Head & Shoulders Shampoo
Somebody mentioned losing hair after using Head ‘n Shoulders shampoo. In the fall of 1975, I started using Head ‘n Shoulders shampoo and immediately started losing hair and even though I could not prove the causal relation between the two, I immediately quit using Head ‘n Shoulders. Even though my hair has still receded and thinned somewhat since then, I have always been curious if anyone has taken a look at Head ‘n Shoulders and complaints about that brand of shampoo as a possible cause of hair loss.
Head & Shoulders shampoo, to my knowledge, does not contribute to hair loss. You are the first person who has presented this complaint to me. It is very possible that there was a coincidence between the shampoo and the change in your hair loss status.
Update August 18, 2008 —
Although I initially posted this almost 3 years ago, this has become a very hot topic as of late and the readers have provided some good commentary below.
Hi,
I am a 27 y/o male that started using head and shoulders about 4 years ago. I do not have family history of thin hair, and always had thick hair myself. I have noticed that my hair on top is much thinner than it used to be, which caused me to do a google search where I found this site. I am wondering if there is a correalation.
I too have had that happen. I used Head & Shoulders for almost 8 years and my hair on top thinned out along with the rest of my hair, to the point I was going bald it seemed. Then I stopped using it and the thickness returned along the sides and back, but the top near the forehead and crown has still not recovered and was the most affected. I’ve heard of other stories as well of people losing hair to Head & Shoulders, including my barber (back in the 60s when they had an industrial strength formula for dandruff and his hair never grew back) and my ex-g/f’s dad started losing his hair because of it, but he only used it for 3 years and it eventually grew back over the course of a year or so. I suggest stopping use of the shampoo, or if you are using it daily, use it once a week instead like you would any other medical dandruff shampoo. Head & Shoulders is definitely not for daily use.
im pretty sure there is a correalation between using Head and Shoulders and hair loss. Ive been using it for almost two years and recently I’ve been losing dramatic amounts of hair. My mom told me to discontinue using it because it also caused her and my uncle to lose hair. i have a huge urge to sue Head and Shoulders because im only 16 and should have volumous hair, instead I have thin hair and I’m still losing hair after a month of switching shampoos.
Head & Shoulders killed me thick head of hair in a matter of 3 years, especially the top & crown. Since i’ve discontinued use (4 years ago), it has very slowly, but noticeably, recovered, but nothing close to what it was…i dont think it ever will. I am incredibly angry at the makers of this product and i would gladly join a class action suit against them!
I’ve used Head and Shoulders for the last few months and almost 100% of my hair fell out. My wife says I look like a shiny billiard ball now.
I’m an 18 year old. recently used head and shoulders for about 1 month. Discontinued use after recognizing my hair loss.. still losing hair.. doesn’t seem to stop.
Very angry at this product.
I’m 26 years old and i’ve been using head and shoulders for about 6 years. The hair on top of my head thinned out a lot and it looks very bad. Head and sholders should pay for the damaged they have done.
I just turned eighteen and have never thought my hair was thinning or that I was losing hair until I used head and shoulders for about a month. The shampoo has definately made my hair thinnner and a lot of my hair has fallen out. This product sucks and discontinue use immediately.
I’ve had the exact same problem. I’m 22 and I’ve had really thick hair until recently when I noticed it’s starting to thin in the back. I thought it may have been the Head & Shoulders shampoo that caused it so I did a search to see if anyone else had this problem. This page popped up. I will never again use that shampoo.
I started losing hair before using head & shoulders. I used it for about 3 years and didn’t notice any more hair loss than what I had experienced before. I still have hair on my head just less than in high school.
I don’t think Head & Shoulders has anything to do with hair loss, considering the Millions they sell and the total of 9 responses on this site.
I am not sure if the shampoo is to blame, however I am 25 years old, started using head and shoulders “refresh”. I have been using it for just over a month now. I did not notice any hair loss until this week. My hair is falling out like crazy. I don’t believe it is normal for this to happen, even for normal hair thinning of loss. I look at my hair and compare it to a picture of myself taken 2 months ago, and I can see I have lost a dramatic amount.
I have never had a problem with hair loss…never hair on my pillow or visible in the shower. Except now, my pillow is full of hair, my keyboard has many lost hairs, and I even rinsed my hair with only water in the sink so I could see how bad it was…the water was full of hair.
I am going to a doctor this week to be checked out for everything possible.
Well, after about a year of using head and shoulders I’ve also noticed my hair thinning out. The interesting thing is that it’s gradual thinning throughout the entire scalp rather than just male pattern baldness.
When I started I washed my hair about three times a week, but when i switched over to using it everyday i’ve noticed my scalp becoming very itchy and red sometimes. I think it’s the only shampoo out there with a warning in the back saying that you should discontinue use if irritation or rash occurs…well too late for me i guess. Hopefully a year of use is recoverable, I’ll try to remember to post if i see an improvement after a few months.
I used Head and Shoulders for 4 days in a row and my scalp hurt and BEGAN to itch. Then I started to have my hair shed more than usual. I initially turned to Head and Shoulders because it was supposed to STOP inflammation. But, for whatever reason, it made mine worse. As I think someone else wrote on here–it’s NOT for daily use.
I’ve recently had a dramatic loss of hair. Everytime I touch my hair it seems to be falling out and when I shampoo and wash it it seems to come out in droves. I’ve only just made the connection to the “New” Head & Shoulders ‘Ocean Lift’ Shampoo I’ve been using. It’s Ocean Lifting the hair right off of my head. I’ve always had healthy curly hair and never a problem with hair loss like this. I’m sure the harsh ingredients that they put into their products must do some damage to the hair follicles. I will immediately stop using this shampoo and hope that my hair comes back to the healthy state it was in prior to this.
I’ll be honest. I’ve been having thinning hair since 2002. At that time, I read somewhere to use T/Gel shampoo and it somehow slow the thinning process. I started using Rogaine and it also seemed to help.
Then in March 2007, I read that Head & Shoulders’s “Classic Clean” formula helped a few people with Acne on their backs. Since I had that problem, I purchased it and it tremendously helped reduce my Acne. However, I also started using it as a shampoo and within 2 weeks, I noticed my crown area SIGNIFICANTLY thinner than before. Since H&S was the only new thing I introduced, I’m sure it was the cause.
I have discontinued usage, and will NEVER EVER put Head & Shoulders on my scalp again.
hi, i’m 16 years old, and ive always depended on head/shoulders for killing my dandruff.. but over the past 2 months ive noticed a very disturbing amount of hair falling out… everytime i brush my hair at the end of the day, big big chunks of hair is left on my brush and the floor, also when i’m washing my hair. My mom saw the hair and told me to stop using it, cuz she also experienced hair loss. so we stopped using it :-) and the hair loss stopped…yay:-)
also, its quite embarrasing to be depositing long random hair strands everywhere i go, especially in school cuz hair strands appear randomly on my arm and binders, ugh
I used head and shoulders for 2 months and now my hair is so healthy, I’m 25 years old, a male, and my hair is thick and no more dry scalp, so I’m thinking everybody else on here just happened to be getting close to hair lose gentically. I use head and shoulders every other day.
I was using H&S for about a year and lost about 30% of my hair at the crown (i kid you not). The scalp was starting to be visible under a bright light. I have discontinued it now for 6 months, and i’m regrowing the lost hair :)
I can authoritatively say that H&S is the culprit. I don’t care how efficient it is against dandruff. Whatz the point when it aggravates hair-loss.
My advice: Wash hair on alternate days using a very mild herbal shampoo. Once in a week use a good anti-dandruff shampoo (even if you are not affected by dandruff). I have found Vichy’s anti-dandruff shampoo to be extremely good.
Try to avoid shampoo which has ALS and SLS (ammonium/sodium Laureth Sulfate). They are cleansing agents used to clean Garage floors.
BTW, “whoever” says H&S does not contribute to hair-loss, is just bullshitting. He probably has a hidden benefit in promoting the crap.
There are many studies that show pyrithione zinc, the active ingredient in Head and SHoulders, as increasing hair growth. From what I have read it increses the number of hairs in the anagen phase. Other ingredients that do the same are ketoconzale. Pyrithione zinc is found in head and shoulders and the ketoconzale is in Nizoral. One study did show that pyrithione zinc slightly decreased hair diameter and ketoconzale increased hair diameter. However, ketoconzale and its effect on hair is debatable because of conflicting studies and information. Pyrithione zinc however, has generally been shown to be beneficial. The effect may also vary depending on individuals. Head and Shoulders shouldn’t lead to hair loss, but if you think it does then don’t use it.
To find the studies simple type head and shoulders hair loss in a search engine, i used google, and the first couple links should show the study. For the study with ketoconzale and pyrithione zinc, do a google scholar search with pyrithione zinc vs. selenium sulfide in the search field. the study is near the botton and says something along the line of improving hair health/ scalp health.
I’ve been using H&S for about a month. I’ve never lost hair at a noticable rate, never seen my hair in the shower and very few hairs in the brush. I have a receding hair line but its moving very slowly.
Since using H&S – about once every 3-4 days, I have noticed hair loss, I run my fingers through my hair and seem to be catching hairs on every pass.
Im not sure if H&S is causing the folicals to expand/loosen up making the hairs easy to fall out.
I havent been using conditioner after H&S which could be the issue.
i do not take any meds to prevent my androgenic alopecia, but i don’t know about H&S, but i have been placing half a hollowed-out watermelon on my head for the last month, and have been noticing hair falling out at a significant rate, i don’t think it is my androgenic alopecia that progresses with age, i think it is the hollowed-out watermelon i put on my head, i never used to put a watermelon on my head when i was younger, but now that i am older i do put a half watermelon on my head, once again i do not believe the hair loss is related to age associated androgenic alopecia, but is definitely the hollowed-out watermelon half i put on my head, definitely that’s it!
I am 26 years old. Over the past 2 years I have noticed my hair thinning almost to the point of baldness in some areas. Up until 4 months ago, I had never used Head & Shoulders shampoo. I began using Head & Shoulders shampoo 4 months ago, and I have noticed a dramatic improvement! My hair has grown back thicker than before! Women at work have noticed too. They tell me how much more handsome I look, and they seem to love running their hands through my thick head of hair. I just wanted to let you all know, just in case you were worried that Head & Shoulders was a bad product. It isn’t! It is wonderful and it definitely contributes to new hair growth!
I had dandruff problem before and started using H&S anti-dandruff shampoo. This shampoo is so harsh and full of chemicals. I noticed a significant hair falling out after I come my hair or take a shower.
A friend of mine recommended me to use a mild herbal based shampoo instead. Ever since I started using the Lauat herbal hair shampoo, my hair loss problem stopped. Surprisingly, it also get rid of my annoying dandruff problem! You can read more about the Lauat herbal hair shampoo on http://www.elantree.com.
Sonny Le, forgive me but you are not an expert on this. You prove that with your comment about Head & Shoulders being harsh and full of chemicals. I wonder if you have ever even used Head & Shoulders before. I have used Head & Shoulders and I know that it is NOT harsh, but actually quite soothing to the scalp. Also, there are absolutely no chemicals in Head & Shoulders. So you are wrong about that, too.
If you want bugs to grow in your hair, then please be my guest and continue to use that mild herbal based shampoo. But if you want to experience a beautiful, luxurious head of hair, then use Head & Shoulders.
well randall, im 16 years old ive always had thick luxuriouse hair that everybody comented on…about a year ago i noticed a little bit of flackage so i stoppped using pantene and started using head and shoulders and every since then so much of my hair has been falling out i cant practically see my scalp when im in the shower so much falls out and even on a regular basis…its really noticable when im under a bright light its so embarassing especially when your a teenage girl in your last year of high school and if you think that head and shoulders isnt full of chemicalls you have no idea what your talking about theres lead in the shampoo and if you knew what led did to you when you touched it it clearly cant be any good for your scalp…how do you think it stops dandruff which i may add it does very well its called CHEMICALLSS!! ive spent the last year crying over this hair loss and im going to imidiatly stop using H&S and if i see my hair starting to grow back i swear i will seww this company! no one should be using this product if it actually is the source of my hair loss! and clearly if this many ppl are saying its doing the exact same thing to them its true…i am perfectly healthy and only 16 there is no reason for my hair to be falling out except for this crappy product! and i also use ocean lift!
its better to have a little but of dandruff which can be removed with another product then go bald!
Stef, I’m going to let you in on a little secret: many people on this planet lose their hair. It happens to both men and women. It isn’t Head & Shoulders doing it, honey, it’s GENETICS.
Now, I have to come clean. I am not an expert. I don’t even really use Head & Shoulders.
If you’re 16 and your hair really is falling out, then that sucks. But keep in mind, it’s normal to lose stray hairs in the shower. That happens to everyone. I don’t know the actual statistics, but I believe it’s normal for a person to lose hundreds of hairs each day. So don’t trip out over your hair falling out in the shower. At 16, you’re way too young to worry about your hair thinning out. But hey, if you’ve got the nerve and the money, go see a doctor and maybe you can get some Rogaine or something.
Randall, you are wrong. Not to mention, a hypocrite (you stated you had used the product, but now you say you “don’t even really use” it.
I remember using Head and Shoulders before for my dandruff, but I also noticed thinning. I had gone to my dermatologist for my hair loss. I was 17 at the time (now 18) and immediately she asked what shampoo I was using. As soon as I said Head and Shoulders, she told me to never use it again. She gave me a new “organic” shampoo and a few other products, and since then, I have not lost hair. It took a while to kick in, but now everything is okay.
I used to have a full head of thick hair, my barber used to tell me how lucky I was, and slowly, it did thin. He also asked if I was using Head and Shoulders, because he too had the same problem.
Brandon, I may have made inconsistent statements, but you are ignorant. And so is your dermatologist if she thinks that switching from Head & Shoulders to an “organic” shampoo will somehow prevent your genetics from doing their thing. I used Head & Shoulders shampoo between the ages of 12 and 25 and always had thick hair. Recently (over the last 2 years or so, I am now almost 27) my hair has been thinning. I attribute it to genetics. Interestingly, over most of the past 2 years I have been using organic shampoos. Most recently I’ve taken to washing my hair with the same bar of olive oil soap that I use on the rest of my body. My hair is still thinning. I suppose you’ll tell me that I shouldn’t be using bar soap to wash my hair, and that only actual shampoo will do. Well, I think the shampoos we’re using have nothing to do with it. It’s all in our genes. Perhaps products like Rogaine can actually prevent hair loss, but I am not sure I want to risk whatever side effects might be associated with putting that junk in my body. Plus, I imagine it’s outrageously expensive. No, I’ll just have to learn to live life as a baldy. You guys should probably start thinking about learning how to cope with your bodies as they are, rather than blaming some product for something that is natural.
Some of u guys say u lose alot of hair or whatever…exactly how many is alot? (say in the shower)
Hi there
After using Head and Shoulders Menthol ONCE, I have since had major irritation to my scalp.
This has now been causing me a problem for over a month with no signs of abating.
I’m finding that bacause I cannot alway conciously stop myself from scratching I am not loosing hair.
I dont think it is the shampoo that is causing this hair loss but the scratching.
Has anyone any any ideas how to get rid of this?
Jessica, this will probably sound a little crazy, but you might try massaging some hot salsa into your scalp (before showering, of course). You know, some brand like Pace Picante or something. I am not a medical doctor, but I think the hot oils in the salsa might have a beneficial effect on your scalp irritation. Hope this helps :)
I’ve been losing hair as all of you have and I have been using the accursed product for a very long time.
I am very glad that I finally put two and two together and did a google search for “Hair loss head and shoulders.” Hopefully now the healing can begin.
And Grant, I’m getting quite a bit of hair on each hand after washing it. We’re not talking like tufts of hair, but a good 10-15 on each hand perhaps (and those are just the ones on my hands).
Love, Tom
Oh yeah, and I’m 19 years old.
Hey everyone,
I’ve been thinking about using Head & Shoulders to help with my dandriff and oily hair, but im not sure whether i should after reading the comments everyone has made. I’m wondering if there is anyone that hasn’t experienced hairloss when using Head & Shoulders? Also, just as Jessica has mentioned, my scalp is very itchy and irritated. I’ve tried numerous shampoos and conditioners to help alleviate the itch, but nothing seems to work, including 3 different medicated shampoos. I’ve also tried rubbing olive oil on my scalp as a friend of mine had mentioned, but it didn’t make any differnce. Does anyone have any ideas that may help my problem?
My reply is to Randall. You are are not only ignorant, you are seriously, just plain stupid. You claim you are not a DR., chemist, nor toxocologist, yet give advice as if you have any sort of knowledge in chemistry. Every body reacts different to chemicals. People here are only expressing their own personal experience as you did. You are not the one and only chemical make-up of human on this earth. Open your mind.
Amy, for your problem, I would suggest trying Head & Shoulders shampoo for normal/oily hair. It is proven to reduce and prevent dandruff (the stuff that is causing your scalp irritation and itchiness). Pay no heed to the uneducated and ignorant comments posted by others on this forum. They are just poor souls suffering from ordinary hair loss. It isn’t caused by Head & SHoulders. It happens to everyone, sooner or later. Some people are just genetically predisposed to losing their hair earlier in life. There’s nothing (short of Rogaine or perhaps some other expensive prescription drugs) that can stop it. It isn’t caused by using shampoo. It’s caused by Mother Nature, herself.
Elvis, this I have to say to you: YOU are the stupid one, not I. Please take your inflamatory comments elsewhere. We are trying to have a civilized conversation here.
How do i know if im going bald.. My hair comes out when I rub my hands through my hair or wash it in the shower.. I just turned 17 wtf is going on? I think i’m probably losing 80-120 hairs a day and dont know why! What can I do? Could it be telogen effiluvum asI can see the bulb on the end of each hair that comes out and it is like club shaped?
I am 30 and have been using Head and Shoulders for 3 months and my hair is falling out in piles. I had no idea that it could cause hair loss and I am devastated. I can now see my scalp. I have now stopped using it but still see hair loss. Has anyone who has experienced this same thing seen their hair recover and grow back once the use ws stopped? I really need some hope.
I’m 31 and used to have very thick hair. I have hair loss in my family i.e. my father and my brother, but I luckily seem to have been excluded from this.
I started using Head & Shoulders about 7 years ago, but since the past 2 years I have noticed that my hair is thinning every where and to make it worse, I have small chunks of hair missing at the back of my head (which I think is logically impossible)! I have now stopped using this shampoo with the hope that my hair grows back, or atleast stops falling out.
Well Randall, from your comments it appears as if you are trying your best to take any blame of hair loss off of head and shoulders. Hmmmm, maybe you are associated with the company that produces the shampoo. Anyways, your comments are, shall I say contradictory. For example, everyone should take a look at comment 27 and comment 34. In his first comment he states something along the lines of using h&s for the first time and how it gave him thicker hair. Then in comment 34 he says he has been using the shampoo between ages 12 and 25, and that he is stilling thinning and is learning to live as a “baldy”. Anyone can see your opinion is unreliable and unusually biased, especially comment 27. Now, after getting that out of the way, I googled the active ingredient in head and shoulders, pyrithione zinc. I found info on pubmed and other electronic (scientific) journal sites as I have access to most of them through the univeristy I attend. There is no evidence indicating that pyrithione zinc causes hair loss. Two studies indicated that pyrithione zinc increased overall hair density. And of those two, one study also looked at hair diameter while the other didn’t and it showed that pyrithione zinc slightly decreased hair diameter and increased sebum production. So, some good and bad news. Then there was another source that claimed the reason pyrithione zinc initially increases hair density because it irritates the area where it is applied, and the overall effect after continued use can be damaging to the hair and skin. This last source seemed a little shaky because the guy, Dr. Pickhart from skinbiology, who makes these claims sites sources but kind of puts the info out of context and compares the ingredients to other ingredients in a way as to persuade readers. he is also trying to sell a product. I didn’t want to research all the ingredients in H&S as it would take a long time, but I am relatively sure pyrithione zinc, the active ingredient, doesn’t cause hair loss. I used head and shoulders and felt like it was making my hair fall out more rapidly, which could be any one of the ingredients in the shampoo, or maybe the ingredients in combination with the pyrithione zinc. Anyways I still had dandruff so I found this shampoo with pyrithione zinc and way less other ingredients in it compared to head and shoulders. The shampoo is also much milder (less drying). It is DHS Shampoo. It has 2% pyrithione zinc and I only use it once a week now since I got my dandruff under control. I believe it is better than Head and shoulders. In conclusion, if you believe a shampoo is causing obvious hair loss then stop using it and find something else. If you’re still losing hair then as Randall said, “learn to live life as a baldy.” The links to the sources I used will be posted next.
I’m 18 years old and used the H&S Refresh 2-in-1 for about 3 weeks when I noticed how much hair I was losing after every shower I took. So I stopped using it for about a month and a half, but I’m still losing more and more each day! A lot of people seem to think an herbal type of shampoo helps stop the hair loss… thanks everyone. You have no idea how much I appreciate the advice. I love my long Hawaiian hula hair! I’m in my prime!! =D
I’m 27 years old, with long thick hair. I never had any problems with my hair – whatsoever – and there was never such thing as “hair loss” in my family history. I thought I’d try an H&S shampoo for a change because I heard it was a good brand. The very first time I used it, my hand caught a lot of hairs when I ran it through my hair while showering… and it caught even more when I ran it through again. The hair was abnormally thin, sticky and yucky, which never happened before. I thought maybe it was just an accident, or maybe there was an external cause (thought there really weren’t any changes to my showering setting or anything like that), and used it again in about a week. Same thing happened. During the two weeks since I first used the shampoo, I also noticed that a lot of hairs were left on my pillow in the morning every time. Yuck!
I had a suspicion that the shampoo could have caused it, so I went back to the store and bought a herbal shampoo that I have used before and that I liked a lot for the way it worked. Guess what… The first time I used it after throwing out H&S, some hair fell out, but significantly less than during the two weeks of using H&S. My hair felt almost fine again, a little sticky and a little more thin than always, but a lot better compared to the way it was after H&S. The second time I used the herbal shampoo, no hair fell out at all. Everything appears to be back to normal, and my hair is back to being nice and thick.
When I went to my dermatologist and told her the story, she said that yes, she had a lot of patients who experienced problems with hair while using H&S, and she also recommended the herbal shampoo that I was already using because she said that it should work better than most chemical shampoos.
Conclusion: H&S was most definitely what caused the untypical problems with my hair. I am definitely going to be looking into sueing the company using the assistance of a few very talented chemical engineers, good friends of mine.
TO EVERYONE…
Take it as a general rule that any chemicals, whether they be applied inside or outside, are bad for you in one way or another despite anything that is claimed. While each “beneficiary” chemical fixes one thing, it almost always breaks something else, and that it easy to prove.
If you really want your issues to be healed, do your research into herbal alternatives, because they work just fine, and work with no side effects like many chemicals do.
Whenever I use Head & Shoulders, there always seems to he a lot of hair coming loose on my hands as I rub the shampoo in. Whenever I wash my hair and DON’T use the product, the problem does not occur. For me, there is a clear relationship between using Head & Shoulders and losing hair.
what herbal shampoo do you guys reccomend?
I am a biotechnology researcher who has spent the past two years studying hair loss/ hair growth. I have read hundreds of scientific papers on the subject and heard lectures by many of the world’s leading researchers on the topic. I have never heard Head & Shoulders (or any other anti-dandruff shampoo) mentioned as being associated AT ALL with hair loss. On the contrary, I have seen that zinc, a component of many anti-dandruff shampoos, has been correlated with PREVENTING hair loss in some studies…
Hi I’m also a Head and Soulders fan and my daughter too. I read this complaits about H & S and understand now why my hair is falling out, my daugter 16 got the same problem, when we stop using the H & S shamphoo our hair stop falling out.
I am imediately stopping the use of H & S shamphoo s from today.
Y’all must be smokin’ the crack rock if you think H&S is causing your hair to fall out! Each of you describes a similar scenario: You wash your hair with H&S shampoo, and notice loose hairs on your hands after massaging your scalp. Well, I have news for all of you fools: Hair ALWAYS falls out in the shower. It doesn’t matter what kind of shampoo you use, you are going to lose hundreds of hairs each day. That is just a fact of life. Want to know another fact of life? Most people experience hair thinning, and many people go bald. Get yourselves to a dermatologist and get some ROGAINE, people! Quit dissin’ H&S, a truly magnificent company!
p.s., by the way… yesterday I took a shower and used Head & Shoulders shampoo to wash my hair… then I went grocery shopping… then, as I was walking to my car in the parking lot outside the grocery store, I found a $20 bill lying on the ground! THANK YOU HEAD & SHOULDERS! =)
Hi, I´m a 24 year old man and I have a small problem with my hair. My hair on top of my forehead is getting thinner and the hairline is getting higher and higher. About two weeks after I started using Head & Shoulders shampoo I noticed that I was losing significantly more hair than i did before. I could not find any other reason for the increasing hair loss then the H&S shampoo I had bought. I think that Head & Shoulders shampoos should be taken off the market and tested on animals or something. There is definitely something wrong with the product. I have not tried all the H&S products, and I think I’m not going to:), but at least the one I tried increased my hair loss.
DaMan, have you ever considered the possibility that the reason for your increased hair loss is the fact that you are getting OLDER? You are not a child anymore. You are a 24 year old man. It isn’t like people start growing MORE hair on their heads as they get older. H&S isn’t causing your hair loss, man. Old age is.
We should take H/S to the court.
Randall, it may even take 3 years to really notice a hair thinning.
I always had a thin hair, but it remained this way all the time.
It is possible that my hair was a bit thinner after 1 year of using H&S, and i just didn’t noticed because i never really used to overlook my hair, i just kept my hair short all the time, and a small thinning wasn’t noticeable to me.
Hair thinning proccess may take years until you notice any difference.
Another thing i can say is, that not only my hair on the top got thinner, also the hair in the back of my neck and at the top of my ear (the places people never lose their hair when they are balding) also got thinner.
I used to wash my whole head with H&S.
It is of course possible i lose my hair from another reason, but by the reactions here, it looks suspicious.
Randall, take it easy. Stop reading hair loss blogs and get a life. This is for people who are pretty sure H&S is the cause. And I’m pretty sure it is for me. No sign of hair loss in my family and I’m only 18 years old. Anyway RANDALL, I switched to some herbal shampoo since everyone seems to think it’ll put a halt to the damage H&S supposedly done or is doing. And since you’re still reading this (because you don’t have a life), what do you have to say about my situation:
Long hair… more hair loss than the usual like 5 strands a shower, 5 strands for the rest of the day… H&S for a week and now my hair is thinner… 20 strands a shower, around 35 strands for the rest of the day……… why the sudden increase in hair loss??
ooh randal, why are you being so hard on people. i have suffered with alopecia areata for years now and hair loss is a painful experience. if people find that something affects the rate their hair falls out who are you to tell them they are wrong. with my experience of alopecia there are certain things that i avoid because i know that they accelerate my hair loss, i dont use head and shoulders but you cannot guarantee that it will not be an accelersnt for my alopecia no more than i can say the reason for yours is because your a self righteous sod.
as has been said everything affects everyone differently. hair loss has many causes alopecia and pattern baldness are just two.
prehaps if you open your mind you will realise that just because you have male patern hair loss does not mean that everyone else with hair loss has the same problem. therefore you cannot say what the cause or cure could be. even if it is a placebo and it stops the hairloss the problem it works! good for them.
casey, it just bothers me that all of these people have made up their minds that Head & Shoulders is causing their hair to fall out, when in reality I highly doubt that is the case. These people have not conducted controlled experiments applying the scientific method. They have proved nothing. They know nothing. They are just ignorant people who have grabbed hold of the first answer they could think up, and now they are spreading a vicious rumor over the world wide web. If no one else stands up to speak on behalf of Head & Shoulders, then I feel it is my duty to defend them.
I am not self righteous. YOU are.
Randall… reading your comments it’s quit obvious that you’re suffering a very deep deep pain inside you, what are you writing is a mirror of a huge struggle inside you.. so when you’re saying hair loss is normal again and again in your comments.. it just seems that you’re writing your own thoughts.. well dear take it easy.. we all loss hair here, and listen to yourself… instead of posting here merely just to convince yourself.
Anyhow I just came to this page cause I started to lose a lot of hair the past 4 mounts.. the first thing is to use H&S (not Refreshing one)… since I knew the experience from two of my friends, many years ago, but it just continued after that I shaved my hair but no thing changed… again and for last option I tried H&S refreshing, and guess what my hair stop falling and immediately. I don’t know how that works but I think there must be something in this product makes some people loss hair more rapidly while- as in my case- gives others a hope. I just want to know about others who may experienced, as same to me. Thank you all
What’s the new chemical that’s been added to the H&S for Sensitive Scalps? I have had a reaction to it and it was never in it before.
“Kia’aina, don’t tell me to stop reading hair loss blogs. You are not the boss of me. YOU get a life!”
HAHAHA you’re too funny Randall. We should be friends.
“Have you been eating fast food lately? Studies indicate that eating fast foods like McDonald’s, Burger King, Jack in the Box, etc, can contribute to premature hair loss.”
Seriously? I had no idea. cool. bye… forever.
Ahmad, thank you for the psychological diagnosis. I found it to be very moving and helpful. In fact, I think I’m cured. After reading your comments the deep, deep pain and huge struggle inside me disappeared!
Regarding your other comment (that “we all lose hair”): I know that. Read every single message I’ve posted on this forum. I’ve mentioned that fact in all of them.
Kia’aina, dear, what is your problem? Do you got a problem with me or something? What did I ever do to you? Why are you so aggressive towards me? I think you are suffering from a deep, deep pain and a huge struggle inside you. You should talk to Ahmad about that. He might be able to offer you some words of encouragement.
I have been losing hair rapidly ever since I started using head and shoulders, it was only recently that i even considered it might be the cause (I guess i get sucked in by the advertising) and now i am all but certain it was due to the shampoo. I always had very thick hair but now most of its all over my pillow and down my plug hole instead of on my head.
To Randall, what exactly is YOUR problem? As has been said before, everyone reacts to different to the ingredients of anything (dumbing it down – if not try to explain allergies…).
its really great that you have fully accepted your hairloss (which Im finding hard to believe, how did you arrive at this forum anyway? searching for pirate DVDs? i think not), and we are all very happy for you. however, you think its normal for 16 year olds to start balding? You are very naiive if you think that the testing of these products makes them 100% safe – there have been certain makeups that had to be recalled due to the dicovery that they contributed to birth defects, open your eyes. Since when was this an attack on head and shoulders? we are simply a group of people that share a common problem with this particular product and are seeking help and advice.
