Hair Loss Cheat Sheet
Take the guesswork out of how effective popular pills, drugs, topicals, and therapies are for regrowing hair. Here's what the literature says.
Finasteride (Propecia)
Mechanism: 5-alpha reductase inhibition
Response rate: 80%
Regrowth rate: 10% and hair thickening
Costs: 5-30/month
Problems: concerns over side effects; hair regrowth contingent upon lifelong use
Minoxidil (Rogaine)
Mechanism: vasodilation, prostaglandins
Response rate: 30-40%
Regrowth rate: 5-15%
Costs: $20/month
Problems: efficacy fades over time; hair regrowth contingent upon lifelong use
Low-level laser therapy
Mechanism: vasodilation, heat shock proteins
Response rate: 70%
Regrowth rate: 5-15%
Costs: $400+
Problems: placebo groups also see hair regrowth; efficacy plateaus after 6 months
Nutrafol
Mechanism: 5-alpha reductase inhibition, addresses nutrient deficiencies
Response rate: unknown
Regrowth rate: 10% (in women)
Costs: $79/month
Problems: not tested on androgenic alopecia alone (but marketed to androgenic alopecia sufferers); placebo groups also see hair regrowth; more likely to support hair loss from nutrient deficiencies versus androgens
Saw Palmetto
Mechanism: 5-alpha reductase inhibition
Response rate: Low (hair loss rate may slow)
Regrowth rate: 0%
Costs: $25/month
Problems: doesn't reduce DHT enough to significantly improve hair; weak clinical evidence for androgenic alopecia; likely needs to be combined with other therapies
Biotin
Mechanism: addresses biotin deficiency
Response rate: 0%
Regrowth rate: 0%
Costs: $25/month
Problems: popularized by marketers who cite studies on malnourished third-world populations that show a link between a biotin deficiency and hair loss; hair loss from a biotin deficiency is not the same as androgenic alopecia
Platelet-rich plasma therapy
Mechanism: acute inflammation, growth factors
Response rate: 80%
Regrowth rate: 15-40%
Costs: $1,500-$4,000
Problems: expensive; low-quality studies; real-world results often don't match those of studies; similar mechanisms targeted with microneedling; results vary wildly depending on the clinic
Standardized massages
Mechanism: acute inflammation, growth factors, muscle relaxation
Response rate: 75%
Regrowth rate: unknown
Costs: free
Problems: very low quality of evidence; requires significant effort; lacking long-term studies
Microneedling
Mechanism: acute inflammation, growth factors
Response rate: 70-80%
Regrowth rate: 10-15%
Costs: $20-250 (device-dependent)
Problems: painful; low quality of evidence; lacking long-term studies
The challenge across all treatment choices?
Hair loss sufferers often choose these treatments not based on their quality of evidence, but based on their exposure to marketing campaigns.
Even worse, they buy products on impulse, and without a plan. This often leaves them wasting years worth of time, money, and hair... all because they don't understand:
1. Results Horizons
These time windows are the minimum number of months to try a treatment before expecting regrowth, and the maximum number of months whereby new results become unlikely. Results Horizons vary across treatments, and if you don't know them, you might quit treatments too early or stay in treatments too long while always thinking, "Maybe I just need more time for results."
2. Scalp Inflammation
Most non-responders to topical drugs have some degree of scalp inflammation. If you don't take steps to determine the causes of inflammation (and resolve them) – you're selling yourself short significant hair regrowth. Causes range by symptoms, and are often linked to microorganisms, hormonal shifts, autoimmunity, and/or anatomical changes.
3. Hair Loss Speeds
On average, pattern hair loss sufferers lose 5% hair volume per year. If we stratify that data, some people lose 1% yearly while others lose 20% yearly. It's much easier to stop hair loss than it is to regrow lost hair. As such, your hair loss speed should influence your candidacy for which treatments to choose, and which treatments to avoid.
We build you specific, actionable, evidence-based regrowth protocols inside our Membership Program
No longer do you have to guess which pills, topicals, supplements, or products make the most sense for you. We do the work for you. Using our interactive videos and tools, we build you a Regrowth Roadmap: an action plan that takes into account your hair loss status, scalp health, and overall health to build you a regrowth protocol based on your needs, preferences, and unique hair loss situation... all within minutes.
We don't leave you fending for yourself. We offer expert-level support in face-to-face environments, group coaching calls, and inside our community forums – and from researchers with peer-reviewed publications on hair loss disorders.
It's a membership program designed to save you years worth of time, money, and hair – with a system that is not only built on science, but validated by hundreds of success stories from past and present members.
Ready to take the guesswork out of regrowing hair? Find out more below.