Generally, it happens over time, gradually creeping up on you so that you don’t notice anything until, one day, in the bathroom mirror, you can see a little more skin on your scalp than you’d like.
You do the bald patch test—nope, there’s hair still there, just not as much of it as there was a couple of months ago. Hmmm…the hair’s got thinner. This can’t be good news.
If you noticed your hair started to get visibly thinner, what would you do? We now live in a world of hope that technology is moving fast enough to solve all our problems.
But what about looking after thinning hair? What should we do? How should we care for it? And is there any truth in the claims of thickening shampoos?
Read on to discover more…
Who Needs Thickening Shampoo?
Thickening shampoos can be used by anyone who has thin hair. It may be that someone has always had very fine, thin hair and wants to give it a boost.
Other people might notice hair loss and thinning of the hair starts to occur as they get older. Statistics tell us that extensive hair loss is experienced by 16 percent of men in the US between the ages of 18 to 29 years. Fifty-three percent of men are affected in the age range 40 to 49.
So we can clearly see that hair loss and thinning out becomes more of a problem in slightly more advanced years.
What Is Thickening Shampoo?
A hair thickening, or hair volumizing shampoo is designed to cause the hair strands to temporarily swell and appear thicker, giving the appearance of extra volume to your hair.
The effectiveness of hair thickening shampoo varies from product to product due to the use of various different ingredients. The effects of these kinds of shampoos generally last until the hair is next washed, but they don’t have an accumulative factor or contribute to more permanent hair thickness.
While you can wash your hair with thickening shampoo on successive washes, the active ingredients that cause the hairs to swell have a tendency to build up on the hair.
For best practice, switch to a different shampoo every few washes to get rid of any product buildup and keep your hair from becoming dull and lifeless.
Other Steps to Thicker, Fuller Hair
In addition to using thickening shampoo, there are a number of other things you can do to help with hair loss and thinning.
Here are our top tips for promoting hair growth and fullness:
Reduce Stress
Experts from the Mayo Clinic highlight a link between high stress levels and hair loss, but also report that this is reversible. Regular meditation and exercise can help with stress, and there are handy apps available to help manage stress.
Evaluate Your Diet
Research has linked hair loss to deficiencies of important minerals such as zinc and iron, so it’s important to make sure you’re getting all the nutrients your body needs from what you eat.
Oysters and other shellfish, good-quality, lean beef, eggs, peas, whole grains, nuts and seeds are all good sources of zinc. Iron is best sourced from the blue-green algae spirulina, liver, high-quality beef, lentils and dark chocolate.
Regular intake of good quality protein is important, too, since hair is made of a type of protein called keratin, which cannot be produced without using derivatives of the protein we eat. Now there’s an excuse for a steak night!
Regular Massage
May also help to encourage hair growth. It’s possible that increasing the circulation of the blood to the scalp might help promote healthy hair growth, especially if you use an oil high in linoleic acid.
A small research trial observed the effects of regular topical application and massage of the scalp using safflower oil, which is typically made up of 60 to 70 percent linoleic acid. The study reported significant improvements in hair loss with regular topical application.
Spikenard oil, also used for reducing stress, boosting the immune system and relieving insomnia, has been studied for its effects on hair regrowth in research using non-human participants.
The study found that topical application of spikenard oil resulted in a hair regrowth rate of as much as 30 percent. The other uses for spikenard oil confirm it’s safe to use, and given the research results, I’d definitely interested in giving spikenard oil a go.
Hair Dyes
Anecdotally, some people report that coloring their hair just a shade or two darker helps to give the appearance of slightly thicker hair.
This is worth considering if you’re very conscious of your thinning hair, especially if you’re already considering hair color for covering those few pesky grays.
It’s important to bear in mind, though, that coloring your hair does take a bit of upkeep; it needs to be done regularly as the roots begin to show.
About Biotin
Biotin is a water-soluble substance which we also know as vitamin B7.
There has been lots of discussion and speculation about the role of biotin in hair restoration, and many volumizing and thickening shampoos list biotin as an active ingredient in their products. This suggests that applying biotin to your hair and scalp helps to promote hair growth and thickening of the hair.
In reality, much of the research on biotin does identify it as a substance which assists in hair growth, but indicates the need to take it internally in order for it to be effective.
Scientists have highlighted biotin as a key ingredient of many different metabolic processes in the body, and suggest a metabolic mechanism of action which occurs in response to consuming biotin whereby it helps to encourage hair regrowth and thickening.
In short, taking a biotin supplement may well help to improve hair loss, but beware of shampoos and other hair products that boast biotin as one of the active ingredients aimed at improving hair loss.
What Is the Best Hair Thickening Shampoo for Men?
We’ve carefully selected several different thickening and hair loss treatment shampoos and reviewed them to highlight the good and bad points for each product.
Here are our top five products for closer inspection…
Our Choice
All of the products we reviewed were effective in helping to restore hair thickness and promote hair regrowth. The one that really stood out from the crowd, however, was the Every Man Jack Two-in-One Thickening Shampoo and Conditioner.
This product was extremely popular with users who gave rave reviews about the strength, thickness and volume they noticed after using it on their hair.
Add in some cool packaging, a nice fresh scent, hair that feels in great condition, and we can see why this product started more than a few family debates about who gets to use it!
Finally, at the lowest price of all the products we reviewed, this combined shampoo and conditioner not only offers great quality, it also gives excellent value for money.
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