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Accutane and hair changes
In this photo you can see some dark hair from the nape of my neck contrasted with the white of the majority of my hair. There are some dark hairs in the white. My hair went this white very quickly from 40-50 years of age. On-line age guessers put me in my 70's. My hair was ash-colored before. Nothing much to report yet on any color returning at 18 months low-ish VA. But now I'm also getting up in age, at 57.
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@lil-chick I have heard many people get white hair(s) prematurely after accutane too.
I know I should wash my hair more often to get rid of the toxic fats. But I have a problem, my hair doesn't produce much oil anymore and my scalp is very painful for a week after I wash it. It takes a lot of time for my scalp to make new oil after I wash it. I have tried different shampoos and clay shampoo too. Do you know anything that is very gentle that I could wash my hair with?
I'm sorry you are going through that it sounds bad. I have grown to think of anything like this as detox, and not really avoidable but what do I know? My face is still not happy and so I can see how it may take a long time for your scalp to be happy. Who knows if I'm giving good advice or not?
I've tried living without detergent-based shampoo, but I guess I've come to think of it as a really convenient thing. But traces of detergents can remain around, and so you MIGHT want to try washing your scalp with trad bar soap after shampoo just in case your problem is detergent remaining on the skin. Detergent breaks down the "good thing" on surfaces, that is why you can't use it on tents and such. Trad soap is much gentler but doesn't seem to be able to cut sebum like detergent-based shampoo.
Is your water hard? Mine is. I've also experimented with using distilled water for the rinse. I've also experimented with vinegar rinses to get rid of coatings on the scalp. However, the lather-rinse-repeat of shampoo is what I do now. I do not use conditioner! I want my scalp free of crud!
Although these things may help, as I said there may just be hell to pay to get this stuff out of us. ?
lil chick: My hair looked like yours after a while on low A. It's now been almost 2 years and I only have a tiny bit of gray at the very top in the front. Even more amazing is that my husband's hair is also losing the gray and turning brown again. And he has some new hair showing up in his bald spot (he's 78 and has had male pattern baldness since he was in his 40s). He is not trying to follow a low-A diet, but we usually eat mostly the same foods rather than cook twice. The exception is that he still eats a LOT of cheese! I guess that means that you don't have to be terribly strict to get some of the benefits from a low A diet! He used to eat yogurt for breakfast, but gave that up and started fasting until noon to get his blood pressure down; that meant he stopped getting vit A from the yogurt and continued to use it up while fasting, which was enough to have a dramatic effect. I think he is also getting taller and straighter.
@lil-chick I used diluted shampoo on my hair last time I washed it and it was slightly less dry/painful
made a change to my post above
Hi @judy,
Thanks for sharing that about hair regrowth on your husbands bald spot. I'm desperate to grow some hair back. Are you sure you aren't just seeing what you want to see? It's very common on hair loss forums that I've read for people to convince themselves they are seeing improvement. Would you mind advising if his bald spot is just a thinning area or was it slick bald? After two years I haven't seen one new hair...
Hi @tim-2. When I read your posts I put your australian accent on them LOL. I was watching a video of an Australian who was rating American accents and he had the hardest time with people who talk like me. So there must be something totally opposite going on, LOL.
Anywho, have you given the cradle cap method a try? I feel that it is helping my stubborn facial problems. Why it would help? I guess it is because the oil sort of "pre-treats" the "waxy coating" of the skin. Then the shampoo can detox the scalp better. I would shampoo twice as well.
How long has your hair thinning been a problem? In my mind, the longer a problem has been around, the longer it is going to take to clear up. My forehead skin has been bad for about 40 years LOL.
I have before suggested that you grow out your hair. I know it's an old wives tale that hair grows better if you aren't always hacking it back. But I think there is something to it. One thing is that I think you are supposed to manufacture Vit D in the oils on the hair itself, and then slowly absorb it through the scalp. Covid times are a good time for hair experiments! Blame it on "your barber is in lock down", LOL.
My hair is growing fast and smoother, and I have spent a year (gently) sunning my head rather than covering it as per usual. I literally have to cut my bangs daily. I'm not sure I'm filling in thin spots, but I do think that current hairs are thicker and are growing faster.
You don't have to grow it down to your shoulders, this guy doesn't have lots of hair. Hey, I also part my bangs way over on the side, it's helpful somehow with my thinning forehead area and the cowlicks I've got.
Lol, I have a mix of Australian and NZ accent, mostly NZ.
You've watched my YT vids, that guy has way more hair then me! I don't have enough hair at the front to grow it out, I also have an unflattering slick bald patch the size of a coin in the middle above my forehead.
I've seen very little change in my level of hair loss in the last 10 years. My aggressive hair loss coincided with following a WAPF diet with CLO, liver and lots of butter.
I may have to resort to hair transplants. I was hoping to see at least a few new hairs but alas nothing in the last two years on low vitamin A. My serum levels aren't low yet though so I'll wait and see if I get any results after they normalize.