I am going to admitt that we are certainly a minority as this company would be bankrupt already if we were not but this does not mean we can be ignored, if anything we are helping the company by bringing the issue to their attention… and Randall, when exactly did you sell your soul to them?
Also, im guessing your in your late twenties or thirties so i have no problem with telling you to GROW UP.
Liam, I am not even going to dignify your comments with a response.
First of all, I don’t have a problem, except for ignorant people like YOU coming onto this forum and spouting off pseudo-science like you have any idea what you’re talking about (I think not).
Second, although it certainly is unfortunate, it it not unheard of for a 16 year old to start baldling. It happened before Head & Shoulders existed and, unless some new gene therapy is developed to cure baldness, it will continue to happen, regardless of whether or not the person is using Head & Shoulders.
How dare you call me naïve. You are the one who is showing an obvious lack of sophisitcation and understanding when you come to this forum and talk trash about a highly reputable company that has done more for this world than you will probably do in your whole life. Without Head & Shoulders, think of how many people would still have dirty hair. You should thank your lucky stars that Head & Shoulders is around to help people with a very real problem: dandruff. The next time you are behind a woman in line at the grocery store and she flips her hair and sprays disgusting little white particles of dandruff in your direction, you will be SORRY you ever said a disparaging word about Head & Shoulders.
Finally, I have not sold my soul to anyone except Jesus. Maybe you have heard of him.
Finally, YOU grow up.
WOW wow wow there… What?? Randall im affraid your comments make no sense whatsoever, you have either not read my comment at all and have just come up with this premeditated response or you didnt understand a word i said. i suggest you reread my comment and then procede to insult me – all of your arguments were covered in my comment so i feel no need to elaborate.
And by the way thanks for the dignification of my comments…
I just turned 18 and I’ve been using Head & Shoulders for a number of years because of dandruff. I have a bald spot forming of really thin hair and I’m losing mas quantities of hair each time I shower. I never thought of the corilation until now, so I’m going to pickup new shampoo.
I’m assuming that its either the harsh chemicals used to treat dandruff while doing everything else a shampoo does, or even a weird allergic reaction.
I’m too young to lose my hair, I’m stuck wearing hats! :(
I have had hairloss from a undiangnosed ringworm infection, i was useing H and S and it definatly helped for many years but when i switched to a different type of H and S within days i was losing handfulls of hair, if you have dandruff there are other medical reasons for it it might not just be dandruff. anyways all my problems went away when i started using my dogs shampoo from the vet. Vet Solusions Canadian medicated shampoo. good for zits too!
Oh my God, I just told my hubbie to buy me some H&S. I used it in my teenage years and can’t remember anything bad happening. I thought of trying it to REDUCE my hair loss now that I am 26.
Anyway, what I do know is that people using H&S here are probably suffering from dandruff…which is often caused by excess sebum which is affected by DHT etc…..meaning in short, if you have dandruff, you’re losing your hair too….okay if it has not come out yet, it will !!! I had loads of stress and bad nutrition previously and got itchy, flaky, messy scalp and hair started falling shortly after. I did NOT use H&S…but I guess if I HAD USED it, I WOULD HAVE BLAMED H&S thinking it was the cause of my hairloss. I CONTINUED LOSING HAIR 3-4 MONTHS after the dandruff episode, which goes to show that while the dandruff may manifest for a short period, the hairloss can continue for a longer time.
DANDRUFF GOES HAND IN HAND WITH HAIRLOSS, whether hormonal, nutritional or stress related (temporary or permanene)…BOTH SHARE THE SAME CAUSE(S).
Now, having said this, what scared me REALLY is that H&S has been proved to reduce the diameter of the hair shaft ?????
Now that IS BAD !!! For appearance sake and possible long term repercussions.
hey everyone, it doesnt take a genius to see that there has to be a correlation between hair loss and head and shoulders. i dont have one family member, not even an ancestor that didnt have a huge fro full of hair when they were old, i used head and shoulders for two years because of the crappy water on navy ships causing dandruff, and my hair has thinned rediculously, i stopped using it and my hair is now thicker, probably the easiest scientific experiment i have ever done. maybe some people arent affected by the chemicals, but i promise there is something in that shampoo that causes hair loss in quite a few people.
John Abbas, your “scientific experiment” proves absolutely nothing. All you have described is your own after-the-fact guess as to why your hair thinned.
Have you ever thought that maybe your hair wasn’t thinning because of the Head & Shoulders, but rather because of the “crappy water on navy ships”?
You claim that you don’t have even a single ancestor who lost their hair in old age. I find that statement difficult to accept. Do you have photographs of ALL of your ancestors to document this claim? I highly doubt it! I think, perhaps, you’re exagerating a little?
Thank you for your “promise” that Head & Shoulders “causes hair loss in quite a few people.” However, I am not convinced. Do a little more experimentation and get back to me with the results.
I’m not gonna say a bad thing about H&S. It worked well against my dandruff. Seriously! And it also gave me a new look. The look of a mature, wiser man. A bald man, that is! And all that in less than a year of using this magnificent product. It even shocked my barber, who btw was the one to mention first the relation of H&S and hairloss. Well, being a bit sceptic (no offense to my barber) made me do my own little research, and here i am. A whole bunch of “satisfied” H&S users. Let us all thank this amazing shampoo!
I have also been experiencing hair loss due to the use of Head&Shoulders! I never had any type of problem with hair thinning or loss before and since I have started using HS I have tons of hair coming out in the shower or even just throughout the day! I detest this product now and will never use it again.
Also, Randall is the CEO of Head&Shoulders so everyone can just ignore all of the pro-Heaad&Shoulders comments that he makes, including the one that he will most likely leave in response to me!
I’m 16 years old and have been using Head and Shoulders for about 5 months now. I’ve always had ridiculously thick hair, but as of a few weeks ago, I’m waking up with hair all over my pillow and all over the floor in my bathroom. To the credit of Head and Shoulders, it did get rid of my dandruff…..But…Since my hair is naturally thick and oily, I would wash my hair with Head and Shoulders in the morning and at night. And now my hair is the thinnest that it’s ever been…..Balding isn’t hereditary in my family…..So….I even talked to a doctor and he said that I should have only been using the shampoo 2 times a week at most. 2 times per day, everyday was basically frying my hair, he said. He suggested I stop immediately, so I have. Already my hair isn’t falling out as much……I know that it doesn’t do this to everyone…..but it did me, and it’s the only logical explanation.
I’m 30 and I too have thining heir problem since a 1 year or so… It does correspond with my usage of H&S ORIGINAL. I use Nioxin since about a year and its supposed to be one of the best out there for thin hair problems but no luck. I never bought the 3rd step though so it might not work as supposed to. Knowing my body a lot, I suspect that the source of my problem (and possibly most people here) is actually DRY SCALP. I have used H&S Dry Scalp for many years before and I never had any problem until I ran out and found a large H&S original that I had in stock and started using that instead because I did’nt want to throw it away. I think if you use H&S original and you’re mistaking your dry scalp for a dandruff problem, my guess is you get your problem worse. If your scalp is dry, I think it would be logical that your hair growth suffers. I noticed that I still had a dry scalp using Nioxin (which is not meant to treat dry scalp)so no later that today I went back to H&S Dry Scalp. I would’nt be surprised at all that to see my hair get thicker again. I’ll post the results of my study soon. I hope this will help some of you.
Head and Shoulders definitely causes hair loss!!!! I don’t have dandruff, but am a huge fan of coupons!!!!! I bought a huge bottle of Head and Shoulders because it was part of a deal I got using coupons. I have been plagued recently with an acne problem and have been researching natural remedies. Part of my research included a zinc deficiency…and mentioned H&S. I brought out this bottle of Head and Shoulders and started using it as a shampoo and a body wash. Not only did my hair on my head (especially the CROWN) start falling out, but so did the hair on my body!!!!! This after only a few times of using it.
I immediately stopped using it on my head, but as a woman, what a fantastic way to shed unwanted hair on your body!!!!!!! I took a bath using Head and Shoulders…and I have not had to shave my legs for a WEEK. COOL.
Everyone has a different body chemistry. As individual as your fingerprint. Therefore, everything will affect everyone differently. Obviously with all the comments on here, there is a sufficient amount of evidence that many experience hair loss with the use of Head and Shoulders shampoo. The few that haven’t are obviously exceptions as there are with any product, food, supplements, drugs,….blah, blah, blah.
So…if you want to lose your hair anywhere on your body, use Head and Shoulders. Will save you thousands of dollars in shavers, creams, even expensive laser treatments….lol
Peace!
My story is similar to many others I am 26 years old & I have been using “Head & Shoulders” on a daily basis for years. I never made the connection between my thinning hair line (especially on the top of my head) & using this product until my Dad who has head healthy hair for many years pointed it out to me recently. I thought that if there were some risk of baldness that there should have been a clear warning on the shampoo bottle itself. Like others I am now trying to find a product to help my hair any way possible.
I’ve been using H&S for about a year. It does an okay job on my dandruff, which was never really that serious anyway. Anyway, in the last year I’ve watched my hairline slowly recede. My brothers, one who also has dandruff, but uses a different shampoo, have no balding issues and my dad (at 54) still has a head full of hair. I’m 27, close to getting married, and not particularly tickled about losing the hair. I figured it was someone from my mom’s side, when I came across this website. I’m dumping my H&S to see if my hairline will cease its march. If there’s no change, I don’t see why I should blame the shampoo.
Head and Shoulders SUCKS. I have lost a massive amount of hair within a month of using this shampoo. It took me a month to realize that this was the cause of the problem (I was thinking more along the lines of a medical problem.)
I can’t believe I found this site and so many other people going through the same thing. I can only hope that this will get better after a shampoo switch. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT.
It turns out that Head and Shoulders as well as other shampoos that contain the same ingredients are actually proven to regrow and prevent hair loss. Anecdotal evidences is worthless.
Of course, I stumbled across this blog because I did a search for “pyrithione zinc hair loss.†My husband is 20 years old and until recently had thick, black hair. He started using the original Head and Shoulders about 5 months ago, not because he had dandruff, but because his head was itching, especially when he worked out. It cured the itching and he was happy about that. He then tried Citrus Breeze H&S, and about 1 month ago tried Smooth and Silky H&S. Over the past couple of weeks, his hair has been falling out in large quantities. His hair line is receding and you can now see his scalp on the top of his head. He is already having to sport the comb-over! Mind you, all this hair loss happened in about 2 weeks time. I read the back of his shampoo bottle and told him that probably his first problem was that he was using the H&S too frequently. He was shampooing with it twice a day – in the morning and after working out – about 5 days a week, and once a day for the 2 days he didn’t work out – you do the math – 12 times a week, which the bottle says to use at least 2 times a week, but safe to use with each shampoo. I began to question if the H&S was causing this rapid hair loss and wanted to research it. I thought that if you began losing your hair due to genetics, it would be a gradual process, not just suddenly having handfuls of hair fall out every time you shower. Genetically, my husband’s mother’s side doesn’t lose their hair even in old age, and his father’s side doesn’t lose their hair until their 30’s, if at all. My husband eats healthily and takes a multi-vitamin daily, and is not stressed (other than about losing his hair!). He is allergic to solid gel deodorants, he’s found, so maybe there is some connection there. In the meantime, he’s stopped using the H&S and we’re going to try to find a mild herbal shampoo and conditioner (any suggestions???) and hope that his hair will grow back and it’s not too late. We’re going to take a closer look at ingredients in the H&S products that he’s used…maybe it’s not the pyrithione zinc and is something else that he may be allergic to. I do find all of this confusing, as many of you have suspected a connection between H&S and hair loss, but that studies show the zinc can actually prevent hair loss. For those of you who had been using H&S for years and then experienced hair loss, it would be pushing it to blame the H&S and not genetics. But for those of you who had only just begun to use the product, then tons of hair fell out, then you stopped using the product, and your hair went back to normal, it seems obvious that H&S is to blame. Who knows!? I was hoping to find a definite link between H&S/p. zinc and hair loss. Then again, it’s not uncommon for companies to pay to keep undisclosed any research that may undermine their product. I’ll be checking this from time to time, so keep us all posted with any new testimonies/research/suggestions.
30 year old male with very little hair loss in our genetic tree. Grandfather on my Mother’s side had a full of head hair before he passed, and my 1st cousins on the same side of my family do as well. I do not drink alcohol, do not smoke, do not take any medications, no allergies, no sickness of any kind and no history of drug use (marijuana, heroin, cocaine…etc).
Pattern of hair loss was odd. I was losing hair on my frontal line, and in between my frontal line and crown. Odd pattern and did not match any documented genetically lost hair patterns.
I have routinely utilized head and shoulders in my daily regiment for the last 3 years due to an itchy scalp and noticed that high number of hairs would shed during showering and for sometime afterwards – I honestly and truthfully believed it was normal shedding of the follicle because of my genetic inheritance and assumed the rate of regrowth equaled the rate of shedding. Well I couldn’t have been more wrong in my assumptions.
I started to look into my lifestyle to determine what the problem may be – diet, exercise…etc. By complete chance I ran out of Head and Shoulders shampoo and begun using what my girlfriend has on hand until I had the ambition to pick up some more. It had been just over 1 month since I have stopped using Head and Shoulders and my rate of shedding has decreased significantly. I was experiencing nearly an average of 80 hair strands shed per day to an average of 30 per day. That’s quite an improvement! The hair I had lost on the frontal region (my hair line) has begun to regrow. Coincidence?
I wanted to test the working theory. I decided to use Head and Shoulders for 1 month (I chose 1 month because that is what it took for my hair to regrow) to determine whether it conclusively lead to my hair loss. I did not have to wait long to see the results; after 1 (ONE) shampoo my hair had begun to shed. No time wasted at all. I began to shed hair at the rate during my heavy usage. I stopped usage immediately.
After I stopped usage, the hair loss I experienced is now coming back. Good bye Head and Shoulders.
I have not tested Selsun Blue, and am afraid to see the results.
Addendum to my health history:
I work out every day (weight training, interchanged with cardio) and eat extremely well. I eat fast food once every 3 months to satisfy my Burger King fix (bad habit) :)
I started using H&S about 6 months ago. It was fine for awhile, then it must have happened fast. Its its going quick. I have stopped using it. But now it tingles and some times has a slight burn.
I want answers.
OMG….I’m having a fit right about now, I never dreamed that head and shoulders could be the reason my hair has fell out. I had extremely thick hair 7 months ago and I’m embarrassed now because when i pull my hair back it’s like i have parts all over the place and it’s all from my hair being so thin now. My husbad has also developed baldness bad at the crown and it’s came on fast, I can’t believe that I let him convince me his has came on due to his age, a young 46 and I was to slow to put it all together. I even asked my doctor what could be causing my hair to fall out and quit taking the meds he had perscribed for me because I thought that was it. This has been very stressful for me…being female and afraid any morning could be my last with hair…
Boy am I glad that I used Google to research H&S. I never thought I would turn up responses like this. I am 22 and in good health, I take a multivitamin daily and don’t eat junk food. After using the generic grocery store brands and the like for years I started using H&S a few months ago to get rid of some dandruff. Thats when the redness and soreness started. Sometimes the entire top of my scalp would be sore for no apparent reason. Also, the hair just looked fragile and unhealthy. I even had family members and barbers tell me my scalp looked red and irritated. Then I started to notice some thinning spots. I have always had thick bushy hair. I at least expected to have a full head of hair until 30!
Now I will freely admit I don’t have all the variables accounted for, but the biggest change that I can think of is my switch to using head and shoulders. I recently stopped using it after finding all these reports of hair loss, and all the spots may not have filled in, but my hair already feels much better. Even if this stuff isn’t causing hair loss, I think a lot of people must be allergic to it. I am going to wait another month before I make any real conclusions, but like I said, my hair feels better after just a few days, and the soreness and redness are already gone, so I have my fingers crossed.
I’m 25, men in my family have male pattern baldness…but everybody has thick hair on top….except me. I started using H&S when I was 18, the past 3-4 years my hair has been thining evenly on my head. I found this board almost a year ago and stopped using H&S. My dandruff has returned and my head is ichy. But, you know what? My hair is resprouting on top, maybe thats why it is itchy…. I used H&S daily…maybe this was a mistake. At any rate I’ll spend the rest of my life telling people not to use this product and what it did to me.
I can’t believe this. I started using Head & Shoulders in high school and used it for about 3 years. By the time I was a senior my hair started to really thin out, and I had a very thick head of hair. I always though it was the Head & Shoulders but was never certain. I thought it was probably just a coincidence. Needless to say I stopped using it and now at 28 I’m thinking of getting hair transplants. After seeing this blog and reading about everyone else’s experiences I’m convinced that it was this stupid shampoo that I used. I can’t believe these people could put a product like this on the market without giving it proper tests. I mean this is something that affects all of us for a lifetime. Now I’m not the kind of person that believes that suing is the answer for everything but in this case I think it’s called for. If for nothing else maybe it could take this product off the shelf so it doesn’t ruin anyone else’s life. I say we should all come together and start a class action lawsuit against them. Who’s with me?
I have always had very thick hair and noone ever expected that I would suffer from hair loss. I started using Head and Sholders a year ago and since then I have been loosing hair at an alarming rate. I suspected it was Head and Sholders and now that I see there are many other people with the same concerns I’m going to stop using the product.
Yep….Head and shoulders causes hair loss…….it happened to me after 1 month of using…..somebody should sue these bastards on behalf of all of us!!!!!
HEAD N SHOLDERS IS CRAP DNT USE IS MY GIRL HAS GONE BOLD OF THIS CRAP
shampoo is good for treating hair, but its no good if you dont have any hair to use it with. I’ve stopped using H&S for 3 months and my hair is starting to regrowing. I was 16 when I started to use this product and immediately days later my hair started falling off. I knew the first time I used H&S, my scalp started to feel a intense burn when I applied it. I thought it was normal, so I continued using it. But months later my hair started fall off and it wasn’t just 1 or 2 hairs, its was a handful.
Wow, I just can’t believe that H&S could possibly be causing our family’s hair loss. I am very upset about this. At first I could run my hands through my hair and find 10 or so strands falling out each time. Immediatly went to the doctor, we checked on medical issues that might cause this to happen (thyroid, hormonal imbalance, daily meds, ect..). Nothing seemed it would be the cause. Then my 11 yr old son who has the in style longer hair for boys, who also used the product, realized that his hair came out in massive amounts too. After putting two and two together, my husband came to the conclusion that it probably is the use of this shampoo. That is when he googled and found all these enteries of people with the same problem. I am convinced, I only hope that stopping the usage will reverse the damages. Please stop using this product if you are experiencing the same issues. This has caused my son and me great heartache, I almost broke down and bought a wig for myself. But I think I will wait and see what happens since I threw my bottle away!!!!
yes this did happen to me aswell.
I was very young when it happend and went to see a doctor
because every time i took a shower i was loosing A LOT of hair and in time it started getting thinner and thinner
they said it was because i was stressed… but they didnt know i used head and sholders. I always belived the real cause of it was because of my shampoo because as soon as i got home i threw out the head and sholders and it stopped.
After that i switched to garnier to thinken my hair again.
Now, at age 15 my hair is back to normal and is really thick
I used this for the first time yesterday and this morning iv noticed the front of my hair is so much thinner then before and my scalp is so itchy and irritated! Dont use this product!
First of all, I want to point out that this Randall character quite obviously has an agenda that is in line with company. Between his complete inconsistency (I admit, I couldn’t be bothered to read every one) and his description of ladies at work noticing his luxurious hair, his description of H&S as a reputable company and his continual plugs for the product make this clear. I hope that anyone who visits this site that is intelligent enough to put two and two together and ignore his ignorant and futile ramblings.
Randall buddy, I hope I’m right. Otherwise you are completely pathetic for investing so much time and energy into a product that, as you say, does not affect you. What could this obnoxious display possibly bring to your life? You’re a one man show.
As for your defence of moral indignation, there are a lot of valuable causes in the world to be indignant about. Defending a hair product that may or may not aggravate hair loss in some people is certainly not one of them (unless of course you’re getting a paycheck for it as I previously implied- which is another level of pathetic). I suggest that you broaden your horizons… use your abundance of free time to try taking out one of the women admiring your luxurious hair or take up a cause that actually contributes to the world.
I also want to note that your trite need to prove something has already wasted far too much of my own time any energy. While I can be assured that you will read and respond to this post, you can be assured that I won’t bother returning to this site to read it. Some people have more relevant passions to pursue.
My advice to anyone that continues to read and become upset by this guy’s posts is to ignore him. A mad man’s rantings only matter if they are heard. I myself only validated his existence with this reply because I feel for the guy. What a sad life.
With that aside, this site does pertain to me, unlike our sad but amusing friend Randall. I thought that my situation might contribute to helping whoever is reading to make an informed decision:
I am a 19 year old female with no genetic predisposition to hair loss on either my mother or father’s side. I have three generations of family members who all have notably thick and healthy hair. I myself have always had abundantly thick and long hair and even get it cut in a way that thins it when I visit my stylist.
Within the span of a month I have begun using head and shoulders every day and have started to dramatically lose hair within the same time frame. I am losing handfuls in the shower and my scalp is now visible through my hair. My doctor agrees that even if I did have a genetic predisposition to hair loss that this is certainly not the rate in which natural hair loss would progress. I have been tested to rule out another problem but was advised to stop using the shampoo immediately, especially since the package states “if irritation occurs, discontinue use immediately.”
I find it very disturbing that so many young people, notably females, have had hair loss that they attribute to this product. Especially hair loss that develops rapidly. I do suspect that there is a correlation.
I have been using Head and Shoulders for a couple of years. I try to stop using it and my scalp feels like it is peeling off within a week. My dandriff gets really bad and I begin to get sores on my head and my hair starts to shed. I almost have no choice but to use it. I never had dandriff like this until I started using the product. I am going to fight it off for a few weeks this time and see if my scalp will return to normal. It is almost like my head is addicted.
I started using this product about a year ago because I had dandruff. The shampoo did indeed rid of the dandruff, however after a couple of months, I started experiencing hair loss, but it didn’t hit me with any concern until this past 2 months when I have been losing a considerable amount of hair. My friends also pointed out that I’ve started too look bald and my hairline has receded even more. My parents noticed it too, and pinned it on me not getting enough nutrition or sleep. I believed what my parents said, but for a while now I had a hunch that it might’ve been Head and Shoulders. My hair has thinned out considerably through speculation and I am losing more than 20 strands of hair a day. According to some of the comments, the user’s hairlines haven’t returned to its original condition. I surely hope it doesn’t happen to me. If it does, I wish I had knew about this earlier. Head and shoulders should look into this and put notifications on their product that it isn’t for daily use. As a matter of fact, I don’t think this product is worth it at all! Considering that there are more than 100 comments on this page, I think something should be done. My hairloss is definetely caused by this product. Beware!
Wow!! i’ve noticed for the last couple of months my hair looked different but just couldnt point it out. Then today i go to the cym and a friend of mine says ” damn man, your hair is thinning out” i got scared as hell and ran for a mirror! i noticed that my hair was very thin on the top and didnt know what was going on. My dadsside and my mothers side of the family dont have any hair issues what so ever. My dad is 64 and has thick long dark hair! So i do a search on my shampoo ” head & shoulders” that i have been using in the past two months and i am shocked but releived to see that it is indeed what i am putting on my scalp and nothing genetic. I just threw the damn bottle away and well never use it again. i’d rather rubb dog sh*t on my head then have super thin hair. i am a pretty boy that like lookin good for the ladies and i’m only 26. I’m just not gonna wash my hair for a month. Good luck. i’m out!!
also i was using ocean lift… i’m not going to put anything on my head for a month…then after that time period i am going to use an all natural shampoo. ps randall is a dumba$$
I used one bottle of Head and Shoulders and during that period (several months) I lost probably 60-70% of the hair on my head, especially the top part. I wasn’t smart enough to do a Google search on it, but finally did. Now I’m just hoping the hair will grow back. This product definitely needs to be investigated by the FDA and a class action should be filed.
If my hair does not grow back I will be seriously pissed.
I am a 37 year old female and have been using H&S for a few months. One day I noticed that I had some hair loss around my temples and then I really noticed that I had lost about 30% of the hair on top and front of my head. I am so upset and devastated! I have stopped using H&S and started taking a hair vitamin that is loaded with biotin and I have seen a slight improvement but again it has only been a couple of weeks. I have some new growth at my temples and in front. I only hope that the hair on top of my haed comes all they way back. I have an appointment to see a dermatalogist but I’m not sure what they are doing to say. Anyone who has expericenced this horrible feeling can you please post and tell if your hair has grown back.
Well guess what kiddies? Me too. I’m 38 and no one in my family has a history of hair loss. I was actually asked by my barber if I used H&S as my hair was thinning on the crown. He told me to never use it again as it causes hair loss. I used it daily for years. Hopefully it will thicken back in…
I am having the exact same problem. I noticed that my hair was starting to fall out after I started using Head & shoulders but I blamed the strees and my hectic lifestyle. But last night I was helping my daughter with her hair and hers is falling out too. She is 11 and the stress is not to be blamed. After I found this page I’m almost certain that is caused by the shampoo. We will never use this shampoo again.
bad boy randall company rep for H&S jesus you say and attack people
I have long hair and started using H&S for about 3 weeks. I started having my hair fall out to the point my husband is seeing every where and wanted me to go to the doctor to find out what was wrong with me because he has never seen someone lose so much hair as I have. I heard from a friend that it might be from H&S which caused me to go searching. I was surprised to find how many people have the same problem why has there been nothing done from the company?
sry 4 my bad english :)
I m using Head & shoulders for 4 years, i am 20. i noticed that my skin itches after i use Head & shoulders, and in the last 12 mounths i lost a loot of hair :(
Hi all,
i have never, i repeat NEVER had a problem with hair loss until i started using head and shoulders. its now particularly noticable around the tops of my temple and also the overall diameter of each strand of hair is visibly thinner. i am 32 years old and have always had a full thick head of hair ;)
Randall i dont know exactly what your agenda is but you are sure pushing head and shoulders as a ‘reputable product’ waymore than normal- the fact youve responded to this forum so many times makes you very suspect
ps although im glad you found the $20 becuase you use head and shoulders hahaha..thats pretty funny.
ill def stop using it, find something else in the mid term and see how i go over the next 3 months
Hey everyone, I’m so glad to have found this forum. I’ve been using head and shoulder for 4-5 months now and my hair has been falling out like crazy. I loose 30-40 strands per day during and after showering. I’m frustrated especially since my hair is naturally thin and my family has history of hair loss. I don’t need additional and external cause for hair loss, especially at the age of 20. I would definitely stop using H&S immediately.
Hi
I have been using my husband’s H&S shampoo for the last three years,and i have lost about 45-50% of my hair,especially on top and near the temples.I had been to a dermatologist,did the thyroid tests and stuff,everything was normal.I have had friends coming up who havent seen me for 3-4 years, and asking what happened to my hair.I also have an itchy scalp,keeps scratching every now and then.I used a different shampoo last week,and already scalp is much less itchy and hairloss is a little bit better,not as noticeable.My husband uses it only once a week,his hair has thinned out a little bit,but not very noticeable.His strands were thick,unlike mine,which were vey fine,to start with.I do think H&S played a big role in my hairloss.People with very strong hair,probably will be able to tolerate it for a few years,before any significant hairfall will be noticed.But people with avergage and fine silky hair,they will lose hair much faster.I will never wash with that shampoo again.Iam sad i took so long to make the connection.I just hope it all grows back.
Hi all,
I’m a 26 year old male with fairly thick hair. I’ve always used the regular head and shoulders on a daily basis with no huge problems. About a month ago I purchased a new type of H&S (restoring shine or something) and have been using it daily. Unfortunately, my hair rapidly began thinning/falling out along the top front. When It’s wet you can easily see my scalp which is frightening. I’m going to stop using H&S and use some cheap pantiene pro-v or whatever else is around and see what happens. Has anyone else experienced the hair growing back? Or at least not falling out as fast? Also, it might be male pattern baldness but it just seems odd that it would happen right when I started using the new H&S. Plus, I can now run my hand through the lower back part of my head and still have hairs come out which isn’t good.
ok im an asian guy 22 yrs old with long black hair and no one in my family have any history of hair loss. I bought H&S Shampoo in Hong Kong and have been using it for only 1 month, like all you people my hair has thinned. Lucky for me its jus been only 1 month cuz it thinned real bad. Im a rich mofo and im seriously considering sueing the dam company. Anyways please jus stop using the product cuz there`s definitly something wrong with it. Even if you dont suffer hairloss i doubt all those harsh chemicals are doing good to your scalp and hair.
Btw brad i started using another product Sea Breeze or something and it seems my hair stopped its thinning. Not sure about hair growing back but if you stop using H&S your hair will definitly stop falling out.
Henry,
Thanks for the response! Today I used some old finesse shampoo I found laying around and noticed not nearly the amount of random hairs coming out(5 or 10 vs 30). I’m just hoping that the H&S product hasn’t permanently damaged my hairs and they can recover and stop from falling out.
Also, in my own experience, I’ve noticed that the new H&S large bottle when turned upside-down caused me to use a lot of shampoo at one time. The thing is kind of heavy and a lot pours out at one time. I suspect the amount of shampoo is related to the rapid hair loss.
Having read all these replies. I now understand that Head & Shoulders was responsible for the loss of Hair on my head. I have been using this shampoo for like 10 years, I never was able to correlate the loss of hair on my head to Head & Shoulders. But now I guess this is the reason for the hair loss. I dont know if I would stop this hair loss and regain my hair on my head. Atleast I hope so. If any one has any idea of hair growth (I dont want artificial hair growth) please let me know at : rajesh.phanindra@gmail.com
hi its me again btw what sorta Head and Shoulders shampoo did you use? For me i used Silky Soft Anti-dandruff and it appears the thinning process pretty much begins at the frontal area of the head which medically speaking doesnt really make sense. Im still pretty pissed about this product and the damage it has done to my hair although i can still cover all the scalp with my hair since i have long hair. The reason i noticed it so quick is cuz i washed once a day for 3 weeks then i started using it twice a day for 1 week. Used about 3/4 of the bottle b4 i noticed how much hair ive lost. A blog like this isnt really spreading the awareness it should i mean people pretty much lose hair and then they would search out this blog lol. this blog has been going on for 2 years alrdy and no one has done anything about it. Sooooo why dont everyone buy a bottle and use it as a gift for someone hahaha sorta like the tape in the movie the Ring. Hell we can even create a new era `The balding generation`!!!
yeah I used H&S 3 times and started noticing my hair is falling out in big amounts google searched this and threw it out.
