10 Tips to Naturally Regrow Your Hair

Natural remedies for hair growth

Your hair is said to be your crowning glory, and it’s normal to want to improve your hair if it’s not to your satisfaction. If you’re trying to regrow hair that you’ve lost or would simply like to improve the hair that you have, try some of these natural remedies. Their proven benefits can help to stimulate growth and enhance the hair that you have.

1. Massage

Massaging the scalp can help to restore hair growth and can be used in conjunction with hair oils and masks. This stimulates the scalp and can improve hair thickness. Taking the time to massage your scalp each day can also help you relieve stress and tension. It’s thought that stretching forces during the massage encourage hair growth and thickness in the dermal papilla cells.

2. Aloe vera

Aloe vera has long been used for treating hair loss. It also soothes the scalp and conditions hair. It can reduce dandruff and unblock hair follicles that may be blocked by excess oil. You can apply pure aloe vera gel to your scalp and hair a few times per week. You can also use shampoo and conditioner that contain aloe vera.

3. Coconut oil

Coconut oil contains fatty acids that penetrate inside the hair shaft and reduce protein loss from hair. Coconut oil can be used either before or after you wash your hair depending on your hair type. If your hair tends to be oily, you can do a leave-in treatment overnight or for a few hours before you wash it. Massage coconut oil into your scalp and all of your hair. If your hair is dry, you can also use it as a leave-in treatment. There needs to be more research on coconut oil as a promoter of hair growth, but it’s been shown to improve the health and luster of hair and has been used for centuries.

4. Viviscal

Viviscal is a natural hair-growth supplement that promotes hair growth in people with thinning hair. It contains a marine complex known as AminoMar C. This is made of minerals, vitamins, and shark and mollusk powder. These ingredients help to regenerate new cells and strengthen existing cells. You have to take the pills twice a day for at least six months in order to see results. Viviscal also makes a shampoo and conditioner.

5. Fish oil

Consuming omega fatty acids can help to improve your hair from the inside, since they are filled with nutrients and proteins. Taking an omega supplement along with antioxidants helps to improve hair density and diameter. It also reduces hair loss. Omega fatty acids help your cells to work correctly and can boost immunity, leading to better overall health. Follow the manufacturer’s recommended dosage.

6. Ginseng

Taking ginseng supplements can promote hair growth by stimulating hair follicles. Ginsenosides are the active components of ginseng and are thought to be responsible for its positive effect on hair. Always take as directed and be sure to check for any possible side effects.

7. Onion juice

If you can handle the smell of onion juice, you may find that the benefits are worth it. Onion juice has been shown to successfully treat patchy alopecia areata by promoting hair growth. Onion juice is also thought to improve circulation. Animal studies show improved keratin growth factor and blood flow to the cuticles. You can blend a few onions and squeeze out the juice. Apply the juice to your scalp and hair and leave in for at least 15 minutes. Then shampoo normally.

8. Rosemary oil

Rosemary is one of the first essential oils people choose to promote hair growth and reduce hair loss. Rosemary oil stimulates new hair growth and can be used to treat androgenetic alopecia. Mix a few drops of rosemary oil into a carrier oil and massage it into your hair and scalp before rinsing. Do this a few times per week. Add a few drops of rosemary oil into your shampoo and conditioner on a daily basis. Do not use essential oils directly on the skin. Always mix them in a carrier oil or shampoo.

9. Geranium oil

You can use geranium oil to promote hair growth and boost circulation. Mix a few drops into a carrier oil and use it to make a hair mask. You can also add a few drops to your shampoo and conditioner. Geranium oil can help to strengthen, hydrate, and restore your hair.

10. Lemon

You can use fresh lemon juice or lemon oil since they are said to enhance hair quality and growth. Lemon oil can help you to maintain a healthy scalp and encourage hair growth. Apply fresh lemon juice to your scalp and hair 15 minutes before you shampoo. You can use lemon essential oil diluted in a carrier oil as a hair mask.

The bottom line

If you want to improve your hair, come up with a plan and stay consistent. Remember that the treatments may take a few months to yield noticeable results. Be creative with the remedies and mix them up as much as you like.

It’s important that you take time each day to focus on nourishing your hair to get the luscious locks you want. Taking this step and practicing self-care will be extra beneficial if your hair loss is related to any emotional or stress-related issue. Stay positive and do your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle that will complement your hair treatment plan.

Talk to your doctor about medications or procedures if these natural methods don’t work for you.

7 Seemingly Innocent Symptoms That Could Be Major Health Issues

If you're like us, you tend to overreact when you notice anything new or strange going on with your body. A little ache in your arm? OMG cancer! A few extra hairs in your comb? Impending baldness!

While it's good to be on guard, not every new symptom should send you racing to your doctor's office, says Rob Danoff, DO, an osteopathic physician and director of family medicine at Philadelphia's Aria Health System.

