The Alopecia Help Collection

Most of us think of prolactin as the hormone responsible for milk production after childbirth. It hardly seems relevant to hair. So I was surprised to discover that human hair follicles don’t just respond to prolactin. They appear to make it themselves. That immediately raises a question. Why would a hair follicle produce a hormone best known for helping mothers breastfeed? The answer isn’t obvious. In fact, despite more than twenty years of research, scientists still don’t k

Does melatonin do more than help us sleep? Hair follicles produce their own melatonin, yet scientists are only beginning to understand why. A fascinating new laboratory study suggests melatonin may influence the stem cells responsible for growing new hair, adding another piece to the complex puzzle of androgenetic alopecia.

Hair loss is often explained using words such as miniaturisation, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and follicular units. These are scientifically accurate terms, but they can be difficult to picture. What if, instead, you imagined your scalp as a town? This essay explores androgenetic alopecia through a simple analogy inspired by published trichoscopy research, helping to explain why the town often becomes quieter before it becomes smaller.

“The most important part of PRP happens long before the first injection.” “We specialise in PRP. But we don’t start with PRP. We start with you.”

Where Do You Keep Your Minoxidil? My latest bottle of freshly compounded 6% topical minoxidil arrived in the post this morning. I unpacked the little 30 mL bottle and left it at the bottom of the stairs, intending to take it upstairs later. Then I made myself a hot chocolate and sat down to read some newly published research papers. Within a few minutes, I’d got up and moved the bottle because of what I’d just read. I like to think I’m pretty careful with medicines. Tabl

A new study published online ahead of print has reported that applying a liposomal dutasteride formulation to damp scalp skin resulted in more dutasteride in the hair follicles than with application to dry skin.

Why does hair loss usually affect the top of the scalp while the hair at the back and sides often remains thick for decades? Modern research suggests that hair follicles from different parts of the scalp are biologically different and may even carry a “memory” of where they came from. Dr Gwen Adey explores one of the most fascinating mysteries in hair biology: how hair follicles seem to know where they are.