*re adding something*
I’m 16 I have thick hair,I had dandruff so I tried H&S before maybe 1 or 2 would fall out when I pull on it hard but not this is just scaring me now from using it 3 times will I loose a big amount or it will re grow well?
Saw a doc he says it will cont falling out cuz its an allergic reaction. he claims there are alot of these cases of h&s causing loss of hair. He prescripted me with this menthol shampoo but he says the i will continue losing hair for months b4 i see an improvement.
Take a look at this article written Tuesday, January 11, 2005 by: Mike Adams of naturalnews.com:
“Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have found a correlation between an ingredient found in shampoos and nervous system damage. The experiments were conducted with the brain cells of rats and they show that contact with this ingredient called methylisothiazoline, or MIT, causes neurological damage. Which products contain this chemical compound MIT? Head and Shoulders, Suave, Clairol and Pantene Hair Conditioner all contain this ingredient. Researchers are concerned that exposure to this chemical by pregnant women could put their fetus at risk for abnormal brain development. In other people, exposure could also be a factor in the development of Alzheimer’s disease and other nervous system disorders.â€
Everything needs nerves, even hair. Harm the nerve, harm the hair, brain, and other important stuff.
Curiously, the author of that article doesn’t provide a source for this National Institutes of Health “finding”, and the only mentions of it on the web that I see all link back to websites the author owns (including the naturalnews site). I’m not saying it’s BS just yet, but it is fishy that he doesn’t provide proof and the NIH site doesn’t seem to have any mention of this. Can anyone find the actual source?
As I started using Head & Shoulder Shampoo and my hair started to fall out fast. What we need to do is to put our minds together to come up with a solution or compensation. Please advise.
the hair fall may be caused by the over usage of the shampoo.
try shampooing only every other day. and don’t stick to the same shampoo for too long or it will really cause hair fall or dandruff.
anyways, it’s normal for hair to fall out. 100 strands of falling hair a day is normal.
by the way, i’m just a third year student studying this kind of problems even if i don’t plan on being a doctor or something. :D
anyways, the same thing happened to me. so, i changed shampoo. after a month of using the new shampoo, i had the same problem. so i switched again.
changing shampoo after a month may be a good solution :D
I used it for about 4 years and my barber said she noticed my hair thinning and specifically asked me if I was using Head & Shoulders because it’s rumored that it causes hair loss. The top of my head towards the back has thinned a lot, It’s been a few months since I stopped using it and I haven’t noticed a diff, but it’s hard for me to tell because I can’t really check the area…hopefully it’ll come back, but yeah most definitely lost hair and my family does not have a history of hair loss on either side of the family.
Really pissed about this!
My husband has been using head and shoulders for a year now. He is beginning to thin out on top. I started looking into causes and found a correlation between high levels of zinc and hair loss. Head and Shoulders uses Zinc as its active ingredient. Needless to say we have stopped using it and read labels more carefully.
hi,(sorry for my english)
that’s unbelievable!!!!!!!
i noticed intensive hair loss 3-4 months after using this shampoo.also my hair became too thin.
i’ve gone to several dermatologists and told me that i have androgenic alopecia.no one in my family had ever problem with hair loss.i became so curius about this problem.
ok that could be possible. but that was so INTENSIVE.
i was on holidays for a week, so i used a friend’s shampoo(not head&shoulders).
i realized that hair loss STOPPED.i said WTF?
now i know what really caused it.
i ll never use it again.never never never.
im so angry i lost some of my hair.
thanks god i realized it soon..
and thanks to all users in this forum for helping me find this correalation.
thanks thanks thanks.!!!!
I am so glad that this blog exists. I have been using Head and Shoulders for years. I used to alternate from my regular shampoo and head and shoulders. But recently, I have been using head and shoulders as my only shampoo. I have been experiencing significant hair loss around my front and back hairlines. It has gotten so bad lately that I can see through my hair, and it has never been like this. Just a year ago, I had a full thick head of hair!!! This stuff should be called head of hair ON shoulders!!!! I’m furious. Neither one of my parents have had problems like this at my age and I hope that after the discontinue of this product that my hair will grow back. Thanks thanks thanks!!!
Found this forum by accident and I’m glad I did. I have been using H & S for years alternating it with other shampoos and conditioners. I have noticed that my hair has become significantly thinner over the years but I have been attributing the hair loss to stress and other factors. My mothers side of the family have very thick hair but my father is nearly bald. So I’ve been thinking I take after him. After reading everyone else’s stories I think I’ll try not using H & S for a while and see what happens.
By the way I found all the arguments with Randall rather entertaining :P
Well…I’ve noticed the majority of respondents in this commentary are fairly young. I am 53 years old and have been using Head & Shoulders for approximately half of my life if not more. I have a full head of hair, no grey, and haven’t noticed any of the claims of hair loss or thinning. However, I ‘Googled’ H & S because someone had mentioned a possible allergic reaction to the zinc pyrithione. However, upon reading these articles, I am debating possibly discontinuing regular use and monitor any changes to my hair.
Hey this is dpimp again. i left a message or two on here awhile back after noticing hair loss for H&S and now after stoping the use of it my hair is back to being nice and thick! peace and dont use headn shoulder again!
Hi All,
Here is what happened to my hair after stopping using the H&S “restoring shine” shampoo in early July. My hair continued to fall out in the front/middle like crazy for a couple months. I tried natural shampoos along with not washing it. No luck. My head was starting to get itchy again so I said screw it and picked up a bottle of Selsun Blue. I used it a few times and have noticed much less hairloss during the shower (maybe 10 – 20). My hair now feels and looks a little thicker and many less hairs come out when running my hands through. In all, my hair feels much better and healthier after stopping with the H&S. Hope it all grows back. :-)
I am a 27 year old male and have been using Head & Shoulders as a daily use shampoo for about 4 years. I have noticed I shed hair more than I used to and that the front of my hair is extremely thin and fear I may be balding. I am not longer going to use Head & Shoulders and, should my conditions improve, will look into launching or joining a class action lawsuit.
Randall is a complete noob, please ignore him. after reading his
comments i relised that he completely contradicts himself and needs to get a life.
i have used head and shoulders for about 4 years now and noticed
a more than usual amount of hair falling out. also before i used head and shoulders my scalp was fine and now it is irritated and itchy. I didnt notice it that much because i thought it was normal until my boyfriend said about it.
Have been ising the H&S for men and noticing hair falling out more than usual and scalp itching. I think they should test it again in a lab scientificallyy so Randall can compensate everyone on this site.
I started using Head and Shoulders about 2 or 3 months ago.I just recently started noticing that I was loosing hair on the top of the head. Nothing like male pattern boldness. No one in my family is bold. I will stop using Head and Shoulders immediately.
Head and shoulders is DEFINITELY a reason for hair loss, well, it has been for me, i have been using it for i dont know how long. and my hair have thinned out all over and i lose atleast 40-50 hair EVERYtime i use it.
Randall is a joke. Anyways, I too have experienced serious hair loss and have only used half a bottle. I’m never using it again!
hi, with so many feedback about head and shoulder shampoo, its only obvious that we shouldn’t be taking chances with their products. my wife is an avid user of head and shoulder,she never complained of hair loss but i’m periodically unclogging the bathtub of tremendous amount of her hair. ( i know its not mines because my hair is always buzzed off since majority of it is gone. yes, i used h&s whenever my scalp itched. i’m throwing away this shampoo asap.
just like many of the posters on here, i have had the same experience. never have did i worry about hair loss when i was younger, as my hair was always thick and full. i now just turned 23 and am considerably bolder than a couple of years ago. i tried doctors, vitamins and rogain, but i have always had a suspicion it could be due to H&S. I use it cos of dandruff, but i cant help but think that the amount of hair lost is not natural. I am a young man and this is really starting to bug me, i have noticed how much hair is falling out, and when i stopped using h&s the hairloss was alot less. After reading this blog im going to try something else, although as one poster mnetioned, H&s has an addictive effect when you dont use it and your scalp ends up getting very itchy. anyways, there is definately a link and im glad i found this site because it confirmed suspicions i had about head and shoulders. good luck to everyone
i have a different problem, after i use h&s and start washing it off my head, my body itches a lot in random areas. sometimes its my ankle area to my stomach, to my back, or my crotch area.
i am 20years old and have been using h&s all my life and it works. i use it everyday! ha ha ha, nothing to complain about..
I read this whole forum. my problems for sure stem from head and shoulders. This product has cause major innflamation and almost like sores on my head. my hair is falling out dramatically. this started when i began using head and shoulders. i will never put that stuff on my head again. I had wonderful hair before i used this crap, now its falling out like rain from the sky. IF YOUR READING THIS THEN TRUST ME< DONT USE HEAD AND SHOULDERS< WARNING!!!! i dont reccomend any specific shampoo, but if i could i would jut go with a simple suave or herbal shampoo. FUCK HEAD AND SHOULDERS< LETS SUE THEM
something tells me this randall guy works for head and shoulders. i wouldnt believe a word he says, if he doesnt have problems with h& s then why is he on this site.
come to think of it anyone who has success with head and shoulders would not be searching for a forum like this. so tays is full of shit too probably
I’m 19 years old and half persian. I had very thick hair up until this summer when I noticed I started getting male hair line balding (a little bit in the front on the sides. I didn’t care the rest of my hair was still impenetrable. I would say that I’ve lost 40% of my hair since using head and shoulders in august. This loss has attributed to lots of problems for me. I was planning of getting into modeling, now what the hell am I going to do? Those bastards should pay.
I just used head n shoulders today for the first time….not for dandruff, but for an itchy scalp. When I put the shampoo on, it felt like I was pouring on medicine. Nice and tingly, but it was really, really strong. While I think that head n shoulders does work to cure an itchy scalp, I think it’s probably waaaaay too harsh for your hair if you use it often (like more than once a month). I personally do not plan to use it ever again. It fried out my ends. I got pretty descent results with Pert Plus, so I might just use that instead.
I started using headand shoulders about 8 months ago and almost immediately had clumps of hair falling out of my head. for the past 8 months i have frantically tried changing everything in my life to stop this hair loss, from cutting my waist length hair to my shoulders to lowing the hormones in my birth control. none of which worked. so i thought long and hard and the only thing that i did differently was start using this product. so about a week ago i stopped using it and what a difference i am only losing about 5 strands now versus the clumps of hair before. ya this products works great at taking care of dandruff but only because it wipes out your hair!
I’m 24. I started using HS within a month I started to lost hundreds of hairs. Will discontinue
i have been using head and shoulds for quiet some time now. I use to wash it to treat my itich skull. I have noticed i am finding clunks of hair all over my hands. pillow and base of the shower.
I found this page because the same results happened to me. Now I’m just hoping the hair grows back because I’ve stopped using the shampoo. It’s been about two weeks now. They should add a warning to their label.
I have been meaning to google this for a while. I have been using H&S for probably 6 years and noticed that i was losing a lot of hair, but I thought it was alright because I couldn’t imagine a company selling a product that would do this. I have recently looked in the mirror (yeah, it doesn’t happen very often) and I was shocked at being able to see my scalp on most parts of my head. I am definitely going to be looking for some alternate shampoo immediately and just hope that my hair recovers. I used to have very very thick hair which is no longer the case. I really wish I had looked this up sooner.
I just started using head and shoulders a couple of months ago… it has definitely helped my dandruff problem. I have noticed my hair getting thinner though… I’m a 24 y/o male, so this isn’t completely unexpected, however my genes should be good. My shower also has very hard water, which some people claim causes hair thinning. I’m not sure about H&S… I’ll probably give it up for a few months and see.
Though, at the same time, I think people will connect hair loss to their particular environment. Since H&S is a very popular shampoo, we’ll see a lot of people claiming it to be the problem. I noticed the same thing with hard water. 160 posts here seems like a lot, but that is over a span of nearly 3 years. So that makes me wonder. Regardless, I’m going to put H&S on hold for a bit.
Hi,I started using Head & Shoulders shampoo last year. After a few months on H&S My hair started rapidly thinning.
I’ve been using H&S for two years and have lush thick beautiful hair.
wow, i’ve been using head and shoulders for 2 years or so, and my hair has been thinning since, i’m not sure if it’s normal, i’m 18 and have no family history of hair loss. i never really made the connection..
My problem doesn’t have anything to do with hair loss. But skin…I’ll explain, I’ve used H&D for the first time 2 weeks ago, on the next day my hands were swollen and red. Skin began to dry and I could peel them like an apple. One week lates I was using it again, same story repeating, but with this time, sorry, my nails unsticks, my hands are like crocodile skin. I have a receveid a cortison treatment.
wow, i cant believe i came across this site! i am 25 yr old female and was searching on thinning hair and came across this. i am completely stunned! what do i have in my shower right now that i have been using for the past 2 months?! H&S! i was concerned about my hair thinning at the crown with clumps coming out in the shower, brush, etc. now i hope i have found the culprit! i am going to trash that blue and white bottle immediately! good luck to all of you who are having similar problems with this! if anyone has used a different shampoo and has gotten their hair back to the way it was, please post and let us know what is good out there. thank you in advance and good luck again to all of us who are suffering! :)
I’ve been using Head & Shoulders for just 2 months and noticed my hair has been falling at an alarming rate. Ive been scared shitless and noticed the hair on the sides of my head thinning. SOME PLEASE SUE THESE ASS HOLES
I’ve been using Head and shoulders for years and yes my hair has been falling out by the handfuls. I stopped using it about 3 months ago and the hair has stopped falling out.
I guess I’ll have to wait about a year to see if it will grow back.
I have had to switch to using apple-cider vinegar and water mixture to control the dandruff.
I have used H&S before and it helped. I stopped using it about 5 years ago and recently had to start using it again to control my dandruff. I used it a grand total of 5 times and had noticed a lot of my hair was falling out. My daughter began to notice my hair was thin and I knew it was bad since she had noticed. Then one day my scalp began itching uncontrollably and began itching all over. I realized I was having an allergic reaction to it. I began to swell all over and I was miserable. I went to the doctor and he asked why I hadn’t gone to the emergency room because by then my throat was closing up on me. I believe they have changed what they put in the shampoo because I have never had anything like this happen before with H&S in the past. Yes I know mine was an allergy but still I lost a lot of hair and am still losing my hair.It is weird telling people dandruff shampoo could have killed me. I find it rather odd all of these people experiencing hair loss. It has got to be the shampoo. I don’t believe it is a coincidence or people just losing their hair because of family history of it.
YES YES YES, H&S sucks spread the word around. I too have noticed the exact same results: dandruff problem solved, hair thinning at a freakishly increasing rate as I continued using the product. dandruff is not a problem for me as balding is. :S :S :S
After using heads n shoulders for 2 weeks, i still lose hair. I lose about 10 to 20 strands of hair everytime i shower and i lose hair when i stroke my head.
Im only 16 and ive been stressing out ever since my friends started to notice my scalp of my sides were starting to reveal.
Anyone knows if ur hair grows back to the natural state?
holy crap, ive nevr used head n shoulders, but my mom used it befor and she loss hella hair. i thought it wuz only bad for her but i guess its the same for everyone.
I’m a 24 year old guy and I know that balding is a very real possibility at this age, but I used Head & Shoulders with Hydrazing Formula and I noticed A LOT of hair starting to fall out. Much more than is usual by simply running my fingers through my hair. But what’s odd is that I noticed very short hairs that had just begun to grow again, about 1/2 in. in length, and these were falling out as well. Hairs that have just entered their growth phase after dormancy should NOT fall out after 1 month of growth. The only explanation I have is that H & S caused the hair to fall out. I’m not going to use this s*%t ever again.
Hi i am 23 years old…
I am using Head & Shoulders for past 3 months…
Now Hair fall problem has been stared…
So i am really very confused to choose a another shampoo…
Please suggest me a good shampoo which should i get in India..
Thanks in Advance….
I am taking pre-nursing classes and learned that selinium (an ingredient found in some shapoos such as head & shoulders) can cause hair loss when used in upper intake levels. Selinium is a trace mineral needed in small amounts for proper health and nutrition…in SMALL amounts. The amount in head & shoulders I am not sure of, but I honestly think it’s much more than recommended. Personally, I have used this product for years for dry scalp. Low and behold this 27 year old female (me) has lost half of the hair thickness I used to have. I’m just glad I found the link now before I lost even more!
What shampoo should I use that will not induce any balding?
I’m a 58 year old woman who has been using H&S for years and years – could be 20 or more – with absolutely no problems….until the last 2 or 3 months when i noticed my hair type changing from curly to thin, fine and straight and my hair falling out very much more than usual – ie onto my clothes (impossible now to wear black), into my dinner, and noticeably on the floor. This cannot be normal hair loss. At first I put it down to hormonal changes – but everything is normal, thyroid etc and I’ve been taking vitamins and even pollen!! My head is extremely sore and itchy and gets worse everytime i use the shampoo. Today I googled H&S problems and am astonished by this site. Has the manufacturer changed the ingredients of the shampoo recently perhaps? Anyway I’m now going to throw the bottle away. I am very worried that it might be too late though!
Wow, lots of complaints against head and shoulders my hair has also fallen out by the dozens i guess now i know to stop head and shoulders.
Hi, my name is Sam.
The first time I used H&S my hair got all dry and bleh, then a couple days ago I decided to try it again because i had a little dandruff. I have now been itching like crazy lately, is this an allergic reaction to the shampoo? :S
This isn’t about my hair falling out or anything but I just want to know.
A quick update 6 days on. I went out and bought a bottle of shampoo from my nearest Health shop – all natural ingredients – and from day one my hair has not fallen out as before and my scalp is no longer sore – in fact an incredible relief and my hair is beginning to have the same bounce as before. I’m afraid I have to agree with the other comments – that H&S is far too strong and not good for everyone. I would write directly to the company but cannot find an address.
I am 34 and my hair started receding slowly about 8 years ago. In the last few months my
I went through some major stresses that I an sure contributed, but this seemed very rapid. By chance, after cutting my hair I washed it leaning over the bathtub, getting shampoo rundown on my face. This caused a mild red skin reaction (one I had been experiencing and attributing to mild eczema). I was curius to see if there was any correlation b/wa hair loss and shampoo I used. I used Selsun Blue daily and my head seems irritated now. Anyway, I found through my research that the active ingredient in Selsun Blue is Selenium Sulfide (common in dandruff shampoos). It is a FACT that Selenium Sulfide causes hair thinning and an increase in normal hair loss. selsun Blue even warns of it (just not on the label). Miners who mine for Selenium were found to have lost their hair as well. I believe H & S contains Selenium Sulfide. If so, there is your culprit. I stopped using it yesterday, having started several months ago. Hope I coould help.
I am not balding and I am not a user of head and shoulders. However I have been doing some research into some information a hair dresser gave me about the three WORST things to use on your hair and well head and shoulders was one of them. I have to admit I felt like it was a high pressure sales gimmick than an actual truth.
The reality is – no one makes us use anything – it’s a choice. If something isn’t working for you and is causing negative side effects – STOP using it.
As for Randall – you are cheeky and manipulative. I suppose you thought your salsa recommendation was brilliant. Geeeesh. After reading all your posts – I came to realize that you must have something personally invested in the promotion of head and shoulders shampoo. Any run of the mill person couldn’t have so much energy and care invested in a hair product. Fess up !! Why do you care so much ???
After loosing my hair for 2 years and blaming my blood pressure medicine I finally stopped using Head & Shoulders shampoo. That is after changing blood pressure medications, discontinuing the medication for a time, conducting my own trials as to what would be causing the hair loss. I was convinced that it was the medication. I stopped using the head & shoulders 2 months ago and I’ve finally stopped the “noticeable shedding” at my computer. My wife and kids have also said my hair looks thicker. Yes it is thicker! It’s growing back! WooHoo! With no family history of baldness why did I have to go through 2 years of worry and struggle about my thinning hair? Shame on P&G, the product makes no mention of possible hair loss with product use.
I started loosing my hair somewhere in mid of nov after i change to the new packaging of Head & Shoulders shampoo. I suspected stress due to my sudden hectic work life.
My pillows were camouflaged with fallen hair; when washing my hair, the fallen hair covered my entire palm even with a smooth glide on hair to clear excess water. I goggled and search for reasons for massive hair loss, fearing pre symptons of cancer. Luckily cancer was not a sympton.
Yes, the hair fall was so bad that my usual hair thickness thin by half within one month! Yes, I can gauge it by tying up my hair with my usual hair clip.
Oh, I also noticed white patches or flickers of milky white substance near the folic of fallen hair, and it feel slightly oily too. Shouldnt Head & Shoulder clear dandruff and oil instead of creating???
I have already ceased using Head & Shoulders. Pray that my hair will stop falling drastically and restore back gradually to my usual thickness and volume.
Without a question, Head and Shoulders causes thinning hair and stunts hair growth.
I actually use the CVS generic equivalent of H&S, so I should specify that at the beginning, but I assume they’re identical, so interpret this however you’d like.
I’m 24, with no history of hair loss, but hair loss on my mother’s brother’s side.
Anyway, I started using H&S and within a month I was worried that my hair was started to thin and recede. The only difference in my hair treatment was that I was getting dandruff and started using a daily H&S regime. The dandruff went away, but so did hair in the corner’s of my facial hair line and towards my centre “swirl”. This was combined with overall lack of hair robustness and thin spots all over. I stopped using H&S completely and I am VERY pleased to say that my hair is recovering well. I haven’t had a haircut since I stopped using H&S, but I’m fairly confident that my hair has regained its thickness. M hair is back to normal, and thank God.
My suggestion is that anybody who suspects H&S is a factor to stop using it immediately and start treating your hair with normal shampoo and a regrowth formula.
Dandruff isn’t worth baldness!!
Just notice a few typos…
*starting
regimen
corners
My
Hi Dan I am intrigued by your post as I have found very similar traits. I am interested to hear what shampoo you have changed to. I suspect, after using H&S for a couple of years with no visible evidence of hair loss that the new release of products are causing it.
As a sidenoter, to clarify earlier posts, it is Soft Water that makes your hair feel thinner, not hard water. Hard water (which is predominantely found throughout Europe) is generally considered to give your hair more body/bounce and to be thicker. Places like Australia where there are reduced Calcium levels means water is softer, and hair thinner.
fab i think you are right, i have been using H&S for about 4 years and have never had a hair loss problem until they changed something in their formula, about a year ago i think.
when i think back this is the time i have started losing hair.
I have used Head and Shoulders for years and have experienced some thinning of my hair. I thught it was just thinning caused by the dramatic hair loss that I experienced after pregnancy (most of it grew back). I have always had incredibly thick hair, almost too thick, and wasn’t too concerned until I noticed my part getting wider. Recenty I started using H&S every day and noticed my hair coming out everywhere. It was all over the shower, the floor, and on my clothing. I had to pull my hair back to cook to make sure none of it fell in the food. I ran out of H&S decided to buy a hair thickening shampoo. My hair stopped falling out almost immediately and I realized that it was the Head and Shoulders causig my hair loss. Now after 4 months of not using H&S my hair is actually growing back and I have a lot of hair that is only a few inches long mixed in with the rest of my hair. I have a rather fuzzy look going on now, but better fuzzy than bald. I made sure that the rest of my family stopped using it too. I found this website, when I sought to prove to my family that my suspicions were right. Amazing!! Now they finally believe me and have stopped using it too.
Head and shoulders def. causes hair loss! I am 19 and a woman. The hair on the top of my head began to thin dramatically about 6-8mos after using H&S. Now i went back to Pantene and the hair is back!
Yep, I was using head and shoulders and my hair started falling out. Hair loss started slowly then my hair would come out to the point id have to pick it up in the shower afterwards. Also I had allot of hair loss after showering. I stopped using Head and Shoulders and the hair loss ceased. I switched to Selsin Blue and only use this occasionally. It works better than the Head and Shoulders and no hair loss. I dont work for the company that makes Selsin. Anyway problem solved no more loss of hair, hair is growing back. Ill never use Head and Shoulders again. It does cause hair loss.
I think I have something to contribute to this discussion but before I beghn, I’ll introduce myself. I am 24 years old and I’ve been using Head & Shoulders Intense Solutions (Selenium Sulfide) since 1998. It has helped my dandruff tremendously. I have always had extremely thick hair. I experienced no hairloss from 1998 until early 2007. The hairloss started gradually but in the past six months has really hit hard. I have no family history of baldness on either side of the family.
As an engineer, I am well versed in both the principles of logic and the concept of sound scientific inquiry. This entire discussion brings to mind the common argumentative fallacy “cum hoc ergo propter hoc” which is a latin phrase that means “with this, there for because of this”. Millions of people use Head & Shoulders and almost every shampoo on the market contain sulfates and sulfides. What I believe we have here is a subset of genetic hairloss victims who use Head & Shoulders. I would surmise the vast majority of visitors to the the baldingblog are experiencing hairloss (or researching it for someone else). It is reasonable to assume that a vast subset of those visitors use Head & Shoulders.
This brings about the idea of a collective hysteria. Humans have long adapted a survival mechanism for “following the herd”. A group of people all running in panic towards a certain direction will certainly incite you to join them because you trust the judgement of a group much more than you would a single person. If you are experiencing hair loss and you use Head & Shoulders, and you are reading the personal accounts of hundreds of others who attribute their hair loss to the same product, this is all that is required for you to become unwaveringly convinced of an unproven cause-effect relationship.
Yes, I’m a skeptic at heart, but at the same time, where there is evidence that an unproven cause-effect relationship may exist, I’m eager to pursue the implications via sound scientific inquiry. Unless you prove this cause-effect relationship via experimentation and discovery, no amount of personal anecdotal evidence in the world is enough to prove it.
What about my personal opinion? I think there are some compelling anecdotes to point out. The way I’m balding is very unsual. It’s an uneven patchy thinning on the front, sides (above and behind the sideburns where i really scrub in the shampoo since that’s where my dandruff is the worst) and below my natural swirl. I do not have a receding hairline (I actually have an excellent square hairline) nor do i have any crown thinning. I’ve noticed other men and women on here experiencing this unusual HIGHLY DIFFUSE thinning pattern. Also, and I’m not sure how much credence we can give to these personal accounts but I’ve read a handful of accounts on here of people who actually experienced degrees of regrowth after ceasing use of the H&S. I’m NOT saying this proves anything, but it’s compelling nonetheless. Finally as the user assaf pointed out on February 16th of this year, it is his hypothesis that they changed their formula some time in the last few years which is consistent with a change in odor of the product I’ve noticed and it also coincides with when I started noticing the diffuse thinning. Again, this does not convince me of a cause-effect relationship but…
I will be conducting my own personal inquiry by discontinuing use of H&S for one year and using a non-sulfate shampoo. If I experience clear evidence of hair regrowth or if the constant shedding i’ve experienced in the last six month retards, then I will investigate the proper avenues for demanding a scientific inquiry into this possibility.
I leave you all with this final bit of advice. In life, be careful about jumping to conclusions using logical fallacies as the one outlined above. If the ground is wet every time it rains, and the ground is wet, does that mean it rained? If turning off a light switch causes my finger to ache and I scream out in pain, does darkness hurt me? Good luck to you all and I hope this is a case that we can one day close.
Yes I have noticed the exact same correlation with using head and shoulders daily and thinning hair, no genetic history in my entire family line so I think its safe to say be careful!
Yeah I find that my hair gets incredibly dry and brittle as well as my scalp drying out with use of H&S. I have been using it on a semi-regular basis and been having the same issues mentioned here. Am going to stop now, also have nil history of any famaily what so ever suffering from hair loss so unless I am adopted or a genetic freak, I am going to make the call that H&S is certainly not helping at all.
I find it interesting that people are mostly having this issue recently, ie; not many years ago, which may indeed suggest some sort of new ingredient in the bottle.
Rather than just post comments on this blog -I have written two previous ones – I did manage to track down an email address for H&S on the Proctor and Gamble site. I sent a query – not a complaint – and received a phone call from the company very soon after that. They were, of course, very concerned and asked for the lot numbers on the back of the bottles – luckily I had kept two half-finished bottles. I was told that the laboratories always check out complaints etc………and for my trouble they sent me a 10€ cheque!!! It would probably have more effect on the company and product if everyone were to complain directly. As for the comments from Alex – Yes I agree -but i had already made my mind up about the product before reading all the comments – they just confirmed my fears…….and I can report that my hair has continued to improve drastically since stopping.
okay so i am 14 and i used head and shoulders twice and each time i was in the shower like 20 hairs fall out and i know that not alot but for someone like me who losoes less then 10 hairs each time thats alot, and to Randal yes head and shoulders does have chemicals what do u think amoniun laurel sulfate is, what do u think the 1% mateial that stops the dandruff all CHEMICALS
and when i i brushed my hair 10 strands fell out everytime so i immediatly stoped the shampoo and now i use organix which i lovee
and for those who want a really good tip is use warm salt water to rinse your hair then rinse that out then rinse with vineagar and water then after 2-3 appications thought out 2 weeks dandruff is gone
Hi,
I am 35 from Singapore. Like many, I experience thinning of my hair and hair loss(above my forehead) after 3 month of daily wash with H&S anti-dandruff shampoo.
Suspiciosly, I stop using the shampoo today and realized from this website that many has this problem too. Not worth taking a risk, I will go back to the shampoo that I use early.
Very much agree with Dan : ” Dandruff isn’t worth baldness ” !
Well I don’t know for sure about HS causing my recent increased shedding of hair but I do know that each time i used the product (everyday for two weeks) it felt very harsh on my scalp and my hair felt thinner and more brittle. I would go home from college on the weekends to visit my folks and there I would use my regular shampoo “pantene” and the harshness wasn’t there. I stopped using HS just yesterday actually and decided to try using a new product “dove” and the harshness again wasn’t there. Also, in addition, the brittle feeling wasn’t present at the end of the shampooing session. And finally during those two weeks of HS usage, yes, I too noticed a more dramatic amount of hairloss. There was still more than usual yesterday after the switch but compared to the last two weeks, it was cut to half almost..so I’ve counted (~60 hairs per a session to ~30). Again I’m not certain there is a correlation but at least I think this validates as a forewarning for anyone that trys this product.
oh by the way, those times I went back home and used the pantene, there was less hairloss as well sooooooooooo…haha yeah not die hard proof but again seems suspicious, no?
