Borage Oil as a Hair Loss Treatment?
I’ve heard that borage oil, taken either orally or topically, can help with hair loss, and I don’t see any posts about that here yet. What is your opinion? I’m a guy in my early 30s with mild hair loss, diagnosed by my dermatologist as MPB.
Borage (also known as starflower oil) is used by herbalists to treat PMS issues in women. At least, that’s what I found via Google… because I wasn’t familiar with it.
It’s just another herbal treatment that some people claim can treat hair loss. It doesn’t. There’s no herbal treatment that I’ve found to treat MPB anywhere near the claims people make. If you decide to use this to treat your genetic hair loss, that’s your call to make — but don’t be too shocked when your thinning continues.
Like a lot of healthy fatty acid supplements, Borage oil can improve the condition of your hair if you are deficient in these essential fatty acids through a poor diet or occasional illnesses – but the quality/condition of your hair/skin/nails is a very different matter to genetic pattern hair loss.
If your hair is weak and brittle it can look poor and break easily, but this is not the same as male pattern baldness.
A lot of herbal/vitamin/natural hair loss cures play off this distinction not being noticed by consumers. Yes, if you are depleted in nutrients or have a poor diet, you may have weak and brittle hair – male or female, but the specifically male pattern baldness issue is a genetic/hormonal problem.
The only herbal product which seems to have any relation to MPB is Saw Palmetto, which is supposed to be a very mild 5aR inhibitor (much like Propecia) though you’ll not find any serious scientific studies or many people who’ll suggest it works at all.
I’m not against herbal supplements at all, they may be great for minor nutritional support for athletes, the sick or those with very poor diets – just don’t expect to get a major pharmaceutical response from an unlicenced supplement.
“just don’t expect to get a major pharmaceutical response from an unlicenced supplement”
As Dr R correctky points out, dont expect to get ANY benefit from any herbal supplement for affecting hair loss. Unfortunately, that’s reality.
I’m pretty sure I just said that…
Not really…….difference between saying one wont get a major response leaves the possibility of a minor response. In reality one should not expect any response, Just clarifying for those who take comments literally