So hair grows by pulling itself upward? Perfect. I’m just going to stand under a ceiling fan and wait for my hair to pull itself back onto my bald spots. Science has finally given me a plan.
I'm reminded of a girlfriend who patiently explained to me that your hair grows more if you brush it regularly because the brush "pulls it and encouraged it to grow". She said her mother had taught her that.
I thought it was nonsense. Shows what I know. I suppose folk wisdom is vindicated again.
Tissot, N., Genty, G., Santoprete, R. et al. Mapping cell dynamics in human ex vivo hair follicles suggests pulling mechanism of hair growth. Nat Commun 16, 10267 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65143-x
As someone with thinning hair, it's horrible how little study/research is being performed to understand how hair grows and treat hair loss. Most of the products on the market today were discovered by accident and have serious side effects. This condition impacts millions++ of people, yet everyone from physicians to pharmaceutical companies is fine with the status quo of "here, this may work for you" effectively woo medicine.
> Most of the products on the market today were discovered by accident and have serious side effects.
Topical minoxidil / finasteride has roughly zero side effects (due to the limited systemic exposure) and has something like a 90% efficacy rate. With 90%+ efficacy it's not a case of "this might work for you" it's "this will almost certainly work for you." It's cheap and it works.
Even oral 1mg finasteride has basically the same side effect profile after 1 year as placebo, side effects always* stop whether you stop taking it or continue taking it. And as an added bonus it significantly reduces your risk of low-grade prostate cancer (30% ish) while not increasing your risk of high-grade prostate cancer. Many of the side effects reported are in people taking 5mg doses for prostate hypertrophy, and the incidence of side-effects is dose dependent. Studies show that sexual side effects are primarily nocebo, if participants were told to expect them the rate was 3X higher than placebo, if they weren't told, they were about the same.
* the category of persistent side-effects has been defined primarily for data collection purposes, there's very little evidence for persistent side effects at all let alone a high incidence thereof. Many of the side effects people claim are related are things that would otherwise happen to you at the age you start to lose your hair regardless. It's good to collect more data though.
> As someone with thinning hair, it's horrible how little study/research is being performed to understand how hair grows and treat hair loss.
Given the size of the market I'd say there's a ton of research being done. It's just a tough nut to crack. There's some good data on PP405, for example.
It’s not really a big deal to be worth spending so much effort on. Baldness doesn’t affect your quality of life.
The only reason men care so much is because long hair was often associated with nobility and power. Ancient gods or classical royalty were usually depicted with long luscious hair. Society has conditioned men to feel like less of a man if they lose their hair.
But that’s BS, bald is also a good look for men. Just embrace it. Isn’t it crazy that even if we came up with a “cure” for baldness, some men would still choose to be bald anyway?
This points to a potential answer to a long standing question I've had about why some hairs stop growing at certain lengths. If the force is being generated by cellular migration then control over when to stop growing can be mediated by a signal that tells the cells to stop migrating, and that could be based on time or vibration amplitude or something else that correlates with hair length. For hair that grows continually you just ... never turn off cell migration.
I don't believe any hair on the human body truly grows continuously. Even head hair has a lifespan of ~7 years and whatever you can grow in that time is the max. I was a big metalhead in high school and grew my hair out. Indeed, after about 7-8 years it stopped getting longer, right at about waist level, and was stuck there until I finally got sick of it and cut it off.
24 comments
[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 50.4 ms ] threadI thought it was nonsense. Shows what I know. I suppose folk wisdom is vindicated again.
Topical minoxidil / finasteride has roughly zero side effects (due to the limited systemic exposure) and has something like a 90% efficacy rate. With 90%+ efficacy it's not a case of "this might work for you" it's "this will almost certainly work for you." It's cheap and it works.
Even oral 1mg finasteride has basically the same side effect profile after 1 year as placebo, side effects always* stop whether you stop taking it or continue taking it. And as an added bonus it significantly reduces your risk of low-grade prostate cancer (30% ish) while not increasing your risk of high-grade prostate cancer. Many of the side effects reported are in people taking 5mg doses for prostate hypertrophy, and the incidence of side-effects is dose dependent. Studies show that sexual side effects are primarily nocebo, if participants were told to expect them the rate was 3X higher than placebo, if they weren't told, they were about the same.
* the category of persistent side-effects has been defined primarily for data collection purposes, there's very little evidence for persistent side effects at all let alone a high incidence thereof. Many of the side effects people claim are related are things that would otherwise happen to you at the age you start to lose your hair regardless. It's good to collect more data though.
> As someone with thinning hair, it's horrible how little study/research is being performed to understand how hair grows and treat hair loss.
Given the size of the market I'd say there's a ton of research being done. It's just a tough nut to crack. There's some good data on PP405, for example.
The only reason men care so much is because long hair was often associated with nobility and power. Ancient gods or classical royalty were usually depicted with long luscious hair. Society has conditioned men to feel like less of a man if they lose their hair.
But that’s BS, bald is also a good look for men. Just embrace it. Isn’t it crazy that even if we came up with a “cure” for baldness, some men would still choose to be bald anyway?
I want to keep my favorite reply phrase: "Gras groeit niet harder als je eraan trekt." (Grass doesn't grow faster if you pull on it.)