I’m a 20 year old male, with a family and personal history of thick hair. I started using Head a Shoulders just over a year ago, and noticed my hair started thinning. Google sent me here when I searched, and I see a trend, so I may discontinue my use.
im a filipino… so im wrote in tagalog…… marami na akong ginamit na shampoo….. isa na yung head and shoulder na menthol….. pero di mabisa……. nang lumabas ang bagong head and shoulder dry and itchy scalp care….. lalong dumulas at hindi na nangangati ang ulo ko…… this is real
thanks to head and shoulder dry and itchy scalp care….. thanks a lot…..
I am a 27 year old female with medium to long hair. I have never had any problem with hair loss just the normal few strands falling out here and there. Approx. 4 months ago I started using head and shoulders because of a dry itchy scalp..and it has taken it totally away. However, google has led me here because I have been wondering what could possibly be making me loose my hair by the thousands everyday. Seriously….when washing…it falls out enough to make me worry.
Now I read all of this and now pretty much have confirmation that its the head and shoulders shampoo…what else could it be?
Tomorrow, I will be going to the drug store and buying something new.
I will post on here to let you all know if the shedding stops once I stop using this product..hopefully its not too late!!!!
OMG I’m so glad I found this blog. I have been losing SO MUCH HAIR! While im in the shower, while I brush my hair, while its just out, while its in a pony tail, EITHER WAY, i have loose hairs on the end and when I pull them out they just come out in a whole bundle of like fifty and im liek WOW this happens so often too liek four or five times daily so its difficult. THANK GOD I SEARCHEED THIS. I gotta stop using this crap
To Alex: “…common argumentative fallacy?” While there is a modicum of reason within your statement, you committed the fallacy when you equated being an engineer with the ability to
reason and being versed in logic. The two are not related. Perhaps ego should be included in logical fallacies.
So its me again!! The date today is April 3..so its been approx 13 days since I posted on here.
The very next day I went out and bought new shampoo and conditioner…nothing expensive just something other than. I am happy to say that my hair falls out approx 50 percent less already…seriously!!!!!!
That is the only confirmation I need!!!! I don’t care what anyone else says about there not being any chemicals in H&S that can make your hair fall out…I have just proven to myself that obviously there is something in it that my hair doesn’t like.
The only thing I can say is try it for yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy hair washing!!!!!!
I think it is good for dandruff but not to be used on a daily basis.
Like many others on this page, I came across it by searching for anything that contained “Head and Shoulders” and “hair loss.” Again, similar to many others, I became suspicious of my shampoo after I began noticing hair loss to the point of a plainly visible scalp at age 21 (now 22).
What made the difference for me was that I’d been using Head and Shoulders classic for a few years, but had only within the few months before noticing the hair loss switched to their new “Ocean Lift” formula.
Now, that’s enough to make someone suspicious, but the following put me over the top:
Genetically, there is probably a link to baldness in my family. However, the hair loss I was experiencing was not in the same location on my head. Mine was somewhat higher, and a friend of mine that noticed even made the same comment – that it was almost so high on top of my head as to be hard to see in the first place.
A few showers later with that in mind and I realized that’s exactly where I put the first “glob” of Head and Shoulders before I spread it out across the rest of my head.
And so the experiment with a new shampoo begins…
Perhaps I should also add one more thing: I use (well, used) Head and Shoulders daily.
I shudder at the thought of what that was doing.
Hi, I have had a full head of hair my whole life too. I am 25 and have been using H&D for about once a week for one year. My dad told me along time ago not to use H&D, saying it makes your hair fall out, and I thought it was crap. I wish I had listend to my dad!! My hair is thinning everywhere most on top of my head. I do not notice it falling out as others have, but I think that the product weakens the hair’s roots and they are easily pulled. I think that dandruff may do that as well but H & D makes it worse! I comb my hair maybe 4 times a day, and I hear the hair being pulled out when I comb and since i didn’t notice alot of hairs ar once I didn’t think it was anything. I didn’t notice until I combed my hair and in the light I could see through it. I didn’t bleieve my dad until this happened and I read this site. I am going to stop using the head and shoulders and am going to see a dermatoligist. Good Luck to everyone!! :)
Wow.. i never usually post on these things unless it were happening to me and everyone thank you so much for your posts… they have helped me to reach a conclusion on my hair loss problem… i have been freaking out about my current loss in hair due to my once a week useage of H&S… yes only once a week for 6 months and i’ve lost over 50% of my full bodied hair that i once had this time last year and have photo’s to prove the loss, my boyfriend has been experiencing the same thing SO I told him to stop usind the product.
I have since stopped using H&S since i realised my hair was falling out at a rapid rate.. i’m talking 20-30 strands when washing and 10-15 everytime i’d run my fingers through my hair… and started using other products, only 3 weeks into using another product, though my hair still seems to be falling out… I would really appreciate the names of some organic alternatives or just the names of other shampoos that has helped others with their hair re growth and stopped this constant loss in hair.
Me thinks a dermi would be best to ask but if people are getting awsome results from a product i would love to hear it! H&S is a bad product!
All the best, thanks for reading!
P.s. I must say that i loved Jo-Ann’s comments (81) about body hair.. i must pitch this to my boy who has a disturbing amount of body hair lol!
I have been using Head & Shoulders for 45 years. I’m still not bald, and when I was working I washed my hair every night. My father and brother never used it and both are bald. Ive heard these stories for the last 40 years. My hair was really thick when I was young and started thinning at the age of 16, before I ever used H & S, but I still have hair now.I have a friend who went totally bald at the age of 22, and he never used H & S. I think this is just something someone started 40 years ago that has no leg to stand on.
Hi to all!!
I always used to use head and shoulders, and kept my full and dark hair. However during that time I used it about twice a week.
Then, about 6-7 months ago (in Chile) things began to change and I noticed my dandruff got worse so naturally I began to use more head and shoulders, and entered into a vicious circle.
All the men in my family have thick hair, and I have been using huge amounts, but have unfortunately sought Head and Shoulders as the remedy.
Now I can see my scalp, and I never have before, and my hair has become so much thinner that it’s actually a different colour, much lighter than it was before.
I’ve been changing shampoos, but always going back to H&S because it did always use to work for me (refreshing mint). i am also convinced that something has more or less recently changed in the formula, and also, it seems to have become much more difficult to find H&S conditioner.
Perhaps this is a tactic of theirs to increase sales? Make us lose more hair, but at the same time buy more to stop the hair loss? In the age of rampant commercialism that we live in it wouldn’t surprise me.
Anyway, even though a few days ago, in the vicious cycle I mentioned, I bought more H&S I won’t ever again. The question is, what do I do now? Luckily I always had a lot of hair, and even though I’ve lost huge amounts it’s still not enormously noticeable. I’m going to try to go the herbal way, but definitely not herbal essences, as other contributors have also warned.
I think more than anything else we’ve all been victims of the desire to make big money, which changed an initially brilliant product ( I swear that it did work before, it really did, and fantastically) into something horrible.
Stop while you still can!!!
Sorry, in my third paragraph it should be I have been losing huge amounts, not using huge amounts.
I’m a 25 year old female and I’ve been using H&S for about 5 months. I noticed my hair thinning on top and at first thought it was due to the oral contraceptives I was taking, but I no longer think this is the case; one, because my pills are extremely low hormone; two, I’ve been taking them for nearly 3 years with no hair-related side effects; and three, OCs are sometimes given to women to HELP with thinning hair.
Also, I was in a car accident about 10 years ago and had to undergo brain surgery. As a result, a lot of my hair is already thin on top/crown and won’t regrow over my scars. I need every hair I can get, and losing hair unnecessarily due to shampoo is inexcusable.
I’ve never used H&S for any length of time (too pricey for me) but I got a good deal on a big bottle. If H&S doesn’t cause hair to thin, then it’s one HECK of a coincidence for my case. I’m discontinuing my use of it as of today.
(In response to Tony’s comment #212) I’d be skeptical of this whole H&S hair loss thing if I hadn’t experienced it myself. Like most of the products we put on or in our bodies, the side effects we will experience are different for every individual. What’s good for one person may cause another to go bald. I believe these people here can testify to that.
I also think Head and Shoulders maybe causing me to bald. I’ve been using the product over the last year and have already notice that my hair is thinning dramatically. I have no family history of baldness what so ever and am understandably concerned. I think this topic definitely deserves some credible scientific investigation.
My situation echoes many of the claims from above. I have been using head and shoulders daily for a few months and have noticed a drastic thinning on the top of my head. My hair falls out very easily if I comb or pull gently on it. I’m glad I noticed very early (I’m currently 24) so that I could investigate the cause, the thinning the top is just noticeable from certain angles when my hair is wet, and when dry its mostly hidden thanks to my previously VERY thick hair by diameter and quantity per surface area (my barber often jokes that I should pay extra because my hair needs a lawn mower instead of electric clippers).
My oldest brother has been using head and shoulders for a few years, and has experienced an even more drastic balding in the exact same fashion. I have two other brothers (one is older than me, and the other is younger) who do not use head and shoulders and are not displaying any noticeable hair loss at this stage. I don’t claim to know much about the science behind hair loss at the moment, but we do not have a history of baldness in the family. All living male relatives still have a relatively full head of hair (and the females!).
However, because I adhere strictly to objective/scientific standards, I will not immediately make the assumption that Head and Shoulders is the cause, despite the apparently strong correlation. Remember people; correlation does not prove causality! There seems to be a very strong basis to investigate the product further, using a rational, scientific approach, not to claim that it must be the cause. Will start looking into it further for myself, but it would be fantastic if Dr. Rassman would provide a little more commentary on the issue than saying it has become a hot topic. Hopefully there is some science going on that can debunk the myth or demonstrate actual causality so that we can lay this query to rest.
Good luck!
I am 22 years old and within the past 8 months have noticed dramatic hair loss and thinning. I have been using h/s for about that time. My recommendation for everyone is to see a dermatologist and stop using it. There are different causes of hair loss. Genetics, poor nutrition, stress, even hormone imbalances.My doc checked my hormones and everything ok. I see the dermatologist today actually. I have been devastated over my recent hairloss and hope that everyone including myself find something that helps. Read over some blogs at earthclinic.com. Some herbal remdies include apple cider vinegar, rinsing with it and oral, cocunut oil, biotin…make sure ur taking the right vitamins(talk to your dr), other contributions to hair loss are excessive vitamin A as well. I believe that maybe h/s has contributed to my recent hairloss….I sure hope that’s all it is. I wish everyone luck..keep posting
I am 28 and been casually using H&S for about 6 months. That is, I will use is a couple of times a week and another shampoos on alternative days. Anyway, I have noticed a thinning around my crown. It isn’t bald but when I run my fingers through my hair, it feels a little thinner in that region. After reading this blog, I will be switching to a herbal shampoos. H&S is Thailand made crap by the sounds of it. I always had this feeling that it was a dodgy product.
I totally agree with the claim that head and shoulders thins peoples hair, I started using it for about two months before I got married because I wanted to have flawless hair, and to my dismay it started to thin the top part of my hair right away. My hair has always been nice and thick and all of a sudden it was thinning, at first I thought it was because stress, but then I realized that that had never happened before. So then I stopped using head and shoulders and my hair is slowly starting to return back to normal, I am thankful that my hair is going back to it’s normal state, but one thing is for sure I will never ever use head and shoulders again. It’s rough on the scalp and what I consider to be a “Dangerous Product.” I would not recommend it to no one.
Ditto to all of the above. I was in university when I thought to try H&S, after a few times of use my hair in the front started to receed so badly that others noticed. I immediately stopped using it, and THANKFULLY my hair grew back, not to the fullness as before, but atleast there wasn’t a bald spot in the front. I will never buy this stuff again.
Wow, i bought H&S last week, and i noticed my hair has been extremely thin the last couple of days… and i’ve been shedding a lot…
I thought it might be H&S, so i googled it and found this, wow… im gonna stop ASAP…
i already have thin hair :(
Hi all,
Just wanted to give you a little update as it’s been almost 1 year since I stopped using H&S. I had been regularly using the classic H&S for most of my life with no problems. After purchasing the “Restoring Shine” version of H&S my hair fell out like crazy (at age 26). Fortunately, It’s now about 90% as thick as it was previously. In a couple weeks I went from having dark, thick Irish hair to being able to see my scalp at all times.
Currently, I get my hair cut every 3 or 4 weeks and the barber even uses the ‘thinning sheers’ to thin out the top. Bottom line, stop using H&S. They obviously changed something in their new formula that has negatively effected a lot of people. If I were to guess, most of you will experience similar results a few months after you toss the shampoo in the trash. I’m also keeping my half full bottle in case anyone needs a test/evidence for a lawsuit.
Regards,
Brad
my mother has very beutiful hairs,long shiny thick and best.but i lost all of my hairs after using head and shoulder.its really worst shamoe in world,,i will sugesst u all leav it immidetely…i am sure its reason of hair falll
My grandfathers past away in their mid to late 70s with lots of hair still and also have over 10 uncles none of them are bald or have thinning hair. I grew up using Head and Shoulders shampoo because that’s what my father used and my hair has always been thin on the top I’m 25 now its getting worst. I’ve stopped using the product and hope that my hair will improve.
My hair has been falling out by the handful, I finally narrowed it down to the dry scalp care head and shoulders shampoo. My hair is already VERY fine…I don’t need to be losing it! I can’t believe that sooooo many people have been experiencing the same thing and noone has sued! I will never buy my shampoo from the grocery stores, drugstores or big box stores ever again. There is something to be said for hairdressers and their opinion on products. I went on proctor gambles website and found that they make several products I had to stop using due to reactions. Secret gave me a rash, I broke out from pantene, noxema and olay. I am praying my hair grows back. Thank god I found this webpage, I now know its the product and not my hair just randomly falling out in huge clumps.
I stumbled upon this site after I googled dandruff shampoo and hair loss.
I used to have a very thick head of hair. I’m 47 years old and have used dandruff shampoo once every other week for years,,,,,but in the last year I started using store brand H & S generic brand. Well,,,,I can tell you I was shocked when I noticed how thin my hair has become recently.
I will stop daily use now. I am convinced that my hair loss is from the dandruff shampoo. I’ll go back to using premium salon shampoo and use dandruff only when needed.
Thank you for the comments.
hi
i have used H&S for 3 months and also lost a lot of hair has anyone’s hair grown back?if so how long did it take to see it?
This is amazing I have quite long hair and have used H&S for quite some time due to dry scalp I have noticed large amounts of hair falling in the shower.
Even before finding this site which by the way was via a google search on H&S and hair loss, I did have my suspicions which have now to a certain degree been proven to me by other comments posted here. I know it’s not medical proof but it’s good enough for me, read on.
Around 3 days ago I decided to try my girlfriends shampoo and conditioner and noticed from that first wash on rinsing that I wasn’t losing the big clumps of hair that I would with H&S. I will not be using H&S again ever! What I have been using is a shampoo to remove product build up by KMS.
What I don’t understand is why this hasn’t been brought to the attention of any current affairs tv programs. It seems like the kind of story they would jump on.
The general public who may be using these products need to at least be informed of these concerns. My guess would be that in general the connection has not yet been made with most users of this product.
For years I have been struggling with thinning hair, thinking its could be diet heredity or pulling my hair back I changed everything to grow my hair back, dieted took vitamans nothing seem to work I was content with thinning hair. For about 11 years now I have been off and on using head and shoulders. Until about 2 years ago I never thought about the correlation. When I am on the shampoo my hair thins. When I am not I noticed thicker hair. Now mind you I will go off the shampoo for over a year and try other products. Naturally the other products keep my hair thick but don’t work as well against the dandruff. Just five months ago, stupidly of me, I had a coupon for the head and shoulders new formula buy the shampoo and get the conditioner for free. I have had more hair loss than ever. I haven’t been using it for three months tada my hair is growing back and faster like my hair normally does grow. No matter what studies are done. On head and shoulders loss hair, off grow back hair. Sounds to me head and shoulders thins hair don’t ya think.
Hello, i ve been using this H&S for a while and my hair keeps falling anytime i shower and gets thinner and thinner. i ve read some comments here and i ve seen that people started using other ones and they stopped the thinning and the falling. what shampoos do you guys recomend other than H&S???
I’ve read many of these comments and have been persuaded to stop using H&S. Although I’ve read numerous comments saying they’ve switched to herbal shampoos, I’m wondering if they could be more specific as to which herbal shampoo they used? I’m also hoping it would be one of those shampoos that are sold in many stores so it would be easier for me to get one myself.
sounds like you guys are just made that you’re balding
I started using head and shoulders refresh to lighten my hair as I heard it would lighten colored hair gradually. After about a week of using it, I actually started having terrible dandruff which I’ve never had b4. A week later, I noticed hair loss. Lots of hair loss. My hair thinned out all over. I will never again use anything by head and shoulders. Since I discontinued use, the hair loss has subsided quite a bit. It hasn’t been to long so I haven’t notice the thickness returning to my hair yet. I’m crossing my fingers that I will recover.
I(I’m 18) recently started using head and shoulders ocean lift about 3 weeks ago around 2 times a week. I have planned on growing my hair longer from the beginning of the summer. After having a shower today I noticed that more of my hair has been falling and I suspected it was the shampoo(also due to the irritated feeling that I have got on my head/forehead). Thank god I just confirmed it from reading all the posts above. I told my brother(only 20) to stop using his because he is almost bald and I hope it actually is from the shampoo in his case. I hope I am able to continue to grow my hair from now on. Does anybody recommend a good shampoo to use that can help me have strong hair so that it won’t fall? Randell, you obviously do not know what you are talking about by trying to make everyone believe it is not from Head and shoulders.
Hi, I came across this website and there seems to be many people with the same complaint as I do. I started using the new Head & Shoulder shampoos that are supposed to help you in maintaining a healthier scalp. All I have been left with is thinning hair and an itchy scalp. Every time my scalp itches, hair comes off very easily with pieces of dandruff. I don’t know what to do! I’m 21 years of age and there’s no history of hair loss in my family!! This is really scary and I need help!
There’s no one balding in my family on either parent’s side. I started using H&S and a few months later, I have odd patches of balding on my head. It’s certainly NOT male pattern baldness, but freaky H&S pattern baldness. Never using that stuff again.
Can just 1 person who says this stuff causes hair loss provide a direct link to proove your claim?
Theres plenty of links on here proving it can HELP hair growth!
Where is are the links to studies proving there is a problem? no, you just whining about it is not proof.
But hair loss is a normal fact of life for most or many people. Men and Women loose hair and thin over time.
So unless someone shows me a study that proves anything, I call BS on you guys. I feel bad you’re going bald but I have a hard time believing something on the market this long wouldnt have some scientific evidence of causing hair loss if that were true~!
Even just stress can cause hair loss. The fact that you’re posting on here and even worrying that it caused hair loss probably raised your blood pressure, caused stress and created even more hair loss.
Also, I found that simple Olive Oil rubbed into my hair once in awhile kept my scalp moisturized and no more dandruff. My moms dad did this and always had long curly locks, Ive never seen a man his age have so much hair.
Dandruff can be from too much oil too, esp with young people. So read up before adding oil.
Im 26 and always had dandruff in some form. Every couple weeks my scalp gets itchy with small white flakes which is DRY scalp, using Olive Oil just knocks it out. Esp after you keep using it for awhile it keeps your hair very healthy and shining and smells pretty good too imho. I started getting complements on my hair after doing this, which Ive never had before.
Just dont use chemicals, modified oils or anything strange. Keep it natural baby!
There was an experiment done recently with a very small amount of H&S added to a live fish tank….unfortunately, the fish “rolled” over.
I’m 21, but a few years ago I would use this shampoo off and on. I always loose hair in the shower, but I began to notice a large increase in hair loss when using H&S. I thought I was crazy because I had never heard of anyone else with the problem, but I stopped using it anyways. Recently I have been thinking about going back to it because I liked the way it smells (I know some people hate it, but I like it), but I was worried my hair would fall out again. Curious, I decided to look it up, and I ended up here. Now I will deffinetly stay away from the shampoo.
I see a lot of people saying that it’s just natural for humans too loose hair, but how do you explain loosing a greater amount of hair only when using this shampoo? I’m also curious to know if the people who are doubting these claims have used the shampoo for any significant amount of time so test it out. Also, Zinc may help with hair growth, but maybe there is something else in the shampoo that ‘overrides’ the zinc? (I’m shooting in the dark here, I have no idea how that stuff works but thought I’d put it out there for those that do.)
The silicone (Dimethicone) in Head and shoulders can cause the hair loss. You must wash your hair and scalp soundly to get it out with a no silicone shampoo like herbal essances drama clean refreshing shampoo.
Hi, I am 21. I started using H&S about four months ago. I have always had freakishly thick hair. I have never had any hair loss before using this product. At first, it made my freakishly thick (very curly) hair smooth and easy to style. Suddenly,I started noticing my hair falling out. In less than three weeks, my hair line has receded drastically. What used to be freakishly thick and curly hair is now so weak it breaks when I touch it. It’s not even curly anymore. It has even changed the color of my hair from black to a sickly red blondish color. Also, I am getting these strange little lumps on my scalp that hurt when I touch them. It looks so terrible that I have no choice but to wear a hat or shave it all off. I would like to add, it is normal for people to lose hair. However, it’s not normal for it all to fall out at once. These people who are promoting this product should be removed from this page. H&S WILL RUIN YOUR LIFE! THAT COMPANY SHOULD BE SHUTDOWN FOREVER!!!!!!!!!
I don’t think you need to conduct a study when some of these people losing hair are children. In fact, one was 11.
I was reading the back of my H&S bottle because I wanted to see where it was made. It says “Made in U.S.A. of US and/ or IMPORTED ingredients” Wonder where the imported ingredients are coming from? I have a hunch they are coming from China. They have given us really great products, haven’t they? From led toys to poison baby milk formula. I don’t know for sure, but I’m going to find out. I will post more when I do.
I have never used head and shoulders before and i am experiencing hair thinning. I dont know much about it except the fact it has so much controversy on it. I’ve read all these comments and for the record anyone reading this should be weary of “randall”. As stated in a few other comments, his are very controdicting and to be honest it wouldnt suprise me if he was jus trying to help advertise the product. Or maybe its just the fact that he doesnt know how to swallow his pride and admit he’s wrong. But in all honesty most of you should use the product simmilarly and only about 2 times weekly in order to make more precise results. Using it daily for extended periods of time can be harmful in any dandruff shampoo. Perhaps its a bad shampoo or perhaps not. It also depends on your ammount of dandruff and the present condition of your scalp.
For those who are offering honest comments on this subject or anyother hairloss subject, I thank you. But there will always be some jerk out there trying to advertise their products bc, in part, most of them dont know what it feels like to have what ppl like us have so they dont care as long as they get a quick coin in their pockets. My advice: listen to their words and statements carefully and see how they react to certain questions or statements made against them. Good luck to all of you.
ps: sometimes when u have nothing else to turn to, its always best to accept who u are and what you’ve been given. The gift about being this way is the fact that we know that we dont need a mirror to show us whats really important in life.
Okay, I called the Head & Shoulders 1-800 number. I asked the nice lady I talked to where the “Imported Ingredients” came from. This is what she replied,”Oh,I can’t really tell you where the ingredients come from because I don’t know.” she also said “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, It’s just that we don’t know where they come from, we just distribute the product.”
I feel that I quoted with 100% accuracy. So, according to her, Head and Shoulders, that distribute in the U.S.A., are clueless as to where it comes from and what’s in it. Further more, when I asked who I could call to find out she told me she wouldn’t know where to start.
I am thinking about sending it to the lab at the local college and letting them test it.
I searched for where the Head and Shoulders factory was and I can’t find any records of one in the U.S.A.. All I can find are web-sites saying they export Procter and Gamble U.S. made Head and Shoulders.However, according to the phone call I made yesterday, Procter and Gamble just distribute it. Even though the bottle says made in the U.S.A., it clearly isn’t.
I wish that you, who ever is reading this, could try and help me track down where the factory is that makes Head and Shoulders.
Also, I think it’s strange that Head and Shoulders recently came out with a new shampoo called HAIR RETAIN that is suppose to keep your hair from falling out.
I do believe the reason why some people experience hair loss from using Head and Shoulder is due to the active ingredient pyrithione zinc. I honestly believe some people are allergic to it and in turn it causes inflammation response and then hair loss. Take me for example, I used to use one of the pantene shampoo which contains pyrithione zinc. I experience scalp inflammation and hair loss everytime I use it. And I have been testing it for several times. So people, if you are experience due to the used of head and shoulders, in future, please remember not to purchase other brands of shampoo that contains pyrithione zinc, because obviously, you might be allergic to that ingredient.
Pantene is also owned by Procter and Gamble, the company that owns Head and Shoulders.
No wonder….
any shampoo or conditioner is not the problem, water is the main problem if your water is not clean and if your using shampoo to wash your hair by that water then its 100% guarantee you will lose your hair
Then where are all the blogs for water related hair loss? I wish people would stop posting any irrelevant reason they can think of to take the blame off HEAD AND SHOULDERS. Unless you have lost massive amounts of hair from using HEAD AND SHOULDERS, you shouldn’t post messages on this page.
This product definately causes hairloss – how can the company continue selling this rubbish? I have had issues for 8 years and recently stopped using is with slow but steady progress.
head ans shoulders should at the very least be made to put a warning on their product.
I am convinced that this is my issue also.. i have been using H&S for about a year now and every since i have had a huge amount of hair loss like atleast 30-50%. I am going out today to buy new Shampoo i will never use H&S ever again!
I’m 15 and didn’t think anything was wrong when my hair started falling out in clumps in the shower, until i found this article! H&S is going in the garbage!
Hi. I am 24 years old, soon to be 25. I never had any problem with thinning hair or hair loss, but frequently I had dandruff problems as a kid, especially in the wintertime when the heat in the house and other buildings would dry me out and cause the scalp to be itchy and flaky. So for most of my life I used a standard Suave shampoo, then as a teenager head and shoulders in the winter, with Suave in the summer time when dandruff was not a problem. Then in college (age 18-22), the dandruff problem was more prevalent all year round, so I used head and shoulders just about all year, occasionally mixing in a non-dandruff shampoo. When I would get a very short haircut (a crew-cut), I did notice a little bit of thinning towards the back/top, which was nothing I had ever seen before, but it was very minor so I ignored it. And when the hair grew in you couldn’t really see it.
I continued using head and shoulders all throughout college. It was only after my graduation, the year after college, at age 23, where I continued using head and shoulders daily, that I got a shaved “#2” haircut and noticed that suddenly my hairline had receded. And I had gotten crew cuts consistently for about 5 years up to that point without any signs of this. How did I suddenly have a receding hairline from one haircut to the next with such a dramatic change in such a short period of time? I was surprised, but the next time I got a haircut, the barber didn’t cut it as short, so as to hide the receding hairline on the two sides at the front.
Well, now it’s been several months since that last haircut, I still was using the same H&S shampoo frequently, and now as I have let my hair grow in a little, I see 2 things. On the one hand, I suddenly started to shed massive amounts of hair in the shower, like never before, to the point that the drain gets clogged from one use of the shower (and the water level rises in the tub until I wipe the hair from the drain), and 2, I can see on the back/top part of my head that minor thinning I saw in college is now greatly magnified, and I have what amounts to a quasi bald-spot. I am afraid what it will look like when I get my next haircut. But I can already see that I have lost a great deal of hair and that whatever is left over there is very thin. The only way to avoid a baldspot in that area is to “combover” with the hair at the very back, forward over the baldspot/thinned out space.
Upon seeing this and coupling with the immense globs of hair that fall out in the shower, I put two and two together and started to suspect my head and shoulders dandruff shampoo might be the culprit. My father still has a full head of hair albeit with a bit of receding hairline, but NO BALD SPOT and no hairloss in the back/top area. And he also did not have a receding hairline until much later in life. Other males in my family on my mother’s side still have full head of hair in old age, and those women who lost hair in their aging process did so at older ages, NOT in 20’s 30’s or 40’s.
I am only 24 years old and I am going bald? In a matter of 1 year I went from a full head of hair to a noticable receding hairline and a baldspot in the back? Something is seriously wrong here, and it may be my consistent use of this shampoo, almost daily for over 5 years. Based on certain pieces of evidence, without elaborating, it is likely that I do have a generally high testosterone level compared to most people, and that plays a huge role in hairloss. But how high can it really be? Based on genetics this should not be happening to me at such a young age. And it is certainly rare for it to happen so soon and so rapidly based solely on slightly higher amounts of male hormones floating around.
I am going to switch to a different shampoo and see what happens. I don’t care if dandruff comes back at this point. I just want my hair back. Just a normal head of hair like I always had….
So all that led me to do a google search for “head and shoulders and hair loss” after researching a little bit about what factors contribute to hair growth/loss, and it took me here, where I see that so many people have had a similar problem.
The tests show that in low dosage pyrithione zinc is good for killing fungus and stopping dandruff problems without side effects, sure, but have they tested what it will do with consistent daily use over long periods of time? Did they bother to survey what kind of side effects might occur if a person decided to make H&S their daily shampoo for years at a time? No. And I think we are the evidence that they should!
I am 21 and have always had thick hair. A few months ago I got a case of dandruff so i used head and shoulders intensive shampoo. Within two weeks I had very noticeable amounts of hair falling out. I strongly suspected it was the shampoo because losing hair had never been an issue to me before. I came upon this website and this confirms my suspicions. I will never use head and shoulders again and I strongly suggest for someone to help expose this product.
I would also like to add that the directions on the back said it was encouraged that the user applied it daily and could repeat if desired. No warnings indicated that it was powerful enough to induce hair loss.
YES!!! No doubt in stating head n shoulders have corelation with hair loss…. I m experiencing the same… Something is there!! Beware !!!!1
Yes !! There is some co-relation between head n shoulders and hair loss….. Beware !!!!
Interesting comments. I am a 58 year old female who has used Head & Shoulders for approx. 35 years. About a year ago, I noticed my hair thinning significantly on top and around the hair line. In a desperate attempt to find out what the cuase was, I found this blog. I can’t say that any of the potential causes of female hair loss fit for me, except for Head and Shoulders use. I discovered this site approx. 7 months ago and immediately discontinued H&S. Today, my hair has slowly started to return. I must say that my experience does coincide with the changes to Head and Soulders and the introduction of Ocean Lift, as many others reported. I don’t know if the shampoo was the cause of my hair loss but it appears that many others have had the same experience and I do see a big improvement since discontinuing. If not the shampoo, during my panic, I did notice what appears to be an epidemic of female hair loss …………..did the water really change?
