (1.5 - 2 hours less than what I should get). This is a fascinating correlation, I'll be exploring the topic.

My final judgment for 2016 and the program with the Scalp Exercise, is, again, no certain result at all, too early to tell. Time is the ultimate "truth-sayer", so I'm holding on with patience. What I can be sure of is that I would never come back to have a high-carb, high-sugar, low-vegetables diet with no scalp exercise/massage. I don't regret any second spent on focusing on my health.

I wish a merry Christmas to all the readers of the forum.

[NickSE]

Here I am, four months after my last update.

I've been doing the scalp exercise for eight months now. I managed to eat healthy but I still have to make scalp massage a regular habit, so my "hair health program" still needs some improvement.

I still have a bit of dandruff, nothing alarming, and my scalp still feels itchy from time to time, less than the last year though. My hairline, V-shaped from my birth, hasn't receded. The hair in the temple area, where baldness usually starts, are still generally thick. Unfortunately, I haven't clear pictures to compare my hairline of one year ago, when I started to worry about my hair, with my actual hairline, but I think that in the worst possible case the situation is the same. With a bit of optimism, perhaps, I can even claim that in the temple area there are a dozen of new hair growing.

Next september I'll be here again. I hope to give you another big package of "no news". When you want to mantain your hair, no news is good news!