I have shoulder length hair that is naturally black and curly i had it chemically straightened two years ago, use a straightener every week and bleached it to blonde in the past 6 months. I take care to use correct treatments etc. What I’ve found is that the hair is growing fine, but it hasn’t changed length this year and i haven’t cut it at all. Obviously it must be breaking off at the ends constantly is there anything I can do to prevent this? Why is it only breaking at the ends so I constantly have the same length of hair all year without cutting it?

The most common cause of breakage is damage to the hair shaft from straightening and chemicals used on the hair. Dyes are in that category. The easiest approach is to stopping doing things that will damage the hair that you are doing. It may mean going back to your original color if your hair cannot take the dye. Dry and damaged hair comes from over-processing and lack of conditioning, so using a good conditioner will help by returning the natural oils to your hair. Try a few different ones and look for those that claim to stop breakage. Check with your stylist, as he/she will likely know what is best on the market. Be sure that your diet is good, that your protein intake is adequate, and that you keep yourself hydrated. The dry hair shaft brakes easier — and the longer you let your hair grow, the more it is exposed to air and heat, which may make the ends more fragile.

Hi Doc.
I’ve heard that anciant greeks used semen on scalp to regrow lost hair and also I just recently saw a hair salon in the U.K. charged people up to 55 British pounds to put bull semen and a high in protein plant called Katira on peoples scalp and hair. Now I lost hair all over my scalp because of seborrhea dermatitis and now im left with bold spots. Now I use Nizoral and its under control but not I want to re-grow my hair. what do you suggest. Also would putting semen on scalp interfere with the levelin scalp. Would semen of DHT already help to regrow my hair. Would the DHT level go down if I were to have excessive sex. Thanks Doc

I briefly wrote about this a year ago, and much like now, I didn’t have any real information to provide — Bull Semen Hair Product. There are people (apparently only at Hari’s Salon in London from what I can find) that pay good money to get this bull semen put on their scalps.

This bull semen isn’t going to regrow your hair — even the makers of the treatment don’t claim that (see HarisSalon.co.uk).

have you ever heard of the cholesterol drug niaspan helping with hair growth. It is prescription niacin which helps increase blood flow thus the flush in the skin you get from it. In theory could it be positive? I love your site. Thanks for all the good info.

Niacin is a supplement and not a drug. I don’t think that it will help hair loss or promote hair growth in a normal individual. With that said, I will refer you to a site which references a source on the value of niacin for hair loss — TheBeautyBrains.com.

I just wanted to say that I have tried Scalpmed and I think it is working. I just bought it a week ago, but I feel I am already seeing results. I am not using it twice a day like it says because I don’t like how the product leaves my hair feeling like I have gel in it and it really weighs my hair down considering how fine my hair is already. I wear it only at night. But so far so good. I also thought it was going to me a scam but its good so far.

Good for you! I highly doubt anything works in just a week for treating hair loss. Could this be like a placebo effect?

what’s up with Crinagen– does it work? well?

Crinagen is not a medication and it is applied topically. It contains: Distilled water; Polysorbate 20; Azelaic Acid; Gamma Linolenic acid, Zinc acetate hydrate; Niacin; Vitamin B6 (as Pyridoxal-5-phosphate); Saw palmetto extract (serenoa repens); Ginkgo biloba, Oleic acid, tea tree oil, Ribofalvin, Vitamin E (as d-alpha tocopherol) and Proanthocyanidins from grape seed extract.

Despite its claims, there are no clinical or medical studies that indicate any of these ingredients work for treating male pattern hair loss. Even if it is “scientific” it does not necessarily correlate with real human trials / results.