I’ve used Head and Shoulders DAILY for at least five years and my hair hasn’t fallen out at all.
I wonder how many of these stories are completely fake…
I was waiting for someone to finally post a positive comment about Head and Shoulders but lo and behold, it’s likely a “fake” one, by someone who fears for the financial success of this product. Gee, you don’t like that treatment, do you? Now consider how the sincere posters here feel when you got defensive with your garbage post.
There is no real reason for anyone here to put up a fake story. There is plenty of reason for someone (like you) to “defend” the product (dishonestly) and to call into question the experience of its users, to discredit those with complaints. We all know the motive you may have, likely financial. Can you name any logical reason to take your accusations seriously?
There is no “evil conspiracy” to ‘take down’ Head and Shoulders. There is obviously a whole slew of people who experienced negative effects from the use of the product and feel harmed and upset by it. I for one have been harmed enough and do not need your attack as an addition to that. To have hair fall out is a pyschological disaster. You clearly have no compassion for those people who experience it. You are probably the same d-bag (Randall) who was originally posting contradictory statements in order to exonerate the product, at the beginning of this page. I read those and laughed. After being caught in your own lies and discredited by your own stupidity, now you are attacking everyone else here under a different identity. Not clever.
Bloody hell I am glad I came across this blog! I have been struggling with dandruff for about 12 years now and I had used head and shoulders in the past to no avail but was considering going back and giving it another try – after reading these stories there is NO WAY. I have recently stopped using nizoral after about 2 years of use because I have found it becoming increasingly ineffective. I have recently discovered that slathering my scalp in coconut oil before a shower does wonders for the itching and redness but the flakes persist. Maybe a combination of the oil and nizoral will do the trick.
I started using H & S when I moved in with my girlfriend seven years ago. I had the thickest head or curly hair you have ever seen. It use to be very difficulty to handle. However recently I noticed how thin it had become. There is no history of baldness on either of my parents sides. All the men died with full heads of hair. I have no doubt that H & S is responsible for the hair loss that I experienced. I have stopped using it. Hopefully the damage is not permanent. This product should be banned…..
I started using H&S about 2 years ago and was amazed how it kept my flaky scalp under control and my hair was in great condition. But about 4 months ago I started to notice my hair thinning at the front. This seemed strange as no one in my family is bald, in fact my grandad still had a full head of hair when he died at 92!
So I searched the internet and was amazed to find a lot of people reporting a belief in a connection between the shampoo and thinning hair. I stopped using it and switched to T-Gel. T-Gel smells bad so I used a conditioner afterwards but within a couple of weeks I actually had new hair growth where it had previously thinned.
I don’t know if it was just a one off but it seems unlikely.
I have had the complete opposite experience than most people posting on this site. I am 52 years old and until about 2 years ago, I had used Head and Shoulders daily since I was in junior high. Two years ago I decided to try other shampoos without harsh chemicals such as ammonium lauryl sulfate. For a one or two month period after switching shampoos, I noticed a lot of hair in the drain after showering. I had not lost hair like that in a long time. I noticed my hair was getting thinner on the top of my head in the typical male pattern baldness areas. It does not seem to have receded any more, its just sparser than it used to be. This thinning may be related to my age and the fact that hair naturally thins as we age, but I don’t know for sure. It just seems too coincidental. So I am going BACK to using H&S. However, I will only be lathering up once, not twice. Unless your hair is really dirty or oil, lathering up once is enough. I think doing it twice is a ploy by the manufacturer to get you to use more shampoo so you have to buy more.
I have been using H & S for about 2 weeks and I wash my hair once or twice a week usually. I have noticed as most of you all that I am losing a great deal more of hair since using this product. I am appalled to see the number of complaints and will discontinue using this product. In addition, I will write the H & S company and may even cite this blog page in my letter. I want a refund and I want them to change their product. I have always had thick strong hair but this product is trash.
I have been using H&S for 10 years. Recently when I STOPPED using it and my hair slowly seemed to get thinner and I got a patchy loss right on the top, which I guarantee is from me scratching my head from dandruff. H&S does make my hair look thicker because it cakes something onto the hair and scalp.
If you’re having an allergic reaction to it, you should not use it. It’s possible the hair loss is genetic, or that after 10 years, your skin doesn’t like it anymore. Many people have an allergic reaction to Tide laundry soap, even after many years. My brother had an allergic reaction to Oxy cleaning pads after 5 years. It’s called “Contact Dermatitis.”
I also have had similar experience. By no means did H&S cause the hair loss but it certainly wasn’t helping. It seemed to put something on the scalp and wasn’t helping the itch and irritation. Certainly the loss was greater when I use H&S. That’s not to say I wasn’t suffering from hair loss before using H&S but H&S seemed to excacerbate it. I have since stopped using it and my condition seems to have improved somewhat but you can’t completely reverse the damage done (from scratching and whatever effect of H&S) nor reverse the course of aging. Til now, I’m not a 100% certai if H&S really made it that much worse but what I do know is that it wasn’t helping and when you have thinning hair, H&S actually accentuated it since it coats something on the skin making it very oily and shiny.
i stumbled upon this site after doing a google search worried that there was a correlation between H&S and hairloss. in the past week i started noticing massive amounts of hairloss and thinning. i was using the shampoo everyday. i will be going to the doctors on wednesday. with this many people reporting hairloss there is absolutely a link between the two. this subject would not have this many comments otherwise. i am a 25 year old male. many people complimented me on how thick my hair was and even my barber recently noticed a difference. if there is ever a class act count me in. i will discontinue and see what happens to make sure it is not in the genes.
I have used H& S for 35 years also, and no hair loss, however, I am the only one of my many siblings to have early and extensively grey hair. I look older than my elderly mother! Today I read the fine print on the bottle which states to ‘rinse five minutes if your hair is bleached, tinted, grey, or permed.’ What? so now I am researching H& S and found this link. Interesting.
If Head & Shoulders products are being exported from China, we don’t know what ‘secret ingredients’ they contain. Like I said in previous post, if you call the 800 numbers and ask them were the ‘imported ingredients’ come from, they tell you they don’t know. Or, as my last attempt went, they get very defensive over that question.
what they forgot to put on the bottle
MADE IN CHINA.
I used Head and Shoulders 2 in 1 for dandruff for about a month and noticed my hair started to recede and thin. I am only 19 years old, and saw hundreds of hairs on my pillow and sheets. The slightest touch to my hair would cause more to fall out, and it the individual hairs themselves started to get thinner and frailer. Needless to say, I started freaking out and tried to think what could be causing it. I go to college, and figured it could be stress, diet, drinking, etc. Then I thought, why not check to see if H&S has anything to do with it since I bought the shampoo right before leaving for college. Sure enough, this blog popped up. Even after a month without the shampoo my hair was falling out, just at a slower rate. I went to the dermatologist, and she said my scalp was red and scaly, so she gave me cortisone, which is very helpful. MY HAIR IS GROWING BACK, and it is looking fuller and thicker everyday. The recession seems to be diminishing, and though my hair isn’t 100 percent, I am confident it will be in due time.
I ran out of my salon shampoo and had been too lazy to stop by to purchase more, so, therefore, I just purchased a bottle of the H&S volume (the purple bottle) and have been using now for about three months. At first, I have to say that I loved it. I have never had any type of problem with dandruff or antyhing, but my parents always used the shampoo, so I figured what the heck since they came out with new lines. It was the biggest mistake of my life. I have been loosing so much hair, I had to buy a hair stopper for my tub. My mother’s bathroom was being remodled so she had to use mine, and even commented on the amounts of hair in my tub! Needless to say, I have stopped using this product. One thing I did notice, was that the shampoo dried my hair out, all of it. I never in my life had to use conditioner but maybe once every four months and now, I have to use it everyday. I am hoping that the dryness will ease up after a while, but I have noticed a huge difference in hair loss since I stopped using this product.
I have been using Head and Shoulders anti-dandruff for about 1 month now. I just noticed a sudden hair loss. I am currently 16 years old. My parents have no sign of balding whatsoever. I know for sure this is not genetics. I know it wasn’t iron deficiency or stress. So, the next culprit was my shampoo. After searching online, I came upon this page. I will immediately stop the use of Head and Shoulders shampoo and try out Avalon Organics shampoo.
I’m not sure what to think. I stopped using it after 9 years back in October, it’s now January and my hair seems to be a tad thicker. I have the same issue as a few others said, it’s just thin on top, but not actual bald spot or recediing hairline, just keeps getting thinner…. I switched Shampoos out of curiosity without even researching it first. It made me thing that where I use it, is where i am thinning. I’m a guy who quickly washes his hair in the morning.. i keep it short so I really don’t scrub like crazy on the sides just mostly in the top… I’ll post back in another 90 days with an update.
I’m Asian, and have been a user of H&S for a good 3-4 years because of recurring dandruff. Initially, I used the regular one but after a few months, became ineffective so I switched to the H&S Intensive Solutions. It was really effective in shooing away the dandruff, but coincidentally, this is where I started losing a lot of hair — probably 10-20 strands in the shower, another 10-20 while sleeping and who knows how many during the course of the day.
I’m 26, male, and have a history of male pattern baldness on my dad’s side, but my brother, who’s 2 years older than I am still has thick hair. Sometimes he tells me he experiences occasional hair fall but then it stops, and he uses a ton of products on his hair everyday. I never use gel or anything since it causes dandruff, and I’d like to think I live a pretty healthy lifestyle.
Now, my hairline has really gone up and hair on the top of my head has considerably thinned that my colleagues at work rag me about it, it’s embarrassing. I’d like to believe I’ll go bald at some point, but not this early, especially since I got my mom’s hair thickness before I used H&S.
One of my best friends works for Procter & Gamble, and he told me their formula for H&S Intensive Solutions is really the company’s best shampoo formula. But only last year, they phased out the product in the country because of “lack of interest” from consumers. Only that time did it dawn on me that maybe the thinning had something to do with the shampoo. As a friend though, I don’t want him to know that I’m accusing the company that he works for as the culprit for my hair loss.
I just switched yesterday to a herbal shampoo. I’ll see in the coming weeks if it has any effect. Hopefully, even if it takes a couple years, I get to grow my hair back.
So… I’m a 37 yr old female who used to have a super think long head of hair; when in a tight braid it was 2 inches across. It’s now more like an inch in a loose braid. I don’t wear it in braids but it’s to just to point out that it’s that noticeable becaue it’s more than 1/2 of what I used to have. Weird that I finally realized it took almost two years to get to this point. I still have lots of hair but no where near what I had before – it’s still a blessing that my hair remained somewhat thick. I attributed it to finally catching up to my age, life stresses etc… but it was still not normal in my mind as I always had the regular hair loss every day BUT the difference was I also had baby hairs that would grow back. I never thought of H&S until my sister said I should probably give it a break, because there were no more baby hairs growing just my long 22″ hair falling. I’ve stopped using it… it was my shampoo for over 15 years but now after 3 months I have baby hairs again sticking straight up from my hair part. Unexplainable how it reacts to people in different life stages with little use or lots of use… FOR ME I won’t use it again! I won’t knock the product because it worked for a very long time on my itchy scalp but I will give people a verbal warning that if they notice any change to stop immediately; my view is that it should have that stated on the bottle. I now use Ojon once a week (you can find it on the shopping channel or at Sephora). It smells like roasted nuts/bark which isn’t the most appealing smell to have around your nose but it’s all natural and it’s been working on some south american people for centuries.
I’ve been using Head and Shoulders every day for more than 8 yrs.No hair loss at, quite the opposite my hair is shiny and smooth….Maybe its allergic reaction to some people out there.
After a stylist advised me to use Head & Shoulders on my
7-year-old daughter, after only 2 weeks, she started losing hair. Even after brushing it, running her hands through her hair caused more to fall out. She’s never lost this amount of hair in her life, so I see the only correlation being with Head & Shoulders. I think a warning should be put on the bottle.
After noticing my hair thinning out rapidly this last month, I started to get very anxious… even my hair dresser asked me what was going on as she was used to dealing with an extremely thick head of hair! I started to think back and do research. My mom’s father is completely bald, so I figured it must be genetics, however, both my parents hair went whit in their early 20’s. I’m 21 right now, and my hair is jet black. So I did more research and thought maybe it is my shampoo. I have Head and Shoulder’s “Citric Breeze” and have been using it for around 6 months, but it has only been these last couple of months I’ve used it regularely. Boom, noticed rediculous amounts of hair leaving. I mean REDICULOUS!
More research found that pyrithione zinc, it’s active compount is not good for you at all! Zinc itself is KNOWN to cause hair loss whether ingested or just in contact with. They KNOW this yet it’s still in the shampoo? There is also some guess work that sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate dries out hair and damages it and its another main ingrediant to H&S.
Conditioner can combat the drying effects but try to get a shampoo without ANY for of zinc in it!
Also Head & Shoulder deserves to be called many a nasty name. What jerks.
I started using head and shoulders maybe 5 days ago and already I am experiencing dramatic hair loss. Help?
In the past 6 months, I’ve been losing a lot of hair in the shower. I couldn’t understand what was causing the sudden hair loss until i realized that I’ve been using Head and Shoulders for about 6 months. After putting two and two together I found this blog and gasped at how many people are saying the same thing. I will never use this product again!
i m using pantene classic care…its good for hair???
I recently started to use Head and Shoulder “Citrus Breeze”.
Not because I have dandruff but because I like its scent :-)
I noticed some thinning on top; when I went to get a haircut last week, he looked at my hair, and out of nowhere, he asked me:
” Are you using Head and Shoulders”
I then asked him: ” how do you know that?”
He told me: ” well you used to have thicker hair”
That was it, I didn’t think twice before tossing it out
I am 20 years old, and have been using head and shoulders for about 2-3 months, and have noticed thinning of my wonderful blonde hair.
Have discontinued use after seeing others are having the same issues.
My Husband Bill 56 used H&S many years ago for a dandruff problem. He used it diligently for about a year. At first we didn’t notice it getting thin. Then it started to dawn on us that his beautiful curly thick hair was getting thinner. Although we noticed his hair thinning, it wasn’t until he was very thin on top that we considered that it was H&S. He is still thin on top with his massive thick hair all along the rest of his head.
We believed then and still believe today that H&S is what caused a very thick head of hair to almost disappear. Whenever he knows of someone using it – his first comment to them is unless you want to go bald – don’t use it.
wow..just so many folks with H&S problems..class action just waiting to submitted..
I thought my boyfriend and I were the only ones!! When I’m in the shower I always stick my hair on the shower wall so it doesn’t fall into the drain (clogged pipes are no fun). When I started using Head n’ Shoulders you would not believe how much hair I was losing!! It was terrifying. The shower wall looked like I was going through Chemo.
Ever since I stopped using the product, barely any hair has fallen out. That’s when I knew it was the shampoo. My boyfriend now has a receding hairline bc he’s been using it since college (6 years now).
Does anyone know if Head n’ Shoulders was bought out by Rogaine?
Head & Shoulders contains Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS). These are corrosive ingredients and are used in household and commercial cleaners such as car wash soap, engine degreaser, and garage floor cleaners. It is said to attack your hair follicles and interfere with hair growth.
Vivienne-
No shampoo caused your boyfriend’s receding hairline. He can blame genetics for that.
Oh, and Rogaine is owned by McNeill (Johnson & Johnson)… Head and Shoulders is owned by Proctor & Gamble.
I am 23, I used head and shoulders for about 2 years. I am a guy that had a full head of hair, and I am hairy as a beast. I started noticing hair loss around the peak of my head. I really couldn’t understand it as both my parents have full head of hair. I am def going to stop using it.
I am 21 years old. I started using Head & Shoulders about 6 months ago because I have struggled with acne for many years and also with very mild dandruff. I never thought of using an anti-dandruff shampoo before using Head & Shoulders and have always had a very thick head of hair (so much so that my hairstylists have always commented on what nice, thick hair I have). There is no history of balding (either men or women) in my family. In fact, my mom is 44 and still has very thick hair as well.
Since I’ve started using Head & Shoulders, I have noticed that the area around my part (on top of my head) has thinned out significantly and also left my hair on top very brittle and breakable. I wasn’t sure if Head & Shoulders had anything to do with it, since the shampoo was recommended by my dermatologist. However, after reading all of these posts and also hearing from my hairdresser that she also tried it and experienced hair loss, I have decided to stop using it for good.
I was wondering, though, if the hair that I’ve lost will eventually grow back? I would be interested to know what other peoples’ experiences have been after discontinuing use of this product… I would really like to have nice, thick hair again. :/
im 17 years old and my hair was super thick,but when i started using head n shoulders it started falling out!!
i stopped but i wanna know if its gonna grow back?
i just used head and shoulders for two months and because of this my hair started thinning and started to fall.now i have stopped using it and now hair fall stopped.but i dont know whether my hair will grow back
I’ve had a lot of hair loss recently. I used Head and Shoulders for about a year everyday, because the bottles said “use every day for best result” or something of that nature. I always wore my hair with long bangs, but my hair was hard to get stright until I used Head And Shoulders. I used head and shoulders heavily on my bangs. Then one day after a hair cut, I noticed my hair line had receded horribly at the temples. All the hair on my bangs and temples turned red, blonde, and white then feel out in big hand fulls. Then about two weeks later, the hair in the center of my scalp did the same. Now, I have a receded hair line a huge bald spot in the back. I’m only 21 years old so I was scared. I went to a dermatologist who told me that head and shoulders he felt, caused hair loss and that he could give me some shots in the back but the damage to the front was already done. EVEN THOUGH IM 21 I LOOK LIKE IM 47 AND I WILL PROLLY NEVER GET LAID AGAIN
YOUR HAIR WON’T GROW BACK IN THE FRONT!!!! AND IT WILL NEVER STOP FALLING OUT!!!!
yes omg i want to cry so bad. I’ve been using Head and Shoulders shampoo for several years now like 7 years or close to that. I’ve noticed from the beginning that my hair started falling out more, thining. But I never thought anything of it. Now I have a more evident receding hair line and I am a girl. I am sad because everyone used to tell me i had thick hair. I don’t even straighten my hair. I can’t believe I kept using head and shoulders. The reason why I used it because it helped get rid of my flakes and dandruff. But maybe I’d rather get dandruff than lose my hair!. Its like great…the follicles in my hair comes out just like that meaning my hair will never ever grow back again. It stresses me out and causes me to lose more hair. I do feel relieved though that I am not the only one. This is so unfortunate.I need a solution.I will have to try other reputable shampoo brands.
why is the security word always ikea? weird ..
okay anyway,
ahh,,,, im soo sadd as if i didn’t have enough things to worry about. Im a freakin girl yet im balding. Literally i got bald spots on the back of my head which i didn’t know of until I looked in two mirrors. Its so embarrassing and i look at all other girls have nice thick alot of hair. Believe me its Head and Shoulder’s fault. and don’t even say my hair loss is genetics bc its not. Lets see, I started using it in 7 years ago, i had noticed my hair gradually fell out alot and I was like “omg im scared” at first, but then i thought to myself oh its normal right? people are suppose to shed. BUt com’on it was like >30 pieces of hair in the shower that i lost during most showers. k, so just this year I noticed receding of my hair like over 1cm on my forhead and bald spots in the back of my head. Of course my ignorant parents say its normal and not noticeable. Does anyone have shampoos they recommend? I tried an expired suave (which I did not know expired. results: itching head like crazy not kidding or exaggerating), pantene=flakes, dove-tangley hair, paul mitchel -(itches, though its new too, shouldn’t be expired?). at least i learned to stop using h&s. well then im going to cry myself to sleep as im losing all of my beautiful hair…
Hi I’m 18 year old male and living in Australia.. I’ve used H&S for about 4 years now and haven’t had much hair loss but as soon as I switch to H&S for Men shit started hitting the fan… after the first couple of washes my hair has become dryer and weaker but no Dandruff which is good I suppose so I didn’t really think much about it at first cause I just was thinking it just needed some more time to start working but it hasent really stop hairloss to my knowledge. So after reading these comments (Not All of them of course haha) I say to anyone who has this problem stop using H&S and use a different one cause it’s obviously very tough on some peoples hair
I’m a longtime sufferer from seborrheic dermatitis, and I have went through numerous courses of Nizoral over the years. I started using Head and Shoulders with Zinc early last year because I had heard that it was beneficial for staving off recurring attacks of s.derm.
My mom’s side of the family has no hair loss issues, and my hair has always been fairly thick. At the time I was using this H&S shampoo, my hair was starting to become noticeably thinner on the crown. I tried parting the hair in various ways, but there was a definite and noticeable thinning that worried me. I will not use their products ever again until they prove one way or the other whether their product is making people’s hair thin out.
WOW! I have never heard of the connection between H&S and hair loss, but it seems to be possible. I was 16 when my hair started thinning quickly. I’m now 34 and I remember having dandruff as a teen and my mom buying H&S for me (as a matter of fact, I still use it and even used it tonight!). Who knows if there’s a correlation, but it’s an interesting theory that has lots of anecdotal evidence.
Like most of you, I am using Head and Shoulders shampoo, and only every other day (Garnier Fructis is my alternate day shampoo) for a few years. I have also been noticing a lot of hair loss, and I am only 36. A friend of mine joked that it caused hair loss, so I did some independent research (a.k.a, used it less often) and noticed a difference in the volume and frequency of loss in the shower. It’s quite disconcerting to find your once lovely hair all over in the tub and the drain. I once had shoulder length hair and have since returned to a shorter cut to “hide” the hair loss. The H&S is going in the recycling bin. As for a class action lawsuit, good luck finding a law firm that would take on such case. Any man, woman and child who lost a hair might cry foul, and we would be lucky to have enough money to buy a bottle of shampoo. You would almost have to document the loss, and do an extensive family history search to prove it isn’t hereditary (that’s what Proctor and Gamble’s lawyers would say). They would take your stress level into account, your diet (yes, your diet can affect hair loss as well). Given all these factors, it would be hard – but not impossible – to even get the OK to START a class action lawsuit. Cut your losses like I am (no pun intended), lose the bitterness factor (yes, easier said than done) and move on. At least we (well, in North America) don’t live in a country where bombs fall on us everyday.
H&S is useless shampoo. It needs to be taken to consumer court for cheating people.
Wow guys, you all talk about hair loss but tell you the truth Head&Shoulders is the shampoo that did to me dandruff and worsen it in a long term.
At the beggining i was so surprised and happy of the way it made my hair feel, like very smooth and silky (i wanted to be cool and use a popular brand), but after a time, month after month i was seeing my hair getting more and more with very small white fragements, after more time the fragments got even bigger, dandruff became a problem, my head was itchy, even if I stopped it there would be no help, it caused such a permanent side effect that no other shampoo could take it off. I was forced to wash my head more oftenly and so it got even more oily and greesy, itchy. There were times when i was scratching so badly i couldn’t stop and pieces of skin would torn apart and even bleed and so on – man it was so bad i had to treat me hair and scalp with a paste that contained Selenium Sulfide and now Thanks God i feel much better (although that paste required to apply it after i washed my head with any ordinary shampoo and leave it for ten 10 mins before rinse it with water – it made my hair smell not very well; but it was helpful). A doctor recommended me that Selenium Sulfide (1% strength) works much better than anything else.
Hopefully anyone that has or not a problem with dandruff and reads my comment will know to not make the same mistakes as me.
And i was only 13 when i staretd to use it (4 years of being stupid) – now when i see all those 11 years old kids with their beautiful and shiny hair i just can’t stop crying inside mysefl.
Probanly the best out there shampoos are the ones for babies that in appearance are oil like.
this has happened to me in the last few weeks. Started using H&S about 5 weeks ago and in the last two weeks I’ve noticed that I can see my scalp on the crown of my head and the rest of my hair has thinned as well.
There is absolutely no other explanation for the sudden loss of hair except for the change in shampoo.
DO NOT use this product. I just hope the hair loss can be reversed.
same thing i been using head and shoulders for a few years now im a 28 year old female with bald spots my hair falls out in globs when i wash it.
WOW! I’m turning 15 this coming July and have had an inherited dandruff problem since I was young. I’ve been using the head and shoulders shampoo for roughly 3-4 years and haven’t noticed any of this accursed hair loss everyone’sdiscussing. However, I do only use it at intervals of a week or two with milder, herbal based shampoos every other day so perhaps that contributes to my situation. Reading some of the comments on here makes me downright fearful for my hair. Thanks for the insight everyone, I’ll consider changing my dandruff control shampoo now :)
For those who have dandruff, use tar gel instead. I’m 31 and I was having a serious dandruff problem at the end of last year and I started using Head & Shoulders. I told my mother I was using it. I told her it worked great on getting rid of the dandruff, but that I noticed some hair loss and wondered if it was as a result of the H & S. She advised against using it anymore. She said my father didn’t start losing his hair until he started using H & S. That was back in the ’70s. She said she believed back then that it was as a result of H & S. A friend recommended tar gel. It works great. No more flaky scalp. No more hair loss. Something is obviously wrong with H & S. I use the Neutrogen T-Gel (about $10 a bottle at Wal-Mart and lasts more than a month even if you use it everyday), but I’m sure there’s other tar gel products out there. There should really be a study performed on H & S. Only problem is that no one would want to volunteer to try something that may cause hair loss. We humans love our hair too much. ;-[
By the way, for those who don’t exhibit hair loss using H & S, perhaps it reacts to something on the scalp or skin, depending on the person. I have real sensitive skin. I get sunburned easily. Maybe my scalp just reacts negatively to it and it promotes the hair loss. Again, there needs to be a study on this.
I have been using H & S, mostly in winters because of the dandruff and found the same problem of hair thinning. This shampoo really destroys the newly grown small hair and make your longer hair volumed ! Which is unnoticeable in the start and during the use, but it really is a destroyer of your hair. I think try to control your eating habits, drink lots of water, juices to get rid of this dandruff and use normal mild shampoo. Please stop using these dandruff shampoo , there are really really dangerous !
I started using this product because of dandruff and sure enough my hair started thinning…I still can’t believe it!!!!!!! My crown looks so bad…..
OMG I’m glad I have found this website!!!
I was very worried as have been losing my hair in strands every time I run my hands through it for two months now. I’m 23 years old and my hair has become dramatically thin and dry within months. I have lost so much hair and have a visible crown its unreal! I have also been suffering from a very dry and itchy scalp. I take multi vitamins’ daily and see myself as quite a healthy person so got very stressed when this started to happen.
I went to my hair dresser today who ask what shampoo I used, when I told her it was Head and Shoulders she told me to stop using it immediately!!
I was shock at what she told me and that a shampoo so harmful to hair can be widely sold without any health warnings!!
Had absolutely no hair loss of problems till i started using a friends head and shoulders about 2 years ago. About three times a week i used it for 6 months and my hair started falling out like crazy.
I stopped smoking, i stopped drinking coffee and stopped drinking alcohol, sugars etc to no avail. Then realised that i had small bumps on my scalp that were very itchy so stopped using the head and shoulders and the extreme irritation went away and the hair loss slowed down so much that now im not afraid to sleep on dark coloured sheets (im blond)
As soon as i stopped using it the hair falling out almost came to a stop. My hair has not receded at all since i stopped using it and i dont have a history of male pattern baldness in my family what-so-ever.
I never thought i was a proud or vain person until i started losing my hair. The anguish this has caused and the fact that after reading this forum i feel like im not crazy for blaming a shampoo. FY head and shoulders..
^^ from the above post it slowed down almost straight away and stopped. i used nizoral to control the itching in my scalp after and it helped a great deal. Nizoral too expensive to use everyday tho.. P.s. I am also allergic to lots of washing powders like OMO etc maybe this has something to do with it.
i used head and shoulders n i lost loads of hairs n sincerely i stoped it and still loosing hairs em near to get bald em just 19 plz if any of u did something for stopping hairloss and it worked plz tell me i use to cry every nite in my bed dont know y em loosing about 22 to 250 hairs at one time
i mean 200 to 250
F*^K YOU HEAD AND SHOULDERS. SAME THING AS EVERYBODY ELSE THATS JUST WRONG IF YOU KNOW YOUR PRODUCT IS MAKEING EVERYONES HAIR FALL OFF DO SOMETHING! NOW IM A 25 YEAR 0LD WITH THINING HAIR. YOUR JUST PROBABLY SITTING BACK LAUGHING AT ALL THE COMPLAINTS HOPE YOU USE YOUR OWN PRODUCT F*^KERS. GIVE SOME OF THAT SH** TO YOUR KIDS.I KNEW IT COULDN’T HAVE BEEN NONE OF THAT GENITIC CRAP BALDNESS DOES NOT RUN IN MY FAMILY. NOW I KNOW PEOPLE STOP USING H&S IT HAS SERIOUSLY MADE MY HAIR FALL OFF MAKES YOU THINK WHAT ELSE COULD COME FROM THAT BESIDES BALDNESS.
I tried this sh*t for about a 3 weeks and I noticed my crown thinning. Then I used it yesterday because my hair was suddenly getting greasy for no reason. Didn’t have that problem before.
Now my hair is bad!! My crown is thinner than before and my hair is also very dry. F*** you I hope this company gets sued.
My brother also has very thin hair now as he has been using it for a very long time and it doesn’t help his dandruff problems either.
I regret even trying this, only used it because I noticed very mild dandruff and now it’s worst!!! AahhhHH!!!
I HAV BEEN USING HEAD & SHOLDER SHAMPOO for 2 and a half year,i used to have long n thick hair.. after i started using this shampoo due to dandruf, i enjoyed the fact that i had no dandruf anymore but overlooked what the shamoo was doing to my hair.. my hair became thin and started to fall off… last week i decided to cut it off, and start afresh….
I WILL NEVER EVER USE IT AGAIN
What happened to the engineer guy that was going to conduct an experiment and stop using H&S for a year and see what happens? Results/updates would be appreciated as its been over a year (think it was a March 2009 post).
I’m going to be 28 in a couple weeks, and on both my parents side there is absolutely no history of baldness AT ALL.
I started using H&S at the end of high school when I had a mild dandruff problem. So that means I’ve been using it for about 10 years pretty much daily. The dandruff went away but I continued using it because the label said it was ok for daily use. The worst part is, I keep my head shaved and I would put H&S on and leave it on for 30 seconds….daily!!! Why 30 seconds….I wanted a clean head and didn’t think there was any harm in doing so.
Now on the back of my head, where I typically put H&S on first, is thinning badly in spots. My hairline is receding and messed up, and the hair on one side of my temples is also thinning badly. Essentially I’m thinning in patches. It’s really strange and doesn’t match any baldness patterns I’ve seen.
