Viviscal and Horsetail Extract

Hello Dr. Rassman,

I’m 23 and beginning to develop a receding hairline. I have recently started to take Viviscal. I know you don’t rate it highly however I’m in the early stages of hair loss and am not keen on going down the route of prescription drugs yet. My question is regarding the safety of viviscal as it contains 30mg horsetail extract which has been deemed unsafe by the FDA. Should I discontinue use of the supplement because of this?

As far as I am aware, when taken orally horsetail extract might cause a thiamine deficiency over time. I don’t know what it might do to be unsafe as a topical, nor do I know that the FDA deemed it unsafe. Viviscal is sold over the counter in many large pharmacy chains, so I would expect if there was a safety issue, it would be pulled from shelves.

That said, the efficacy is something I’d be equally concerned about, since you’re wasting time and money as your hair loss progresses before you realize that this treatment likely isn’t helping. You’re in the early stages of hair loss, and time is ticking.