At the same time, Danoff says some seemingly benign symptoms—stuff most of us would brush off—are worthy of close examination, especially if they stick around for more than a week or two. "I call it body talk," he says. "Your body does a good job of sending you signals or clues when something's wrong." 

But sometimes those signals are super subtle. Here are a few of those signals you don't want to ignore.

Your handwriting is shrinking.

Any changes to your handwriting could signal a developing tremor, which is an early indicator of Parkinson's disease, Danoff says. Especially if your handwriting is getting smaller and tighter, this may be a furtive sign you're struggling to hold your hand steady, he says.

Your skin feels different.

Dry and itchy skin are common issues. But if seasonal shifts—or a new soap or moisturizer—can't explain your sudden skin changes, you'll want to tell your doctor if your skin suddenly seems dryer, itchier, thicker, or scaly, says Lauralee Yalden, MD, a New Jersey-based family medicine physician. "The thickening of the skin can signify high blood pressure or kidney problems," Yalden explains. "Dry, itchy skin could be caused by an underactive thyroid, a nutritional deficiency, or even an autoimmune disorder." 

Your breath smells fruity.

"With diabetes or prediabetes, people sometimes give off this weird, almost fruity odor," Danoff says. He and other experts attribute the smell to your body's efforts to burn off the excess sugar in your blood stream. "You'd notice the smell, and so would people around you," Danoff adds. 

You suddenly have trouble calculating tips.

If math is an old foe of yours, a little confusion while figuring out the tip isn't a big deal. But if you've always been good with numbers, problems calculating a tip or managing your finances could be an early warning sign of Alzheimer's or dementia, Danoff says. "If it happens once or twice, don't worry too much about it," he says. "But if you keep staring at your bill and you can't figure out what 20 pecent is, that may be something to pay attention to."

You struggle with stairs.

Are you out of breath when you get to the top of your staircase? That's something to keep an eye on, Danoff says. Especially if you can think back a few months and you're sure you didn't have stair-climbing issues before, you'll want to notify your doctor. Being out of breath after a little stair-climbing could signal heart trouble or COPD.

You feel dizzy when you stand up.

"Standing up too quickly, overexerting yourself, or simply not eating enough can make us feel dizzy or lightheaded," Yalden says. So can dehydration or your meds. But if you have to steady yourself "on a regular basis," you could be grappling with issues like anemia, an inner ear problem, or heart trouble, she says. 

You're peeing all the time.

Bowel changes are tricky. Most of us see daily fluctuations in the color, consistency, and frequency of our poop and pee. But if you're peeing all the time—we're talking a noticeable change that keeps up for more than a week or two—that could be a sign of new-onset diabetes, an infection, prostate problems (if you're a man), or even some bowel cancers, Danoff says. When it comes to you poo, a seaweed-green hue or sulfurous-smelling diarrhea are two changes you shouldn't ignore.

Hair Growth Discovery Could Help Develop A Treatment For Hair Loss

Scientists have taken another step towards understanding the cause of alopecia and other forms of baldness, including male-pattern balding. With a little more research, the discovery could one day lead to a treatment for hair loss.

UC San Francisco researchers found that many forms of baldness could be due to T cells, aka Tregs. These immune cell are typically associated with controlling inflammation, but this research shows that they also directly trigger stem cells in the skin to promote healthy hair growth. This means that if the T cells are faulty, it disrupts the ability of the stem cells to regenerate hair follicles and therefore leads to balding. Why they may be faulty, however, remains to be seen.

“Our hair follicles are constantly recycling: when a hair falls out, a portion of the hair follicle has to grow back,” Michael Rosenblum, an assistant professor of dermatology at UCSF and senior author, said in a statement. “This has been thought to be an entirely stem cell-dependent process, but it turns out Tregs are essential. If you knock out this one immune cell type, hair just doesn’t grow.”

In their study, published in the journal Cell, they conducted experiments that temporarily removed Tregs from the skin of mice. When they shaved the hair off these mice, it didn’t grow back. “We quickly noticed that the shaved patches of hair never grew back, and we thought, ‘Hmm, now that’s interesting,'" Rosenblum said. “We realized we had to delve into this further.”

Imaging techniques showed that the Tregs are closely tied to the stem cells in the hair follicles that help regenerate hair. When the follicles enter their usual cycle of regeneration, the number of Tregs around it triples.

“It’s as if the skin stem cells and Tregs have co-evolved, so that the Tregs not only guard the stem cells against inflammation but also take part in their regenerative work,” Rosenblum said. “Now the stem cells rely on the Tregs completely to know when it’s time to start regenerating.”

To further solidify this idea, they also found that the genes associated with alopecia are almost all related to Tregs. This makes Rosenblum and his team think that understanding Tregs’ role in hair growth could lead to improved treatments for hair loss.

“We think of immune cells as coming into a tissue to fight infection, while stem cells are there to regenerate the tissue after it’s damaged,” he added. “But what we found here is that stem cells and immune cells have to work together to make regeneration possible.”