I found this blog and stopped using H&S immediately!!! I picked up some baby shampoo and I’ll use that 2-3 times a week I guess. Don’t want to use Rogaine or introduce any other chemicals and just wait to see if the hair grows back on it’s own over time.
To the people that say it’s genetics, no sorry you’re wrong. Again, nobody in my family loses their hair. I take care of myself and am an avid jogger, don’t eat junk. Not stressed out, don’t smoke, don’t drink. I take care of myself bottom line. The only thing that could have caused it is H&S.
Luckily I keep my hair short so it’s not too noticeable, but when I grow it out, it’s very obvious something’s not right. I know for a fact it’s H&S, and not lifestyle related (stress, diet, etc). If you’re losing hair and think it’s due to H&S do yourself a favor and stop immediately!!!!! I just wish I had found this blog sooner.
this shampoo is absolutley rubbish, ive lost loads of hair and im only 13. i should have gorgeous hair which i did used to have, but now its thin and dead looking. if i could i would sue the makers of this shampooo! raaar:@
hair has been coming out everywhere and its starting to get so annoying.
Yeah so I’m definitely noticing less hair coming out when I shampoo my hair. I do it about 3 times a week using Baby Shampoo.
I took pics of my hair when I stopped so in about a year I’ll take another set and compare and report back.
If H&S has zinc in it, it would sink into the pores. The Zinc would then trigger DHT. Basically, it would give the same results as male pattern baldness, yet very quickly. So, the first thing would be a quickly receeding hairline, then thining of the crown. However, it would happen so rappidly the victim of H&S would notice it as uneven hairloss? Someone said that a chemical in it was used to clean garage floors? Maybe that chemical is how the zinc sinks deeply into the scalp? If my theory is correct, most should notice red lumps or scabs on the scalp? Or redness around the area of hairloss? What we need is a chemical analysis. Some fellow mentioned this in a previous post. I’m curious too.
I used to use H&S regularly for my dandruff. My skin all over my body tends to be very dry and i needed a way to moisturize my scalp. After a year or so i noticed my very thick hair thinning rapidly and at the time i was only 17 or 18. Not only this, but i’m fairly certain it made my dandruff worse as i would find flakes literally ten times the size they used to be falling off my head. seriously fuck head & shoulders. It is an awful awful company/product
why.. why .. why.. i have to select this h&s, everytime i m goin to market… and this sec.. i pleadge not to touch it..
I also had really thick hair but after using H&S I noticed lots of hair falling out in the shower.
Now I use an organic shampoo with tea tree oil and my the problem has suddenly stopped. I just hope my lost hair will grow back though.
I am 28 years old and have always had thin hair, but I started using Head & Shoulders for Men 2 in 1 this month and have noticed a increase in hair loss within a week. I am going to discontinue using this product right away.
I started using Head and Shoulders (conditioner + anti dandruff shampoo) when I was 17, at first i liked the effect it had on my hair but after about 3-6 months of use i noticed a lot of hair falling out in the shower. My hair had thinned by the age of 18. I shampoo’d my head every day for a year using H&S. It’s also made the skin on my forehead dry and my dandruff worse.
What about the new HS for hairfall defense??
Does that one make you lose hair as well?
I am 25 years old and have been using head and shoulders for about a year. I have always had a full thick head of hair. As of the past couple months i have been noticing my hair thinning out and it keeps getting worse. I had no idea that Head & Shoulders was the cause of this until i brought it up to my parents who asked me what shampoo ive been using. I said Head & Shoulders and they told me to stop immediately. Apparently my father experienced the same thinning and to this day it is still as thin as the shampoo made his hair. He said he used it until he realized and heard from others that this shampoo is horrible for your hair. I would love for Head & Shoulders to pay for this humiliating loss. Im P___d off!
Hi, I used head and shoulders for about 5 months this past winter and ever since then I’ve noticed my hair is really thinning out fast. I stopped using the product but even after 3 months of not using it my hair continues to fall out. I used to have extremely thick hair that needed thinning every month when I got a hair cut. :(
I posted in December 2008. I was having problems with H&S thinning my hair.
I stopped using it and it stopped thinning.
About 5 months ago I read that Biotin could help re grow hair. It’s natural and is in vitamin B complexes. So for about $5 for 90 tablets from Wal-mart it cheap too.
I have found that my hair is thickening back up.
Get the bottle that says 300 mcg.
Hello all. I’m a 16 year old student and I recently started using H&S and found that although it helped with dandruff, my hair was falling out in enormous quantities. i think the conditioner is fine. It’s just the shampoo (I think the Ocean Lift or some name I can’t remember) is the one I’m using that’s been making my hair go like this. I use the 2-in-1 once a week and though it can be a pain to use because your hair will not be as soft and silky as it does when you use conditioner, especially if you have long hair, it helps with dandruff. Just ONCE A WEEK. I’m now going to stop using H&S and hopefully my hair will stop falling out in massive amounts by the hour.
So I am 25 years old and have been using H&S since I was 17 or 18 daily. I began using it because of my dry itchy scalp and it really seemed to work. Recently, over the period of a year I realized that the front of my scalp appeared thinner. I asked my identical twin brother if he was having any thinning problems. His head of hair is noticably thicker than mine. He was not so I began to think that H&S might be the reason. After a little research I now realize that it is most definatly the culprit. Daily use of H&S for 7 years has utterly thinned my hair. I recommend to anyone using H&S daily to stop immediatly and use it only once a week.
i was looking for H&S hair regrowth product (hahaha), but thank god i found this site beforehand…
generally i thought my hair loss is caused by my work stress and my diet which has been for 3 years..
but now i just realized that the hair start falling out since i used the H&S shampoo (6 months ago).. i’ll stop using it immediately! damn it, now i becoming zidane!
I am currently using head and shoulders to help my hair and scalp recover from harmful heap shampoo. After my best friend went trough beauty school, and graduated, I asked her why my boyfriends hair stared falling out with certain shampoos, and his hair is perfectly healthy, thick, and voluminous. She explained that when your hair is already healthy it is possible to give it too much in the way of vitamins and nutrients, thus causing hair loss.. Head and shoulders is pumped full of stuff that promotes healthy hair and scalp, but if you already have it, then a shampoo like this one is not necessary to use. She also said that when men or women go through a “change” like thinning hair it is very hard for people to handle, and searching for any other reason is usually easier than coping with thinning of hair. Another suggestion is getting your thyroid checked considering one of the symptoms of having an imbalance is hair loss. Good luck and I hope this helps!
I have to admit I am quite impressed with Shielo’s Volume shampoo, as it was recommended by a co-worker in my office.
As a 23yr old with hairloss it can be really difficult to cope with, that’s the only reason I’m writing this because I understand anyone in my same position is out there looking for any help possible. So here ya go,
My honest opinion is that the Shielo Volume Shampoo does work and does help with reducing hair fall and combating thinning hairs. It wont stop hair loss but it will help to thicken hairs and speed up your hair growth cycle. I started using the stuff over a year and a half ago – they only accept paypal online and I liked it and continued to use it for a year.
I then stopped because I wanted to try other products..it seemed I was maintaining what I had and wanted to see if I could stop hair loss altogether. It was probably the biggest mistake I could have made. After about 3 months I lost tons of frontal hair and all the returning hair was much thinner and brittle. After realizing it was stopping the use of Shielo Volume that made everything go south, I ordered online immediately and started using it again. I’ve been using it for just over 2 months and I have to say my hair is slowly improving again, all that thinned out hair is slowly returning back to health. I’ll probably use this product for the rest of my life, I’ve come to accept that and am happy to know there is something out there that is actually working for me.
I wish you all the best of luck, as difficult as it is try not to stress this too much, it’ll only make things worse.
I am a woman and I have used head and shoulders every second day (until about 3 weeks ago)for the last 6 months to a year and about a month ago I started losing ALOT of hair ,it was terrible,and my scalp hurt.I found this site and quit using it and thank goodness it seems to be slowing down(the hair loss). I don’t have any bald spots but my hair IS noticably thinner.
I KNOW it was because of the head and shoulders shampoo.
I WILL NEVER USE IT AGAIN!!!!
Since college, my hair has steadily become thinner. I have tried MANY products, and none of them work as well the Shielo Volumizing. Before I tried using it daily, I was told that I should have a picture taken of my scalp before I started using it, so I did. About two months later, I took another picture, and I was truely amazed. My scalp actually had MANY new hairs growing. I was SO happy. I highly recommend Shielo’s product if you are looking for something safe to help with hair loss.
i am just after using head and shoulders for the second time as i had a dry scalp, i noticed alot of my hair fall out whilst i was showering and i never had this problem with other shampoo’s. so i googled it and found this site so i will discontinuing use. i also heard that it strip your hair of its colour so if you have died hair you will lose your colour
Okay, I am a 30 year old who has had issues with dandruff since I was 17. Head and Shoulders has helped me enormously with dealing with the dandruff. I have to agree that the hair thinning and / or hair loss must be genetic- as hard as that is to admit. I’m sure there would have been law suits against P & G for this product if it could be proven that it does in fact cause hair loss. Either way, Im sure any shampoo that contains the chemicals that help eliminate or control dandruff isn’t that great in the long run. I just wish I was one of those lucky people who doesn’t have to worry about dandruff. Or glasses and contacts for that matter. And I wish I was a little bit taller. I wish I was a baller. I wish I had a girl, in a minute i would call her. =)
stop usin this if you really love your hair
I AM FREAKING OUT!!!!! My hair been falling out just a tiny bit even before I started using HS and when I actually used it, a whole bunch came out. Im only 14 and I have a balding line and I hate going to school and getting laughed at. I heard using egg yolk, honey, and oil can help it.
I’ve been using this shampoo since I was about 16 or 17, I noticed I was going a bit bald when I was about 18 and used to have very very thick hair to the point people would call me Elvis as a joke even though I didn’t try to style my hair that way it just grew like that, now my hair has a noticeable bald patch at the crown and is thinning on the top, I can even feel the hairs popping out, I have an older brother who isn’t going bald any where near as much as me.
It never hit me until now that it could be the head and shoulders. It could be that I’m just going bald anyway but the use of head and shoulders has to be taken into account after what I’ve read here.
I hope you go out of business Head and Shoulders.
If I notice my hair coming back after a while of not using it I’ll post it here.
If there are never any more comments from me then sorry to head and shoulders for the bad wrap.
If this shampo is able to kill alliens can u imagine what can it do with my hair.
I’m a 20 yo male and I’ve always been told I have very thick hair. I don’t notice any hair loss from Head and Shoulders, which I have used daily for several months. This is the first time I’ve ever heard that Head and Shoulders causes hair loss, and I’ve heard my fair share of reasons not to use it.
I probably won’t buy it again once this bottle runs out (when you have short hair, shampoo lasts a very long time lol), but that’s not because I think it’s harmful. I started using it because my scalp would be really itchy, even just hours after washing. I had tried tea tree oil shampoo before (used it daily for several months as well), but it didn’t have any effect. Neither does Head and Shoulders, unfortunately. I used to have mild dandruff (pillow would have some flakes on it in the morning, and if I ran my hands through my hair, flakes would fall out), and had it for several years, but Head and Shoulders cleared that up in a matter of days. It definitely works for dandruff, but I’d rather not have an itchy scalp than not have a bit of dandruff, so I’ll be trying another shampoo next time around to see if I can find one that works.
I notice a lot of people posting here (skimmed comments super quick since there are so many) are in their late teens/early 20s. That’s the time when a lot of men start to notice signs of hair loss. Having thick hair or no family history of male pattern baldness doesn’t mean it won’t hit you. You’re in the minority if you’re a man and don’t have hair loss. Women can also experience hair loss similar to male pattern baldness. I don’t believe that everyone who’s posted here has hair loss due to androgenic alopecia (proper name for mpb), but I think many of the cases, especially where timing doesn’t really match up, are obviously not due to Head and Shoulders. I’m not saying Head and Shoulders can’t cause hair loss, but there’s no “real” evidence (e.g., peer reviewed study) that it can, nor are there a lot of anecdotal reports besides this blog. If you have hair loss, you should talk to your doctor. The Head and Shoulders bottle also suggests consulting your doctor before using it, so if you have concerns, that’s the person to ask. The bottle also does not say daily use is necessary, nor recommended.
My father has used Head and Shoulders for 40 or 50 years, and has more of a head of hair than me who has been paying for top designer named brands for 20 years.
I have a thick hair when I was a teenager. Now I’m 29 and I started to loose hair at the age of 26. I know this is genetics but I only our bald line kicks in around late 30’s or more and not at this early stage. I don’t know any of my relatives experience this kind of baldness though some of them are bald but not at my age.
The thing I only remember was I usually used H&S for almost my entire teenage life and just seldom used when I became 25 as most of my friends says stop using it.
I stumble this site and it seems that using H&S REALLY indeed could be a reason to loss hair at this early stage.
I am a 57 year old male who has always had a thick head of hair. No issues whatsoever. I’ve also been using Head and Shoulders for most of my adult life. The past several months I have had a good amount of hair falling out in the shower and am noticing thinning on the top of my scalp. Very sudden. Very upsetting. I stopped using Head and SHoulders a few days ago and have noticed less hair in the shower so I’m hoping that that’s what’s doing it. Not good and I’m just praying the hair will grow back. It’s not terribly thin yet but getting there. Could it be possible that this damn shampoo is making my hair fall out all of a sudden!?
I’m 19 and I have probably been using H&S since I was 18. I never thought that there was a correlation between my shampoo and my sudden hair loss, I thought that it was just something that was normal for my age, end of childhood, ect. but now that I am reading these I realize that a much larger portion of my hair than usual started coming out in the shower around the time that I switched to H&S. Fortunately I have very thick hair, so it is not showing much, but my ponytails definitely are not as wide as they used to be.
I have 31 years old and I have been noticed that my hair is been falling down for a while. At the beginning I thought was the age, but I have no family member or history of boldness in my family. A few days I think what about the head and shoulder shampoo that I have been used for almost 7 years. At the beginning I did not notice but now I just stop using the shampoo. I am very worry about this and looking for a solution I end up here, noticing that I am not alone.I think this need to be investigated.
I have been using H&S since 16 years ago, I have no hair loss, I have no problem with this product. I used to have a lot of dandruff but after using it, I have no problem anymore. I wash my hair everyday, yes, everyday. I don’t find my hair become thin or whatever. I am already 36 years old, so… H&S, I will continue using it :)
I had thick hair and dandruff problem till last year, one of my friend told me that H and S will help me in cotrolling dandruff. It actually did, but what I didnt notice is that I was losing hair a lot, Now the bald patch is very clear and I am very frustrated over it. I wish I had seen this before and stopped using that killer shampoo.
The people who are saying that there are no credible evidence to prove that Head and shoulder is not causing hair fall, please come and do a research on my hair, I will be glad to know what you come up with for my sudden hair loss.
With the weather becoming colder my scalp started its usual routine of becoming dry and itchy during the winter months. I decided to try head and shoulders. After about a week I noticed that the dryness and itchiness started to go away. After about a month I noticed that my hair was falling out more than normal, not just a little bit here and there, Im talking handfuls. I wasnt quite sure why it was happening until my husband mentioned it the other day in the shower. We actually just recently had to unclog the shower drain bc there was so much of my hair in it and it was causing the pipes to back up. Im the only female in my house so I know for a solid fact it wasnt anyone elses long brown hair in there. Ive always gotten compliments about my hair, while I hated having such thick hair, everyone else around me seemed to love it.
After my shower tonight I decided to look up head and shoulders and hair loss. The front of my hair isnt as thick as it used to be. I usually do a side swept bangs and its so noticable that my bangs now look slightly stringy and its gross!! Imagine my surprise to find that Im not the only one who has experienced this. Im 28 and have used several different brands of shampoos, this is the first and only time Ive ever tried anything for dandruff, and this is the only brand Ive ever had problems with. Im going out first thing in the morning and getting something other than head and shoulders and then pray to God that I get my hair back. Even though I used to think that thinner hair would be easier to deal with Im pretty upset that my old, thick beautiful hair is now reduced to a limp mess :(
Used H&S for a week and I looked like a rugby ball, stopped using it and within 6 months it all grew back and I look as though I’m a big hairy bear….GRRRRRROWWWWL.
I’ve had the same problem with hair loss due to switching from Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Shampoo to using the old version of Head & Shoulders 14 years ago, when I was 8 years old! But my hair loss only grew back when ended up in having to use a topical steroid on my bald spots in order for it to grow back…of course I didn’t know what was the cause back then as I was too young to know anything at that age…whereas I do know now…however I still continued using it without any problems when it fully grew back…but then I started to have hair loss once again, when I switched again, but to the old version of Herbal Essences 4 years ago! But the problem is that I still continue in having hair loss after all these 4 years because NOT EVEN the topical steroid works on my bald spots now! I’ve seen a dermatologist, in which I’ve told him that it’s most like the shampoo problem, but all he said was that “it’s possible”, in which it got me thing that they’re ALL USELESS because they know NOTHING about dermatology, as in haircare and skincare wise! NOW WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?! CAN SOMEONE PLEASE PROVIDE ME WITH PROFESSIONAL HELP A.S.A.P.?! THE COSMETICS & BEAUTY ORGANIZATIONS NEED TO REVISE THE SAFETY OF THESE DANGEROUS CHEMICALS IN WITH ALL THE HAIR BEAUTY COMPANIES OUT THERE THAT ARE CAUSING US ALL THIS PHYSICAL HARM!
hi i am john (screen name) dont wanna tell my real name, but i used head and shoulder for past months and i have always had thick hair until i used head and shoulder ( my parents forced me) and i started noticing hair fall. before i used head and shoulder i did not have hairfall. so why is this?
Swt Azn Qt I TOTALLY 100% Agree with you. well i didnt exactly have that much hair loss maybe because i stopped using it after i had hair loss. But it most probably it is from the shampoo.
I started using using head & shoulder about a month ago. About a month later I noticed that was losing a lot of hair. I used to have very thick hair which everybody complimented, but now it is very thin and my hairline receded about 1/4 of an inch. I don’t think it’s genetics because I’m in my early 20s and my father was in his 30’s when he started losing his hair and both or my grandparents were in their 40’s. Plus the rate of hair loss is just so much. I heard mpb was a gradual process. I really do think that it’s the head & shoulders that is causing my hair loss. I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that I started losing hair soon after I started using head & shoulders. I’m going to stop using it immediately and let you all know in a few months whether the hair loss has stopped or not.
*sorry I meant i started using head & shoulders about 5 months ago.
i too had very thick hair in fact my barber would often say its very difficult to cut through, but since using head and shoulders ive lost few patchs of hair through out the front part of my scalp. Im only 22 as well.
i am 12 and i started using head and shoulders because i have dandruff. I used it at least 5 days a week for about 1 month now. MY HAIR IS FEELING LIKE A STRAW FROM THE TOPPP!!! I guess some kids think its oily cause its apart from the top but it acutally doesn’t feel oily. I have brown (not artifficial), thin hair. I guess it depends on your type of hair or wathever but i am totally going to change shampoo. If it feels like a straw or you start to loose hair , do not even use it again and CHANGE. i miss my old hair cause it was all smooth and it felt fresh, good and healthy.
I admit that head and shoulders smell really good but do not fall in the smell!
I just turned 23 and am female, and have been using the Walmart brand dandruff shampoo which is distributed by head and shoulders. I have probably been using it for the last few years, but really notice my hair loss in the last four months. Looking back on some pictures, I think its been thinning for the last year. I am freaking out because I’m really noticing the hair loss in the front of my head, like my hair line is receding. I kind of expected my hair to thin as I got older as my mothers has, but I don’t think it became noticeable to her until her late 30’s, my father is balding, but still has most of his hair, and is in his mid 50’s. After reading this blog I’m hoping my hair loss is just from the shampoo – I think I will be in search of an organic shampoo! I hope my hair will grow back.
I am 25 years old and have been using head and shoulders on and off for about 5 years. Recently in photo’s I have noticed a MASSIVE loss of hair. I became curious as to why (having no family history of it) so I began to research and found this site. I am thinking that this shampoo is definitely contributing to my hair loss. Yikes, I will stop using straight away and hope it grows back! Does it grow back?
It’s funny, I see a pattern here, umm err baldness here,everyone of these people complaining about a shampoo causing thier hair to fall out are between 16 and 30 when most pattern baldness occurs.They just can’t accept the fact they are prematurely balding so they look for the nearest excuse and blame a product rather than themselves for the problem,EGO’s at work here. You see anyone over 45 with a full head of hair using H&S complaining about hairloss,um no you don’t.
Oh and by the way I’m 46 with a full thick head of hair and have used H&S everyday for the past 8 years or so and havn’t lost any hair. Just accept the fact you have pattern baldness and wear a hat.LOL
Sorry to pop your bubble of fantasy Steve. I was using H&S when I was around 45 with a full thick head of hair. By the time I was 46 the hair started falling out in clumps. I stopped using the H&S and the hair stopped falling out. Go figure.
I’m now 49 and I am waiting for the damage to completely grow back.
I’m kind of curious why a guy with a full head of hair would come to this site. Is it possible you work for H&S ?
I began Using H&S about 6 months ago and my hair started to thin once i made the connection i stopped and my hair seems to be making a slow come back but cant tell for sure. The hair loss is very apparent when it starts used to have so much hair and thick not its super thin.
I don’t think head&shoulders makes your hair fall out my sister uses h&s for over 10 years and she’s got great hair even if she dies it a lot it’s smooth and shinny and she doesn’t have problems with hair loss. I on the other hand have problems with hair loss for a few years and I used all kinds of anti-hairloss shampoos, the most effective was from vichy but only the first bottle is effective the second bottle I used was only a waist of money. And something strange happens when you use it it makes your hair curly, people I now and used it also had the same effect. Anyway now I tried head&shoulders anti hair fall and I think it’s good, my hair is smooth and shinny and it doesn’t fall out more than normal, because whatever you do hair falls out daily it’s normal. I also saw a doctor a few years ago aboaut my hair loss problems and the main cause is food!!!!!!! And smoking also plays a role in hair fall. But the main problem for hair loss is what you eat. So if you have real bad hair loss problems go see a doctor and they will know better what is the problem.
P.S. I also tried organic shampoos and they had no effect. But homemade hair masks are effective.
Wow, phils hair began to fall out after using head and shoulders after age 45, yeah right! Probably just a normal hairloss problem going on or it could be a seperate medical issue that has nothing to do with your shampoo at all?,just face the fact’s phil. You folks are just trying to link a shampoo to your genetically induced hairloss or your malnutrition medical problem.Oh it can’t be me thats causing my hair to fall out, i’m too good for that,I’ll just blame a shampoo instead.Yeah that’s its the shampoo, yeah that’s it.LOL HE HE
Hi everyone,
I’m a 20 years old female and I’ve always had glamorous, shiny, silky, thick dark brown hair. Hair loss and dandruff has never been a problem for me.
I’ve heard that H&S is a world-leading good product and I started using it about a month ago. After the first washing my scalp was itching and felt like it burns. I was using the H&S Ocean Lift (blue bottle). Then I’ve tried out the other products of H&S like Refreshing Menthol (green bottle), Citrus Fresh (yellow bottle), Volume (purple bottle) and so on for like a month and then it was plain enough. Even though I’ve washed my hair only every 3 days, my scalp was itching everyday and my hair has dramatically started to fall out and has started to thinning on the top. In addition I’ve got noticeable DANDRUFF on my hair (which I’ve never had in my entire life) although H&S is supposed to be an anti-dandruff shampoo! Of course I’ve stopped using H&S and guess what my hair has started to regrow!
I googled “H&S” and “hair loss” and thanks to God I’ve found this page! I’ve read all the comments and I’m glad that I’m not alone with this ‘H&S hair loss’ problem.
Nowadays I use my all-time favorite again: Nivea Nutri Cashmere shampoo & conditioner and my hair is healthy, shiny, silky and thick as it used to be!
Good luck to everyone!
Hey y’all, I’m a 22 yrs old female. This month I bought a Head & Shoulders product (if I remember well it was the Refreshing Menthol 2 in 1) because it’s said H&S a good shampoo. I’m a black woman so needless to say that I have strong & thick hair. After 2 weeks I noticed that my hair started thinning, hair falling out more than usual and my scalp was itchy… whatever. HEAD & SHOULDERS SUCKS!
well I, like everyone else here, has started losing my hair. I used to use head and shoulders all the time and started having huge amounts of hair fall out. I didn’t put two and two together until recently when i stopped using it my hair had become thicker and healthier. Then a couple of weeks ago I was with ny mom and we picked up some head and shoulders volume shampoo. The day or two after I started using it again.. well, Im sure you can guess what happened. Hair started falling out. Once again.. My hair became super oily and my scalp became very dry. Tonight, I used different shampoo and already my hair feels better than when i used the head and shoulders. I just ordered some biotin hair shampoo and conditioner from natures gate. I would suggest everyone try it. Its supposed to make your hair thicker and healthier and its all natural. I’m 19 and my hair should not be so thin. Dont use head and shoulders. It will be the death of your hair.
Hi!
I’m 23 yrs old and have noticed the similar result posted on this website. Like you, I have always had a full head of hair that people have commented about until recently. For the past year now, I’ve noticed that my hair line has receded in an abnormal way and have completely stopped the use of H&S. It has been a month now and I am hoping that my hair will recover. Has anyone recovered from this product and if yes, how long did it take?
Im 27 and have also had the flake problem myself through out the years. I started using this product when I was 17yrs. I have always had thin hair but not like this! Its less than a ball point pen and never grows past my shoulders. I was told years ago by my mother inlaw that her husband lost his hair from using head and shoulders. Just now did I get curious enough to look it up and what do i see???? About 400 complaints on just one web site. This one! The first one I clicked on! This is so sad and someone needs to do something…. Im gunna need a wig by the time Im 35yrs! All for some flakes! And shitty shampoo!
I recently purchased the H&S Hair Revitalizing Shampoo and it seems like my hair has also significantly thinned and the hair follicles seem to fall out every time I touch my scalp.. I’ve always had thin hair but it was never thinning. I went to the dermatologist and he told me it’s MPB but I don’t believe it cause it only started thinning significantly after I used H&S. I didn’t argue with him cause I didn’t piece it together but now I realize that H&S is probably the culprit. I’m only 22 and my Dad started balding in his 40’s so i’m assuming (and hoping) that it’s the H&S.
@ RORO
yes my hair started regrowing from the day after I’ve changed my shampoo from H&S to an other! this has been a month ago and now I see that I’ve tons of hair as before using H&S!
gd luck dude
I’m glad I found this site. I hate Head & Shoulders products too. Used the “Citrus Fresh” one.
Greetings from Miami, Florida
Again, steve must work for H&S. There is no other reason for him to be on this sight. I already proved him wrong. I started using H&S at 45 and lost a lot of hair. Now having stopped using H&S and at the age of 49 my hair is growing back. Go figure.
I eat clean, don’t smoke or drink and exercise regularly. The only thing that ever changed was using H&S.
For the good of your hair get off the H&S.
By the way steve laughs like a girl.
I have to agree, I too am older, I won’t mention my age. I started using head and shoulders and enjoyed the scent so I didn’t want to think that it could possibly cause hair loss. The fact is my hair started falling out, a lot of hair. So regrettably I stopped using it, the hair stopped falling out and it is now growing back.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out, I just wish there was a great smelling alternative.
Why does that Steve person continue to harass people on this sight?
Why does he have such a vested interest in putting Head and shoulders above the concerns of others?
I used H&S about 4 years ago and to be fair it did a good job of removing the dandruff. I remember at the time I thought my hair was falling out (hairs all over pillow and bathroom) and that I may have MPH but didnt link this to the H&S. Anyway I changed my shampoo and my hair stopped falling out and somewhat recovered its former thickness. I have recently started using the H&S again as the dandruff had returned and I find my hair starting to thin again. This time I made the connection and began investigating which led me here. Hair loss is right on top of head and there is no one in my family with MPB.
If we can assume H&S is definitely the cause of the hair loss is there anything that can be done to aid recovery. Has anyone tried Regaine a new product on the market for MPB? It states is specifically for hereditary MPB so perhaps wouldnt be of use? Can anyone suggest a gentle shampoo without all the supposed chemicals (sodium laureth sulfate, sodium lauryl sulfate and ammonium laureth sulfate) that appear to be the culprit?
Hi Adam,
I should also add that most individuals in general do not drink enough fluids in the day. As soon as you feel an itch on your scalp at any time during the day, use it as a signal to drink a glass of water, or another type of preferred healthy fluid.
They should change the name of the shampoo from Head and Shoulder to Hair on My Shoulder (and then down the drain). They developed the shampoo to treat dandruff, what the side-effects may be, including and possibly hair loss, they wouldn’t really care. These product always treat one thing and cause another. Just wash your hair with a mild soap and if your scalp is too dry massage some refined linseed oil into it. That’s what country folk would do in the past; before pharm.co.’s discovered a way to make money from people’s hair.
heyyyy….i m 16 n i m loosing my hair……….n i also use head and shoulders
about 3 years ago at age 32, i started using h&s with the pyrithione zinc to control my dandruff. at the time i had a full head of hair, not too thick, but not thin either. the prior 4-5 years before i used h&s, i occasionally shaved my hair off and let it grow back with no signs of thinning. after using h&s in 2008 i shaved my hair off, but this time i noticed my hair growing back uneven and thin in 2 different areas – the top right and middle back. i let my hair grow back, but the thinner areas were still very thin. i stopped using h&s, but now three years later, my hair still hasn’t grown back! i have shaved my head 3-4 times hoping that it was my mistake, but now i realize the damage was done when i started using h&s… this just isn’t right!
You people are suffering from shampoo hairloss paranoia,”SHP” try using another shampoo and you will notice your hair is still falling out.It’s perfectly normal to lose your hair so relax have a home brew!
I’m in my 40s asian male and this is killing me!
All my life, I’ve had thick head of hair. It made me look good and young. I could easily style my hair to almost any type except long frizzy. I’m also rather handsome and many times I got compliments like “Elvis” because of my rich hair and style to look like him in his peak.
Now, my hair is thinned out like someone here, pronounced at the right front, front to back side. Sides are mostly OK. I’ve been using Head N Shoulders for many years. It was gradual but I don’t see the effect easily since top mid section is not easy to see in the mirror. So what I did was get a hand mirror and position it above my head. OMG! I got shiny big patch on top!
Before researching for shampoo as culprit, I’ve researched if hereditary or lack of vitamins. Hereditary? No. Vitamins? I started to take Biotin 4 months ago but shows no signs of helping at all. I also take multi-vitamin and few others. Nada.
So it dawned on me that I should check shampoo for culprit. Today, I bought J&J Baby Shampoo to see if that makes difference. I’m single again and I need my best looks. This is degrading my obvious appeal and confidence. Darn it! I’ll check back after few months of using Baby Shampoo and let you all know.
But yeah, it’s not easy to find any shampoo that doesn’t contain Lauryl Sulfate of those type. If anybody do, let us all know, ’cause I don’t subscribe to the idea to treat my head/scalp as greasy garage floor or engine degreaser.
my husband and i used head and shoulders for years, my hair has always been thin, but my husbands thick hair started to thin, after i went to a sallon i bought some shampoo for colored hair, both of our scalps thickened, ive never had thick hair, now i do.
i too noticed my hair fall. My hair stylist requested me to stop using the damn thing!!! I hate it!! Nasty head and shoulders.
I’m glad to be not alone with this problem. I’m a 20 yr old healthy female, I have used Head & Shoulders Ocean Lift and Volume Boost shampoo and conditioner since the beginning of this year (ca. for 6 month) and I noticed the same thing just like everyone else: hair loss! Now I know what to do, I’ll spread the word; H&S is beautiful hair’s worst enemy.
PS. I’m like WOW it’s the 400th comment on this topic :)
Yup I agree with y’all, H&S sux
Yea Ive been using head and shoulders since Head and shoulders for a good 4 years now and I never really put two and two together untill i googled that im now 23 and my hair is receeding and has been getting thinner and thinner for the past 4 years, I always used to be told how nice and thick my hair was, Im done using that crap. Hopefully I can spare some hair heh.
In the United States Marine Corp. for YEARS just about everyone calls “Head & Shoulders tm”-“””from your head to your shoulders”””. Because that’s where your hair ends up…on your shoulders if you use it.
I mistakenly started using the new and improved H&S recently called “2-in-1 hair endurance for men”….with a guarantee that says “Improves Hair & Scalp Health Guaranteed.” It also says, “cleans to restore fullness to thinning hair.”
I didn’t start using this dandruff shampoo to control any thinning of my hair, because I have never had thinning hair what so ever.
I bought it because I thought that maybe they changed their “recipe” finally, and would just help with my dandruff.
I thought with all the complaints they must have received over the years about this hair loss epidemic, and the controversy over their H&S’s brand, that they finally made a product that addressed the complaints/accusations that their product was causing hair loss.
I’m here to tell you that the new “Hair Endurance for Men 2 in 1” is no different from their old chemo concoctions.
I repeat- I needed some DANDRUFF SHAMPOO. I did not need a shampoo that helped with thinning hair, but bought this “hair endurance for men- Head & Shoulders,” because of the widely known fact that the “regular” H&S causes rapid hair loss. I thought it was safer than the old stuff. I was wrong.
My hair is coming out in clumps. I’m 60 years old and have always had a full head of hair. Now my hair is coming out in clumps with just two days of use. I, like most of you, checked the drain in the shower, and have collected over 400 hairs…in just two days or using their new formula.
Procter and Gamble has gotten by with this for so long because they can always claim you have Male Pattern Baldness. Just like tobacco companies claimed for years that your lung cancer was hereditary. Just like mechanics can claim that it must be your bad driving habits that are causing your engine failures right after you have had them work on your engine.
It is obvious that the trolls that have come here to this blog are shills for procter and gamble.
I will not allow Head & Shoulders the benefit of the doubt ever again.
Go onto any Marine base and hold up a bottle of H&S and ask them what it is! They’ll give you the same line I gave you in the first paragraph of this message. They’ve been saying this for YEARS!
Anyone comes into this blog that claims they are from the Marines and have never heard the saying “from your head to your shoulders” in reference to head and shoulders is either lying or a shill for procter and gamble.
I am very much attentive to sincere reviews posted by the people here. I have been using H&S shampoo “anti hairfall” for past few weeks, but didn’t notice any reduction in hair falling on my face and pillows. Before using this shampoo i had controlled hair fall, but now, its severe from past few weeks and even my forehead is plainer than before. After visiting this website i am seriously thinking to jump on to a mild herbal shampoo.
wow I’m so glad I’ve found this blog. I’ve experienced the same things. “from my head to my shoulders” yep. no more H&S.
I used the pink bottle btw.
omg the same is happening to me and im a girl thank god i googled it
If anyone reads this after reading the initial posts at the top, disregard anything randall says, he is an obvious troll.
Take these posts with a… bowl of salt. They are about as reliable as yahoo answers.
I have been using Head and Shoulders Menthol Refresh shampoo for 6 months now and I love it! My hair is healthy, glamorously shiny and thick as it always used to be. I’m 20 yrs old btw.
I just noticed this too. I’m only 17 and my hair started falling out! My grandpa’s still have good hair in fact my mom’s dad still has almost a full head of black hair. I hate you Head & Shoulders but hopefully I can get back what hair I lost when I stop using this.
@DAMAN
NOTHING SHOULD BE TESTED ON ANIMALS!!!
I’m using H&S for 8 years and i lost a very big almount of my hair. my brother too. Head & shoulders go to the hell
Don  - October 6th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Dear all,
You might have read all the other comments by now, I read all these comments and bookmark this page 6 months ago! I had exactly the same problem but now I have a solution for you.There is some good news and some not so good news.well the solution of the problem is here, which worked on me and 3 of my other friends suffering with the same condition.
So here is what I tried!
1- stop using Head&Shoulders straight away.
2- buy olive oil shampoo from body shop with no sulphates (£6 a medium size bottle)
3- buy Black seed oil aka Kalonji oil (£5 for a small bottle lasts u 2 weeks)
4- buy a shower cap.
What I am going to describe you now will stop your hair loss altogether in 10 days straight.whatever u have lost by then won’t come back until 6 months or so but eventually start coming back then.this will also help you with greying hair.
Method: Everyday at night just going before to bed. Massage your head with black seed oil aka Kalonji oil ( can be bought from any Arab, Pakistani, Indian shop).
After a good massage with generous amount of oil for ten minutes put the shower cap on for about an hour to two hours.(this sweats your head and opens up pores which help in absorbing the oil).
When u massage u will notice tons of hair in your hand. Bear their number in mind so you can actually compare them after a few days.everyday the number of hair in your hands will become less and less.
Anyway leave the oil in your hair overnight and in the morning wash it off with the olive shampoo from body shop.
Repeat this process everyday.after about 10-14 days of regular use you will notice that your hair fall has stopped. Keep using atleast for 2 months for best results.but even after 10 days you will notice a huge difference.
This oil might cause some of you guy’s scalp become a bit dry. Not to worry if u wash your scalp with lime juice and leave it in for 30 min once a week.it will get rid of the dryness straighaway.
Good luck to everyone!
Any doubts google the use of black seed oil on hair.
It worked for me and my friends and we could see the results straight after 10 days and now after 6 months I also notice new hair coming out from where I had lost the most, which was on the top part of the scalp and the crown.
It’s cheap and natural and it works Miracles!!!!
I noticed very obvious thinning of my hair within little more than a week of starting to use Head & Shoulders. The shampoo cleared up my dandruff like a charm, but being bald is quite a high price to pay for the benefit.
I use Head & Shoulders Menthol twice a week and my hair is healthy, shiny and glamorous. I haven’t experienced any hair loss.
I have been using H&S for about a year now and I am noticing my hairline receding. I am 23 years old. I don’t think I should be going bald yet. I am loosing more hair now that I am using H&S than when I was wearing a hat 5 years ago.
I am suspecting H&S to be the culprit.
I am definitely quite annoyed at them.
I realised i had a mild dandruff issue and bought myself a bottle of H&S shampoo for itchy scalp (the purple one). its been just 4 hours of washing my hair, and now my scalp feels tingly and itchy. overall, worse than before i used H&S. Furthermore to my horror, my hair keeps falling out like seriously its no joke. i went to the mirror and could pull off many visible loose hairs in one go. Im perfectly annoyed. I am definitely going to throw out that damn bottle. If the hairfall and itch continues tomorrow, im gonna FREAK.
I left this shampoo on my head for ten minutes on two occasions, as it was advised to stip the temporary dye from my hair.
I was left with scabby, peeling skin and immense hair loss which I am still experiencing. My hair is literally falling out, even months after discontinued use.
I will advise absolutely everyone I know to stop using this product immediately, and I will inform as many people as possible of the dangers of this product.
I also found the zinc in this shampoo is very common to be allergic to, which may be a cause of all these issues we’re having.
I’ll never use anything from this brand again. I’m sixteen and have enough to worry about. My hair falling out is a grest deal as I’m trying to grow it to my tailbone again.
I can’t wait until Head and Shoulders get revealed for this, and I hope they get put out of business very, very soon.
The least they could do is put a warning on the bottle.
I have been using head and shoulders regularly for the past few weeks and the other day i noticed that my hair seemed to be thinning as i could see alot of my scalp through my hair. We have no history at all of hair loss and i am only 17. This isnt normal, im going to stop using it.
I’ve been using H&S for four years. Before, my hair would always be dull and coarse, but after using H&S my hair has gotten a lot softer and silkier.
But today, my friend told me about how this brand of shampoo might lead to hair loss. So naturally I decided to research this as soon as I got home. And now that I think about it, handfuls of hair strands fall out ALL THE TIME. When I’m at school, especially in the shower… I’d always thought it was normal? Now I’m starting to think that maybe it’s not… It’s nothing so severe that you can see my scalp, but I’m still concerned. Sooo I think I’ll try switching to another brand and see how that works out :/
head and shoulders have sulfates wich are chemicals that dry out your hair witch can cause breakage it seems like your hair isnt growing as much its probaly jut breaking of
ive been using head and shoulders for quite awhile now to treat my dandruff which would never go away, i started noticing thinning hair mostly on my corners. i stayed the night at a friends and used his shampoo american crew i immediately noticed a difference so i went out and switched my shampoos ive been using treseme products for about 3 weeks now, my hair is thicker and my dandruff went away immediately. i feel like head and shoulders instead of treating my dandruff was actually the cause of it. my hair is still thin but it feels much thicker now and i have abut 1-3 strands of hair in my hands when i touch my hair instead of the 10-15 i use to have.
I used Head and Shoulders intensive care, because my dandruff got so bad, and my head would be constantly itchy (definitely dandruff related). I used it for two weeks, where I noticed that my hair was falling out a bit. I then stopped using it for two weeks, and used Pantene, as I was away. The hair loss stopped almost immediately. I’ve come back home,and have washed my hair at twice since. I ran my hand through my hair, and so much hair was caught. I am definitely going back to using Pantene.
I started using H&S in the first week of December. Within 3 weeks I noticed dramatic hair loss. When I say dramatic I’m talking about a tennis size ball being pulled from my hairbrush every other day, not to mention the strands that come out in my hands. In just a few weeks my hair is noticeably more thin than it was in early December.
I’ve discontinued the use of the H&S as of a few days ago and I’m currently researching a better shampoo for myself.
I have NO doubt in my mind that my hair loss is from H&S use.
I used H&S for men Hair Retain for the first time a few months ago cause i’ve always had bad dandruff. I didn’t need a shampoo for thinning hair and just thought it’d be a nice bonus.
My hair started feeling thinner and lighter though i thought it was just cause it’s clean and fluffy and it did get rid of my dandruff so i kept using it.
It wasn’t until i used a mirror to check the back of my hair that i noticed a bolding spot on the crown and back that wasn’t there a month ago! (I check the back sometimes when i style my hair.)
One month did so much damage to my hair using this product and it was the biggest mistake i’ve made. It’s now been a month since i stopped using it but haven’t noticed any improvement so far. :(
Not surprised about hair loss, the product contains drying ingedients and it probably dried the hair. I have no idea how its made for dandruff and the ingedients used are harsh not soothing to scalp and hair
Head and Shoulders DOES cause hair loss. I’m under 20, shouldn’t be losing my hair, and no one else in my family has experienced hair loss. I used the shampoo for a few months previously, and lost around 1/10 of my thick hair. I suspected that Head and Shoulders may be the case, so I discontinued use for several months, and my hair grew back. However, I had also made some lifestyle changes, and I wasn’t clearly sure whether or not my hair loss was due to the shampoo~ I started using Head and Shoulders again last week, and my hair has already begun falling out. I am certain that my hair loss was caused by Head and Shoulders, and will never use it again…
Hi I am fifteen and I started using head and shoulders shampoo a few weeks ago when I noticed there was a big bald spot in the back of my head. I am pissed the fuck off and I don’t like this shampoo any more dont use it anymore…..
I am a hairdresser and after years of training about hair loss etc I always belived that hair loss occurred due to family history, stress, getting old etc…. But to my suprise, I have recently started using Head an Shoulders shampoo (without previously knowing about these reviews)….. Within days my hair started falling out!!!!? My lovely thick hair is now a lot thinner – this is after 2 weeks of using it!
I just wish I had read these reviews before hand!!!!! :(
I’m 20 years old. There is hairloss in my family, both my Grandfathers have experienced some hairloss, mostly at the front and the side, but they kept 60% of their hair, and my father has no at 65 years old. My half-brother from my mothers side is 33, and has experienced drastic hairloss. Now, I’ve never had a problem with my hair. I’ve been using head and Shoulders for 2 or 3 years, around 17 or 18 years old,and since I started using the shampoo, my mother started commenting on how much hair she noticed I’d lose every time she brushed my hair. I thought it was just regular shedding, I had thick long hair and thought more hair, more falls out. But reality hit me about a year ago, as I’d noticed the thinning myself. I kept using the product, not connecting the hair loss and head and shoulders. I stopped using it about 3 or 4 months ago after my pharmacist told me to stop using it. And since then, I’ve noticed less hair shedding. On a wild guess I decided to google head and shoulders hair loss, and found this, confirming my suspicions. I’ve recently started using a herbal shampoo, and am hoping to see some hair re-growth.
Head and Shoulders does cause hair loss. Fact
Head and shoulders, helped with dandruff for a week or so, but after a month of using the product my hair dried out quite alot, I have found many known products from the markets shocking after what chemicals they place in there products.
Head and shoulders is a horrible product, there are many worse products on the shelves.
But in defence of head and shoulders, life style also causes balding and dandruff, I worked a highly stressful job with hardly any sleep.
Coconut oil,bath, apple cider and my fav book works alot better :P
p.s its great for cleaning the bathroom!
Stop using this junk immediately. No one in my family on either side for generations has gone bald. Now my hairline is thin and going. I used to think it was because I slept on my side. Thank you all for writing your feedback. I noticed my hairline thinning after I started using Head and Shoulders one year ago. My ray of hope came in seeing that many of you said my hair will start coming back in.
I’m 26 and I’ve been using head and shoulders the past 6-8 months. While I know that hair naturally falls out and new hairs grow back in, and the rate of re-growth slows as we get older, the rate at which my hair has been falling out has dramatically increased while using head and shoulders. I have been seeing 25-50 hairs fall out every time I wash my hair. There is hair all over my bathroom floor it’s ridiculous. Yesterday my friend told me about how head and shoulders makes hair fall out. So last night I washed my hair with some other organic shampoo that I got from Trader Joes…only 3 hairs fell out. 3! I’m pissed that I was so ignorant, and very eager to see what happens over the coming days and weeks as I use different shampoo.
Don’t use head and shoulders. Or at least, don’t use it regularly.
Okay so I usually dont believe stuff…until it happens to me. I now know for a fact H & S cause hairloss or at least aggrivates it to accelerate at an alarming rate. I, too, heard H & S really cleans the scalp and cures scalp problems. I was looking for a good cleaning to clean out somthing that burned my scalp. After about a week of using H & S I went from my normal hair to my left temple thinnig and mid hairline thinning. I stopped and it seemed to get better. I thought shampoos dont cause hairloss so I continued after a couple of weeks. My hair then got A LOT worse. I ttok the pic to show the derm and that **** looks nothing like MBP but a bad reaction to something. My hairloss looked so bad and uneven and I got really bad headaches from it. Im never using it again. *Use listerine to clear up your dandruff* worked for me. My hair seems to be getting better just dont know how long till it fully heals.
I’m 48 & have a full head of hair. I started using H&S since my teens (suffered with dandruff) & have used ever since – also brilliant for keeping face clear of spots & keeping your armpits fresh (really!!). I’m sorry but I think those that have lost hair simply are genetically pre-disposed (you have my sympathy – if this bothers you) & may simply be looking for a reason for this which might lead to a solution. The reality is that most men do lose some/all hair & that’s what’s happening. I do think H&S is probably less effective though for those with dry skin & this might be a factor. Paul
@Paul So there’s no surprise thatt guys even at age 14 are losing there hair? That women are losing their hair? Its all a big coincidence that their hairloss started after using H & S. For some it seems becaus they say they used it for a year and it started a year later. But for for it only took a week after use. Explain that. It’ll affect people differently, just like medicine.
Im, 20 years old and usually switch between shampoo products. I bought a big bottle of Head and shoulders. Within a few months I started noticing more and more hair falling out in the shower. Even my roommate noticed the hair left in the shower. I thought nothing of it until a friend mentioned Head and Shoulders leads to hair loss. Now after seeing this blog I almost wonder if its true….
head an shoulders sucks
I have used Head & Shoulders shampoo for years. It’s one of the few shampoos on the market that a guy can use without feeling girly. Most shampoos on the market are geared towards the fairer sex and smell “flowery” and have too much perfume in them. I juat wanted to say that I think Head & Shoulders works just fine on my hair. I don’t trivialise the complaints that other people have made about this product but I am confident in saying that most people can use Head & Shoulders shampoo to wash their hair DAILY without any adverse effects. Obviously in a small minority of cases some people may have a problem with a certain product. It just simply may not agree with their skin/hair type and body chemistry, they may be sensitive to a certain ingredient/ingredients in that formula, or maybe they have particularly sensitive skin that reacts to almost anything that is put on it.
Most people, like me, can wash daily with Head & Shoulders and never have any issue with the product. I have a full, thick head of glossy hair and I believe that Head & Shoulders is part of the reason for that. Not only does the special Hydra-Zinc complex rinse flakes and remove dandruff to give you a healthy scalp, it also has caring conditioning ingredients in the formula to smooth the hair shaft and add shine. You are left with unbeatable dandruff protection and great-looking hair. So use Head & Shoulders shampoo daily for dandruff-free, kissable hair all the time.
Head and Shoulders does cause hair loss but only some people get that allergic reaction. My cousin used it and his hair didnt fall off. I used it and my scalp burned along with itching all over my body, hair loss,strong headaches, a lot of dandruff and bald spots. Keep in mind this was all in course of 1 week. Some people on here says it took years. I dont think thats the case. I think theyre just losing hair genetically. Ive visted the dermatologist and was told to discontinue H&S and was prescribed dandruff oil and shampoo. I’m still losing hair but less of it and my bald spots filled in. I told my cousin to stop using this shampoo even if he didnt experience anything. Never using this again
i would like to also comment, im a 15 year old boy, and i used to have voluptuousness hair (kinda like nick jonahs`), and i used to use head and shoulders everyday since like 7th grade, now a sophmore i recently stoped using head and shoulders,and am hoping for results, but my hair line has receded alot by my count not to the point where my friends notice but my parents i think have, also its thined on the top alot and some on the sides// if there would be any solutions please note it, cause im pretty shure kids under the age 18 cant use stuff like bosley and rogain, says on the rogain bottle… so yeah theres my case
this is an honest remark about H&S and not from others here who pretend that H&S doesnt cause baldness. H&S actually cause baldness! I bought H&S, used it for 1 month. I noticed EXCESSIVE hairfall every time i comb my hair. it doesnt happening to me that before! i am just 24, i have full hair and never issues (never ever!) of hair fall. it is my first time of my life that everyday, i saw falling here in my pillow and everytime i shower. H&S sucks! after reading this site, without a doubt, i stopped and throw the big bottle of H&S. i will never ever use H&S again! i hope my hair will grow soon. :(
Started using head and shoulders at the age of 16, started using head and shoulders for men at 16-17. Started going Bald late 16. I am now 24 and pretty much bald on top. I am the first in my family to be bald. Stopped using it when I was around 19 and the baldness stopped but stopped to late really. And I have very little doubt that any thing else could have been factored in to this to cause it.
I am 15 now, and I recently purchased this product [Less than 1 month ago] As my friend says it makes my hair shinier, and promotes hair growth, so I tried it.About a week after use, my hair is so thin, It used to be like a bush, and I hate it like this, I haven’t seen hair loss, but hair thinning, it never happened before the use of this product, but i’m not completely sure if its just my natural hair or Head and Shoulders is ruining my hair.
It does cause hair loss even when when my family doesnt have hair loss genetic issue. Used it for 5 years, hair really thinned out. But it started recovering when i switched to herbal shampoo. My hair recovered within a year, but saw some acceleration when i started applying olive oil as well. Hope my exp will give some hopes as well for those who suffer the same fate as me. H&S should really be banned or at least put a big warning on the bottle that says it might cause hair loss for some ppl.
Ok so Ive recently stopped using H & S in March after I lost hair. I started using it in January but was too late to realize H & S was causing my hair loss. Now for whatever reason I cant use my other shampoos. I tried herbal essence and prell but all it does is give me a burning sensation and 20+ hair falls out after one brush. I havent used H & S for 2 months and Im still getting bad reactions. Im going to stop using shampoo for a few weeks. Anyone else had this trouble recovering from H & S?
I’m a 27 year old male who’s been using Head and Shoulders daily for probably 2.5 years. Last week I saw a picture of myself taken from above and was horrified to see the severity of my receding hairline. I immediately bought Rogaine foam and a DHT removing shampoo, which I planned on using 2 days a week along with H&S for the other days. Then I found this thread and am thinking maybe I didn’t need the Rogaine and stopping H&S is all I need to do. I had very full hair 2.5 years ago and now it’s incredibly thin compared to what it used to be. I am throwing away my remaining H&S tomorrow and buying an organic shampoo
Lol @Peter No sir, you’re just going bald naturally.
I recently began using head and shoulders and my hair is falling out. Googled it and found this site. I’ll look for an alternative to an itchy scalp.
I used Head and Shoulders 2 years ago, everyday for like a 2 month period and then sporadically in the future. The crown of my head has been balding since and I lost the most hair when I was using the shampoo. It produced itchiness and hair loss. I haven’t grown the hair back, leading me to believe that it killed the follicles. It looks like severe male pattern baldness, but I’m only 25 and there isn’t much of a history of baldness in my family, and the baldness is only on the crown of my head. I am almost positive that Head and Shoulders caused this, as it started happening when I was using it and it never got better.
I always use a different type of shampoo after every bottle, due to my hair ‘adapting’ too much to it. I typically use herbal essence, Pantene, or Aussie. I have always had issues with a dry scalp, and so every once in a while I would use H&S. Well lately the dryness was worse so I decided to try using H&S as my regular shampoo-Well immediately the first day I used it, I was pulling 7 to 8 strands of hair out when I got out of the shower. BY time I combed it through I had a handful of hair. I was my hair every other day, and have now noticed this every time I do. And then throughout the day I am constantly losing hair,more noticeable than usual. Nothing else has changed in my diet or life style, only using H&S. I am hoping if I stop using it, the hair loss will stop.
Following the line of most of the people above in this forum I’ve been losing my hair about 3-4 years ago since my use of H&S I’m only 24 years old. It looks really thin and my crown is almost bald! I don’t know if the shampoo is the prOblem but I agree with all the people that lose hair in this forum.
I have been using head and shoulders refresh for years now…I love the tingly sensation it leaves on my scalp. In fact if I don’t use it, after a few days my head gets itchy. But I have noticed over the years, I get more and more grey hair…maybe that is Head Shoulders? pssshh….it is genetics people get over it. I love Head and Shoulders refresh and will continue to use it:) Stop blaming the product for your bad genes.
I am not affiliated with Head and Shoulders…just a loyal customer<3
WOW This is really crazy, I had a bad case of dandruff and decided to use Head and shoulders anti dandruff Shampoo, now my head itches like am going mad immediately after I was and all the hair at the back of my head has almost all fallen off, im going to have to cut my hair down now because it looks ridiculous and freaking itchy. And the bad thing is that I have African hair that wouldnt grow back fast, aaww I hate head and shoulders.
I think head and shoulders is definitely the cause as even the old males in my family all have their hair, and me, a female is balding.
@Katiekinz this isnt an issue of bad genes as my hair loss started at exactly the same time i started using head and shoulders which is 2 months ago, now all the hair at my back is gone, especially where i pour the shampoo directly, and as i said earlier on i am female and no one in my entire family is bald,and i havnt even heard or seen baldness starting from behind the head.
My son Mark Messi is only 13 years of age and we started using head and shoulders for his dandruf for the last 2 years. Recently we noticed that his hair is thinning out and it has been stressing my wife and me. I did some research and found out that this is a common problem for a lot of people using head and shoulders. We have stopped using this rubbish product that is causing major damage to my poor boy. I urge all you victims to sue head and shoulders as all they are interested is making money and do not care of any damages it is causing to innocent people. They should be closed down and made to pay huge damages to victims.
Here’s my story. I was 19 I used head and shoulders every other day. My hair got really thin. I thought it was somthing wrong with me. Did some research and found this. Threw away my head and shoulders and used new shampoo. Hair returned to normal after some time. Couple of years later I bought H&S again lol and now Im paying the price. I lost hair along my hairline (left side) the middle top of my head and the frontal hairline area. I stopped at March still hoping for full recovery.
I used head and shoulders classic clean yesterday and it made my curly hair look thin, oily, and it felt more itchy. Today i used a sulfate free shampoo and my hair is thick and has just the right amount of moisture. To me when you use a sulfate free shampoo you dont even need conditioner because it doesnt wash off all the important oils on your head that you need. Head and Shoulders has sodium laurly sulfate which is what i think causes hair loss. The shampoo i use now is Kiss My Face Big Body shampoo and its great. The only problem with sulfate free shampoo is that you will have to shampoo, rinse and repeat. The second time always works up a good lather like a regular harsh shampoo.
Confirmed, I’ve been using it for about 1 year and it’s the most probable cause to my hair thinning. What kind of shampoo would you guys recommend as a replacement?
I also want to add I’ve been using H&S every day shampooing 3-5 times a day lol. I’ve learn my lesson never touch this crap again.
For everyone reading this, please take all of these comments with a grain of salt. The fact is, Head and shoulders could be good or bad for you. But if someone takes it for a while, finds out it’s bad for them, they’re going to type in google search about it and find this site, where they’ll complain, so these comments are going to be skewed like crazy.
Take what I say into consideration. Growing up until about age 15, I used head and shoulders, had thick hair. After I switch to other random shampoos for many many years, my hair is thinning at age 24. Now, i’m switching back to H&S, because hey, it was good to me when I used it when I was young, so might as well get back into it.
When I was losing hair, I was scratching my head. it wasn’t until now that I put two and two together and think it’s DHT itch.
Head and shoulders has taken away the itch (due to clogged pores, which could help in hair loss), and i’m feeling good. If my hair keeps on thinning, I can blame it on genes. If not, then I’ll know it was one of those random shampoos I’ve been using, or stress, or whatever.
I even read a study about how Head and shoulders could actually promote hair growth (not as much as rograine, and not as much as you would want).
So seriously, read all of these comments and think for yourself. Just don’t instantly fall for these comments that automatically tell you to abandon the shampoo.
My daughter is 10 and her hairdresser suggested head and sholders and after 2/3 weeks hair was falling out after showering and brushing hair….talk about a scare….not cool…..done with this product…..
Anybody who needs convincing after reading all 449 comments has had their brain damaged by the shampoo. What is incredible is that this blog started about 5 years ago and they are still making the shampoo and selling it and the food and drug people are not stopping them. And there’s no warning on the label!
I recently started using Head and Shoulders and immediately had handfulls of hair coming out. My hair became limp and dull. I thought I would check the internet to see if something was up with H&S. Aha. Just as I thought.
Like another blogger, I also use discarded shampoo to clean the bathroom (This works great.) but this stuff will go down the drain.
Don’t trust people saying that genetic is the reason of your hair loss.
They could be lyers having benefits to protect H&S interests.
Hair loss is due to genes, SURE. But there are also many things linked:
– Unhealthy food
– Stress (includes Stress about hair loss ;-) )
– Environnement (includes DAMN CHEMICALS IN & ON EVERYTHING)
My personal experience:
I’m 21. I have a beginning of a receding hairline and a “widow’s peak†on the forehead. When I used Head & Shoulders (for a weak). Nothing unusual. Suddenly a big lost of hair occured. So I stopped using that shampoo.My hairs came back.
I don’t care of scientists telling me theres nothing wrong with H&S. REAL scientists would say that anyting can happens to anyone: thats the CHEMICAL risk.
Care people. Be careful. Don’t let the industries make you bald. Or dead. Care to the plans. Plans of the rich guys. They could be evil. With evil plans. Care with chemicals, with industries, with shampoos or any product that could harms your health. Air conditionning… food… pharmaceutics. CARE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_Stonehenge
Sorry, WRONG LINK ;)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones
Scary
hey, so I’m 14 and this probably isnt a place 4 me but anyways I just wanted 2 take some of my anger out. I have dandruff and b4 I was using selsun blue. it didn’t really do anything 4 my hair so I switched 2 H&S I noticed my dandruff went away but then came the bigger problem and my hair started falling out. Rapidly. within weeks my thick hair was gone and was considerably thinner I switched back 2 selsun blue and my dandruff came back I had no choice but 2 go back 2 H&S because I couldn’t find any other shampoo my hair is falling out so fast and it’s just a mess I tried using regular shampoo but it’s not helping and it’s just so frusterating!!! I honestly hate hate HATE H&S but why choice do I have?
You need a shampoo with biotin and Saw Palmetto!!. I am sure these ingredients help!
I have been using the perfect hair shampoo for more than 4 months now and I am on my 3rd one. Its the Shielo VOLUME Shampoo – its thick and lather really well on my hair.
It also has a very nice fresh mint smell. I have a thinning hair condition, so called male pattern hair loss. I did see an improvement over all.
my daughter is 8 yers old,started geting a bit of drandruff ,so i started using h&s ,used it nlu two times nly ,and gosh she started losing hair ,her hair is falling so much ,i had to go and cut her hair short as well ,so sad realy , been to the doc and he says stop da shampoo ,what can i use?
firstly i have a family history of baldness. my dad is completely bald on top and my brother (10yrs older) is going to be that way, but growing up my mom and aunt (who cut my hair for a long time) always told me i wouldnt go bald. I had dandruff and was using equate and it worked, but just decided one day to try H&S, have been using it for about 5 months and have noticed thinning on top and some receding around my temples. just have to say i will never use H&S again
I posted here 6 months ago (comment 420). Well it turned out listerine didnt help and neither did switching shampoos. In fact washing my hair even with another shampoo irritated the problem. But behold I think I found a solution. After getting the allergic reaction from H & S my hair (and scalp) is A LOT better from when I first got the reaction only a few hair falling and I’m not showering hairfall anymore. Here are some tips that I think will get your scalp under control:
1. Stop using H & S (duh)
2. Don’t overshampoo
3. Here’s what made my hair feel great HOT OIL TREATMENT
I just started doing the hot oil yesterday and already my scalp is feeling good.
Soory guys look like the hot oil treatment worked only for a couple days
hey to Sara – August 12th, 2012 at 7:01
try garlic shampoo, i have noticed not a lot of people know about it but hey give it A try works wonders and also helps hair loss. just look up garlic shampoo and also the benefits of garlic.
take care
I started using head and shoulders shampoo for men for about 5 months and started noticing that the hair on my crown was thinning. I am 38 and there is no history of baldness in my family. My uncles and grandfather have full heads of hair. I am going to get rid of the head and shoulders and see if my hair starts growing back.
H & S gave me burning scalp syndrome cuz apparently I was allergic to their ingredient(s). A few months ago my scalp wold burn then 50+ hairs fell out. Now the hair loss is reduced but the burning is still there. Going to get meds to fix it up
I started using H&S in my teens just to get rid of some dandruff… and never stopped. I am now 47 years old and still have a full head of thick, dark hair. I still use H&S every time I shower. While I might just have good genetics, I can definitely say that if H&S was going to kill my hair, it would have done it by now.
I’ve had the same problem with H&S. Been ussing it for a year and a half, and I’ve been lossing a sustancial amount of hair when wash it. I’m worried about it, hope my hair grows back. I don’t blame H&S for my hair loss, different hairs have different results with H&S. I just think it’s not for everybody and not for daily use.
H & S chemically damged my hair. I was really sensitive to it and they left my head flaking, burning, hair falling etc. Doo gro is my miracle. It’s an ethnic product for african american hair and it reverses chemical damage.
My hair always dropped,I was told by doctors it’s normal to lose atleast a hundred strands of hair a day! after using H&S I noticed more hair falling out,ppl recommend to use this shampoo twice for the week but the truth is ppl should use this shampoo once in a while,the chemicals are really harsh,personally I use it only when the itching and drandruff is unbearable which is like every few weeks.
I recommend using herbal shampoos also.
I’ve used H&S of various scents and types, most often Ocean Lift. I used it every day for about four years (2008-2012) because I had dandruff that never went away. The Doctor told me to use it. I keep my hair long, like past my ears from the top, to about my shoulders. My hair started coming out in handfuls daily for the last year. In AND out of the shower, it would be constant, each time I ran my hands through it, I’d lose about 10 strands of hair. I figured my time with hair was up. Whatever, that’s life. … but I still had really bad dandruff. I asked the doctor and he was like, ‘idk, dude… that’s life.’ He was bald, so whatever. I took his word for it. I got a haircut two weeks ago. The stylist asked me, in a somewhat alarmed fashion, what I’d been using. She said my scalp was burned a little, which explains the flakes, the hair loss. I looked up other dandruff relief sources and switched to a tea tree shampoo from Paul Mitchel. It’s been TWO WEEKS, the dandruff is about 90% gone –
— AND MY HAIR STOPPED FALLING OUT.
… WTH H&S?! … so here’s hoping it regrows and there’s no permanent damage to my scalp so I can go back to being known for my hair. It’s the shampoo.
i have been using head and shoulders for a year now and i just quit using it last week because i have lost so much hair on my left side of my head. now i’m able to just comb through my hair and alot of my hair comes out. I’m so embarresed about the way i look now. i am so mad
I have used head & shoulders when I had dandruf and it worked wonders. When I used it for a week and didn’t have dandruf it made my hair feel different and my scalp itch. It is a medicated shampoo to use when you are having a problem with dranduf. It is not intended for daily use. It strips the nutrients out of your hair. Yes over time it will thin your hair and make hair loss.
I been using head and shoulders for more than two decades already from Philippines until here in Canada, before I have no problems every time Im using head and shoulder but I notice since I came here in Canada I use the same products, but every winter season Im having a dandruff and hair loss, for all those decades that I been using head and shoulder I have no problem, but now this dandruff and hair loss bothers me a lot, the fact that I wash my hair every single day and use head and shoulder shampoo and conditioner.
It made my hair fall out in clumps too. THROW it a way.
I regret..I regret…I regret..
I’ve been using head and shoulders since the past 5 long years..
and I was careless about the effects it had on my hair..
I had really very very thick hair..
but now they’re only 40-50% of them remaining..
I regret..I regret…I regret using it..
& head and shoulders should stop their balding revolution..
Hey guys just an update. I used H & S since January 2012 Lost a lot of hair in Febuary and stopped since March 2012. It has been one year and my hair has not completely recovered but A LOT better than 1 year ago. So recap from what H&S did: Burning scalp,scalp pain, more dandruff, hair loss, & extreme hair shedding. Some lessened and some went away. I got pictures too from when H&S first damaged my hair so I’ll post it later.
My 17 year old son is experiencing the same issues. He has used H&S for quite awhile now, sometimes even twice a day and is now experiencing hair loss. It seems like it has happened quickly and mainly in the crown area and front side areas.It seems like one day his hair was fine and the next it wasn’t. I know it didn’t happen overnight but it sure seems like it did. I did notice someone else also commenting that their hair loss in the crown area also has caused their hair to become lighter in that area. My son’s has too. Once I saw all these comments about other people having similiar issues from using H&S I threw his bottle away. He is only 17 years old and has become very conscious of his hair loss since it has become quite noticeable. I have taken him to a dermatologist for testing (thryroid, etc…) and everything was fine. He recommended some over the counter hair treatments. Too soon to tell if they will work. Needless to say he won’t be using H&S again! I do believe H&S has caused this.
I am currently 19 years old an have been using H&S for 5 years now. I have not experienced any hair loss what-so-ever throughout these years and I have been using it daily. From the comments here there does seem to be some relation between the H&S shampoo and hair loss, but I don’t think that it effects everyone. I’m wondering if there is something in the shampoo that only effects some people…
I’m 21 years old, with no history of hair loss in my family, and my hair has been thinning steadily over the past two years.
Went to get my hair cut today, and the person cutting my hair stops, stares at my crown (where I’m thinning), and says, “You haven’t been using Head and Shoulders, have you?” I said I had, and he said to stop immediately. He said he’s seen it many times with people who use it every day, and he said that it’s a TREATMENT meant to be used occasionally.
So today I threw out my H&S, and hopefully I caught it before I’ve permanently damaged my hair follicles. I will post an update here in a few months if my hair begins to thicken again.
I really believe that Head and Shoulders causes hair loss, I have used it for 6 years (am 34 now). I had very thick hair (every hairdresser commented on it) but my hairline began to recede, and some years later I noticed thinning on top. As my hair was so thick I figured it was no big deal and perhaps it was due to aging. Last year I noticed a small area of significant thinning on my crown (didn’t even realize it was there until I saw it in a back to back mirror), which is now quite big and not bald but mostly scalp so looks bald. As my hair was so thick it was hard to really tell I was losing much by looking at the rest, but this observation really hit home. I am so shocked, both my parents have full heads of hair and my grandparents never lost their hair or had bald spots.
My hair always felt dry and less manageable using H&S but I figured it was a trade off for a less flaky scalp (wasn’t that bad anyway). Never did I bargain on going bald though and that’s not something I would have accepted.
Having looked at the ingredients I feel so stupid to have used H&S at all, let alone daily. I re-read them closely and cannot believe what is in it. Hydrochloric acid! This is brick cleaner and is also used on car wheels to remove brake dust (in fact some people refuse to use it on their wheels as it corrodes them and damages the paint)! Sodium Hydroxide! This is drain cleaner/unlocker and can dissolve organic matter! I cannot believe it’s possible to sell a solution containing such corrosive chemicals for people to put on their head! Of course there is a whole list of other chemicals in the product, but these two alone are bad enough. In retrospect it’s not surprising to me at all that you could lose hair with these chemicals soaking on your head regularly.
I have thrown all my H&S out and really hope my hair can grow back. I have my doubts though based on the chemicals involved.
I have been using head and shoulders off and on for years with no problems, but recently my scalp was really itchy and I had lots of flakes so I thought I’ll buy some head and shoulders. I bought the clinical strength thinking it would really do the job. Washed with it every third day. Have been doing this for 1 month and 50% of my hair has fallen out! I’ve always had reall really thick hair, I’m 33, but now it is so noticeably thin that my parents and friends think I look like a cancer patient. This shampoo is toxic!
I’m 30 y/o male
have a really full set of hair and very good hair genes on both sides of my family
4 months ago I started using H&S – ironically I dont even have dandruff simply started using it as a large bottle was on special
started noticing thinning within 3 months of use
There are too many people reporting this for it to be a coincidence
I have been using head&shoulders since I was 19 years old. I am now in by mid fifties. The other day I had some blood work done only to find out that I have a high incident of zinc exposure. If it were any higher it would be considered toxic. I am not using this item or any other item with zinc in it to try to bring my numbers down. Fair warning—
really concerned that H&S is causing my hair to thin. I thought it was just the gel I was using, but nope, it’s getting thin to the point where I can see my scalp. never had any hair loss issues before. no baldness in these genes. 33 yo, been using this for about…1-2 years. before that I was using an organic anti-dandruff, but it didn’t work as well for dandruff. thus, H&S. well, I got no dandruff, but I do have thinning hair.
Well,I got familiar with this goddamn product when I was 15,I had dry scalp so I visited a dermatologist she told me to buy a herbal antidandruff shampoo but I bought H&S instead cause it had good looking package!anyway I started using it for 3 years until I found out I’ve lost much of hair so I went to dermatologist again and she offered a German herbal shampoo I used it and forgot hair loss!years passed and unfortunately I restarted using H&S now I’m 21 and have lost lots of hair again! So I recommend you to not to Use H&S! -_-
by the way all of guys in my family and relatives have heads full of hair!
I just got back from my doctor as I had gone to my hairdresser yesterday, she didn’t want to touch my hair till I went. I have been going to same hairdresser for a long time. She noticed some parts of my scalp was red. It felt like someone had poured a chemical on the top of my head. It has a burning stinging sensation but what is terrifying me is the amount of hair loss. I have always had good strong thick healthy hair,the kind that pains your arms when blow drying now it feels completely thinned out, the top front spot been the sorest, looks like its going bald. My doctor had a look and asked me had someone been pulling my hair, I said NOO, but I have my fair share of life stress n stuff and he said STRESS WOULDNT CAUSE YOUR SCALP TO BE RED LIKE THAT. The only product that works in my oily hair is the citrus H&S so I don’t want to belive it would be that. He gave me Betnovate scalp application Cutaneous Solution, and asked me to come back in two weeks. My scalp was so sore I was afraid to touch my hair. this comes with a nozzle so I poured a drop on an then another, it started to cool my scalp instantly. While I was in the chemist I bought Elaive shampoo with Calomine I am going to start using that. Still reluctant to belive it would be the one and only hair product H&S that might be causing both the hair loss and increasinly V painful scalp. I taught I would google it been sure I wouldn’t find anything that would remotely relate my problem to H&S till I came on here. Just like to thank anyone who posted on here, I taught I was going crazy. Needless to say I will stop using H&S product straight away. Anyone planning on taken this complaint to H&S can count me in. I feel they have a duty to genuinely want to look at this problem.
Please write down which (herbal) shampoon you use after you stopped using H&S.
I am 24 and experiencing severe and sudden hair loss on the crown.
I have been using Head and Shoulders and Nizoral for yeast on
Scalp until Doc told me to stop using it and gave me Biotin supplements.
I am so shocked that this company is still in business.
Okay Im a black male and I always keep my hair short. I usually get a no. 1 or 1.5 hair cut so my hairline is never covered like most Caucasian males’. I used head and shoulders only for 8 weeks and my hairline got fked up. Remember that I always keep my hair short so I knew how my hairline was and H&S definitely made it look like a retarded mess. I really hate this shampoo
Hi, I’ve been using Head and Shoulders for about a month and have had dramatic hair loss!!! I had very thick, full head of hair and I see hair falling out all over the place. I find my hair on my clothes, blankets, bathroom floor and even in my car. It’s terrible!!! I can’t believe it, Head & Shoulders needs to look into this issue. If I knew this would happen I would never have used this shampoo!!!
I am 18 and my entire family has a lot of hair, even my father in the 70’s had long flawless hair! After using head and shoulders I have lost about half of my hair and the rest is thin now but covers up my scalp, when I bought it I grabbed two bottles now they are just sitting there and I wanna burn it!!! Is there a way to regrow it back!!!!!DX
Female- 32- No family history of balding – not even in Men and my hair had DRAMATICALLY THINNED OUT!! I eat healthy and consume healthy protein regularly. I’ve used H&S for about 4 years and I’m just now making the correlation. Over time my hair has thinned out in all areas. I’m so mad to know that I’ve done this to myself. I’m Shocked to see I’m not alone in thinking that my daily hair care regimen may be to blame :(
Hello, first of all I don’t have dandruff nor have I ever used H&S. I am only reading these comments because I am sick of my husbands dandruff on his head and on his body. Yes according to dermatologists dandruff can appear on your face and ears and body. Dr. Baily’s Skin Care blog, who is an actual dermatologist, clearly educates on dandruff an sells products for such issues.I am not promoting her products either because I have not bought any I am merely doing some research. I noticed a correlation between using certain products with certain ingredients that cause or increase the signs of balding. It is normal to lose a few 100 hairs a day. I am no scientist only a consumer looking into products. My husband has a full head of hair and is 49 yrs old. I will tell you why I am really posting on here.
I am posting because of Randall. People listen he is right about only 2 things 1.This isn’t a scientific study and 2. Baldness is hereditary. What he is isn’t an expert on is advice or credible information. He contradicts himself numerous times. He makes no sense whatsoever and he has nothing better to do but to upset a bunch of people. My suggestion to you is do not read or respond to his insane posts or even read the guy who puts a watermelon on his head. These people clearly are nuts. You only cause him to respond with more insane comments. Let him enjoy his own fantasy of replying to these posts purely for his own enjoyment. Ignore him and he will go away. Keep in mind he is nuts and not credible. For God sakes he told one woman with a scalp that is burning and itching to put salsa on her head, come on folks any moron like Randall knows the acid alone will cause more damage than good. If you read that and still find it necessary to respond to his posts that alone proves his insanity and unstable mental condition. Do your research and post your concerns but do your research from scientific sites, peer reviewed journals other credible sources.There may be some truth to what your experiencing but make sure you read more than comments especially watermelon head but job and Randall (clearly nuts).
Seems like a lot of people are looking for an alternative shampoo to use. I had dreadlocks when i was younger and ended up cutting them after about five years. I have decided to grow them out again and since cutting them in 2001 or something like that i’ve been using head and shoulders. Im 29 so it could totally be genetic, but my hair is quite a bit thinner now and my dreads are not as exciting. I had a very stressful job as well which thankfully I don’t have anymore. After reading this thread im so glad I have decided to go green and use hemp soap for just about everything, throwing away my head and shoulders in the process (the shampoo)har har. I use dr bronners which doesnt have any crap in it. This shampoo could irritate your scalp or hair potentially as it doesnt have anything in it to keep your hair silky smooth. But, lavender, rosemary, and peppermint are a few essential oil extracts that promote blood flow to the scalp which is great for hair growth. Also tea tree oil is awesome for dandruff. I have been using a lavender/rosemary/tea tree (one or two drops of each in 1 cup of warm water)in a spray on my scalp and I have no dandruff and very little itch with a dread head. And i used to get some serious dandruff! So Im off the head and shoulders and have been using these oils with hemp shampoo for almost a month. It seems like less hair is gathering in the shower drain already.(I have my finger crossed!) Googleing essential oils that promote hair growth may be worth your time. Good luck everyone!!!
arg…..fingers
H & S causes scarring alopecia BEWARE
I have never had noticeable hair loss until I started using H&S about 8 months ago. I never made the possible correlation until now. I have always had very thick coarse hair. I have heard of causes of hair loss like stress, and food allergies like dairy, however I have had extreme stress and eaten plenty of dairy in recent past years and never had a problem. In fact, I am more stress free and dairy free in the last year than I have ever been in the last 8 years, yet I am loosing hair more rapidly by the day. my hairline is receding at an almost daily noticeable rate(and unevenly I might add), and the entire top of my head has thinned out to the point I can see the scalp. I’m by no means bald or even that noticeably balding yet, but at this terrifying rate, I fear for the worst. Just in the last month it has become noticeable at close proximity and I’ve really started to panic. I’ll be 28 this month, and I know this is a common age for a hairline to recede, but I can’t help but think H&S is rapidly speeding up the process and I’m going to stop using it immediately. The thought that it could be the cause of loosing my once beautiful and age defying head of hair in a little more than half a year is infuriating to say the least. Hopefully I caught it soon enough to at least partially reverse the effects.
Head & Shoulders, along with many other brands contain Silicone/Dimethicone. This is a gluey adhesive that will clog your roots, stopping the hair follicles from pushing through & also stopping any moisture getting to the roots. Hair does NOT stop growing, neither does the grass from the earth, unless it is covered by a material or substance stopping the process. Please feel free to ask me any questions on the matter, as I have studied this for long enough & have all the proof & answers I need. leegee33@outlook.com
I’ve never regularly used H&S until little over a month ago. About a week ago I noticed severe hair loss and my hair was falling out everywhere! Since it’s the only new product I’ve started using, I tried to research online and sounds like many other people experienced the same. I’ve stopped using the product and discarding the rest. Does anyone know if this gets better over time and if this shampoo cause any permanent damage to the hair follicles?
Like many of you I have the same problem. My hair got very thin. I will never use head and shoulders again! I’m thinking we should sue this company.
I used H&S Classic just twice to try it out because “they say” it’s the n.1 shampoo in the world.After trying it I can say it’s a bad shampoo because my hair felt so dry and really strange after washing it with this product.It’s not meant to be used daily and really causes itchy scalp and burning sensastion on your head.STAY AWAY FROM THIS JUNK! It felt aggressive on my hair by the first use and after reading all of your comments I decided to throw it away.DON’T USE H&S PLS!!!
I am a 17 year old female and after using H&S only 2 or 3 times I noticed lots of hair loss. I had very thick and healthy hair and now I have lost 50% of it. It has been about 8 weeks since I stopped using it and my scalp is still burning and hair is still falling out, but it has slowed down. I shampoo about every two days. I use a natural shampoo called 42 carrots and my scalp still feels like it is burning. I know that my hair loss is not from any hormonal imbalances, stress, medical conditions, and I have a family history of having thick hair. I hope that my hair will regrow and that it is not permanently damaged. Please help me I have been worried about it. I am visiting the doctor in a week, and I all I can do now is pray that I would be healed. Does any one know how to stop the burning/tingling feeling and the hair loss? Do any one who recovered from this recommend anything? What herbal shampoo do you recommend? What is the prognosis? And does any one know the chemicals in the H&S shampoo that are linked to hair loss (zinc)? Thanks.
I Have very thick hair, and do not “shed” at all unless I am brushing it. I used head and shoulders shampoo the last two months, and my hair started falling out. I discontinued use of the product, and my hair is no longer falling out after a shower… There has been no other environmental change in my habits other than the shampoo, so this is CLEARLY an issue with proctor and gamble… they must have stock in Rogaine or something.
Proctor and Gamble should be sued.
Does anyone know the recovery period is? Or how much hair to expect to lose?
I am using Head & Shoulders already 15 years, my scalp doesnt look dry, but my forehead is almost bold. Have to try something else and will check on results.
Hope somebody will start suing these guys for that.
I used head and shoulders for about 6 months, I remember everyday during lunch break I would take off my hard hat and i would have multiple hairs fall out.
It’s been a month or so since i have stopped H&S and the amount of hairs that fall off have drastically reduced.
Hopefully my hairline returns after 6 or so months from what i’ve read on this page.
So I also have seen a large hair loss using this stuff. After stopping using it, does your hair return? Which natural shampoo can you suggest when you throw out H@S? Not worried about dandruff at this point, just my hair returning to where it was before. So something natural that does not cause any more loss.
I bought it a week ago and used it 2 times and lost a lot of hair in just 4 days, WTF is this shit doing to our hair???
Both my daughter and I experienced major hair loss using head and shoulders.
I’d also like to point out that I know it’s head and shoulders because I was buying it exclusively for our hair from costco. I was in a car accident, so I attributed it to stress, and my husband had a bit of a hairline already so I didn’t think much of it. Then one day my daughter was brushing her hair in front of me and I was shocked to see she had bald spots at almost the same areas as mine! I immediately changed shampoos and we’ve noticed immediate change. We still have thinned out hair and the bald spots are still there, just not as bad. I am considering joining a class action if one is started.
Maybe Randell is the ceo of H&S, or is nuts.
It’s quite obvious that it causes problems. Let’s sue.
i used head & shoulders for 4 months ago
and I experience more n more hair loss
i was using the one for fine and greasy hair
its really bad my hair is very thin now in the top of
my head specially
I used head and shoulders i didn’t experience hair loss but i did have an allergic reaction that made it feel as if there were spiders crawling all over my head.
Guys i am going through the same problem can any one tell me how long it will take to recover?? is the damage is permanent ?? please let me know
Okay. So I was using Nizoral and had severe hair thinning. I have a sore sensitive scalp lately so tried ‘hair retain for men’ by H&S. EXACT same problem! Instant ridiculous amount of shedding I hadn’t had earlier! I washed with this shampoo twice, have had insane hair loss, and the hairs falling out are REALLY thin. This poison has been like bleach on my head, and my scalp is even more irritated. I am now going to use nothing but water, maybe a herbal shampoo, and coconut oil to nourish my scalp and try to reverse this as quickly as i can.
This is bloody horrible… My hair was thin as is, but this shampoo has caused VERY noticeable shedding, the shampoo is 100% to blame. I will stop immediately but this will takes months to recover if I ever do.. Try coconut oil. Best of luck.
Ok, so I have been using head & shoulders on and off for a while… Only use it when i see sings of dandruff. But a few months ago decided to just use it constantly, even on my children.. (Which suffer from dandruff) Barely a week ago I started checking my scalp, because I did noticed alot of hair loss while in the shower.. But didn’t pay much attention to it. So back to the scalp check.. I notice a dime size bald spot on my scalp :'( :'( :'( I got really & blame it on stress.. (Which I currently dont have) but it still was my only answer. Anyway, today while coming out of church my son was scratching his head.. My husbands checks him and he points to me about a bald spot on his head :'( :'( it on the top of his head by his hair line ( mine is also on the top) I so scare now, if anybody has any clue what is going on please let us know! Mean while I’m immediately will stop the use of it & I’m packing the head & shoulders bottle for proof, also will be taking pictures. Is anybody else going through this?????
I am a 69-year-old woman who has never, ever had a hair loss issue, not when getting perms, or even when coloring or bkeaching my hair when younger. However, I started using Head and Shoulders Clinical in January and since then, not only is my hair excessively greasy, I am noticing signifcant hair loss – not the hereditary kind. I will not make any kind of scientific statement about the product but I am going back to prescription Nizoral (not the OTC one which is just zinc pyrithone, like H and S) but the one with an actual antifungal agent, since the medical field feels quite sure that dandruff and other scalp problems are caused by an organism called Malessezia. I was just trying to avoid the cost of a prescription by trying the H and S Clinical but I will never use it again. It will be interesting to see what the company has to say.
I am 13 years old, and should not be loosing hair. And I searched on the web for hair lose at 13. All I found were some complaints, by Heads and Shoulders users. I also started using heads and shoulders 2 years ago, and just today I ran my fingers through my hair, hair fell out. FELL OUT AT AGE 13! This was not just some hair, it was a lot and it is constantly falling out. I blame Head and Shoulders.
In League of Legends, Akali needs to use her skills as much as possible to survive.
Dan: What is everyone’s favorite Warcraft 3 use map settings map.
This will also regenerate a substantial amount of your health, so keep an eye on your cooldowns.
The exact thing has happened to me – I am a 31 year old woman and have always had thin hair but now after using H&S for a month I feel as though I’m almost bald. Awful product. I’m going to stop using immediately. So grateful for this thread as I didn’t know what was happening and thought…the only thing I’ve changed is to buy this shampoo. Did everyone’s hair return? This is so terrible!!
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Oh my gosh I have been using it for years but only like once a week I finally realized it was causing my hair loss. Today I went online to see if there’s anyone else who thought H&S was causing their hair to shed and what do you know. I never knew until today that this site existed.
Hey guys this is an update from 2012. I was comment #420. Hard to believe H&S ruined my hair 4 years ago and sadly a lot of new people are becoming victims to H&S. Well first off don’t use Listerine to clear your dandruff, dont know what I was thinking.Ever since this happened I stopped using sulfate shampoos. I have been using all natural/organic shampoos instead, sheamoisture line to be specific. That’s a positive H&S did for me. Now my hair never healed fully unfortunately (particularly the left temple) but it did not get worse. Its not bald, bald and can be hidden if I grow my hair a couple inches.
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Well, my experience has led me here to try to discover whether H&S did something to my hair.
It wasn’t that I’d noticed hair loss as such.
I had used H&S for about 10 years, and I’m now 40. My stylist asked me what shampoo I was using as my hair wasn’t in best condition. He told me to get rid of it and to use some other high end (very expensive!!?!!) shampoo which he said would do wonders for my hair and I would notice the difference. I was in shock and denial and told him not to be silly and I wouldn’t fall for that trick of buying their expensive shampoo’s. But, he convinced me to at least give it a go.
Well, to my amazement, my scalp didn’t suddenly get itchy and flaky and coped with the new shampoo very well. My hair surprised me, it was in such better condition (much to my wallets ongoing disappointment)
But, most surprisingly of all, was that I seem to have started to get a brand new growth of hair that’s coming through. It’s now at 3 inches, which corresponds with the timing that I stopped using H&S.
It’s very annoying as I have very long hair, and now it looks frizzy and will take time for it to grown in properly.
This led me to wonder, if I’m getting new hair come through, did I lose it in the first place? And if I lost it, could it have ben due to H&S???
My searches led me here, and although I do take a lot of comments with a pinch of salt (because I’m quite sure people will experience hair loss for other reasons than just their shampoo), I really do wonder if H&S actually did cause me some hair loss.
Anyway, I guess I’ll never know, but my experience has definitely told me that I will not be using H&S ever again
I always had a head full of healthy thick hair….never had any problems with shampoo or conditioner.
my husband recommended head and shoulders so I thought its worth a try. bad mistake…bad mistake.
after using head and shoulders once… I lost half of my hair in only a month.
I am devastated, I wrote to the company and you know what they will give me a 15$ visa gift card as reimbursment for the shampoo and conditioner. this feels like a slap in the face. who compensates me for the damage this product has done and for the hair loss?
if somebody would start a lawsuit I would jump in
ok I contacted sokolov law. trying to get a class action lawsuit started. anybody who wants to jump in contact sokolov law or conrtact me on iyottegirl@yahoo.com
we must stop this company ruin peoples hair and scalps
35 year old man, Started using head and shoulders five months ago. I had a very full head of hair, always received comments from the hairdresser as to how thick it was. No hereditary hair loss in the family, so I felt fairly confident I would retain my hair till old age. Since I started using H&S I have now developed a fairly large bald patch at the top of my scalp…which I started to notice about 3 weeks ago. I have been desperately trying to figure out what has caused this, as it is causing me much stress….not accepting going bald very well. My self esteem has plummeted.
I had wondered whether I had a fungus or picked up some other medical condition, although the doctor has given me the all clear on that front and simply suggested I consider changing hair products. Having read the comments above and very similar ones on other web sites, it has certainly made me question the H&S product. I have as of 5 days ago ceased using the product. I hope I have some luck and get some hair re-growth, I’ll certainly be monitoring it very closely.
Hi
I’m looking for suggestions to recover my hair back to thick and healthy also want to rid off hair fall problem.. Herbal shampoo would be helpful much??
H&s worst ever.. Don’t want to experience same shit again.. I found all these brands just make fool to the public.. Seems we pay them for heavy chemicals for our hairs and for their marketing campaign.. I used toni and guy shampoo was better than H&S but didn’t worked well.
Wow … That is like them admitting they know their shampoo caused your balding. I am horrified to find this as I am balding too and found this sight when I wondered if the head and shoulders I had started using was causing it. I am thankful I figured this out and pray my hair will grow back. Why has this been allowed to go on for so long? Think of all the people balding not realizing it is the shampoo they are using.I would give my testamony in court.
I’m very lucky to have thick hair, however, In have been experiencing A LOT OF HAIR LOSS last few months, handfuls now, its never been this bad. Everywhere I go hair falls out, you should see my bed !!. Really bad while showering today I’m wondering if its H&S that I have been using around the same time. H&S itchy scalp care 620ml. I wash my hair twice a week, it depends. I’m going to stop using it and see how it goes.
Should start a class action lawsuit.
My dad always used head & shoulders and got Alopecia areata . I never use head & shoulders but the cheap kids stuff when I was around 8 years old. The kids shampoo was empty so I used head & shoulders 1 time. Next week I had a bald spot size of egg on side of my head. Years later when i was 13, or 14, same story I used head & shoulders 1x and guess what… I got bald again! Im 32 years now and never ever used head & shoulders more than 2x in my life. But on those 2 times I got Alopecia Areata. And the funny thing is you cant say its genetic from my dad, cause im adopted and black and my dad is white so no next generation bad genes here. My story does not prove anything cause it’s anekdote. But it is still VERY ODD if you ask me.
I didn’t think that I would have to research a shampoo and conditioner before using it. I really wish I did because after using H&S for over a year my hair has thinned dramaticly and is still falling out. Lesson learned.
Hi!
I am 18. I had very thick and dense hair. I was facing slight hairloss. I started using Hair and shoulders. And I started loosing crazy amounts of hair and started going bald in front region. Now I am quitting head and shoulders. lets hope for the best.
At 18, you may be experiencing accelerated genetic hair loss. Maybe it is not the Head and Shoulder’s shampoo. See a good doctor.