Hair Loss in Fibromyalgia
Although it may seem like a small point given how devastating the illness itself is, the hair loss and hair thinning commonly seen in fibromyalgia routinely adds even more insult to the injury.
Until now, all we could do help promote healthy hair was to recommend getting good nutritional support (I've said before that a good combination for this is the Energy Revitalization System vitamin powder and Iron Complex™) and to make sure you have healthy thyroid function. Although these may help considerably, all too often it isn't enough.
The hair on your head is not continuously growing. Hair follicles normally produce hair in a cycle characterized by two or more years of hair growth followed by a temporary "resting" state that may last a couple of months before repeating the cycle. At any given time 10% to 20% of your hair follicles are in this resting state. Unusual hair loss is most often caused by a condition called Telogen Effluvium. This is where a severe stress or infection (such as fibromyalgia, any of a number of infections, or adverse changes in thyroid hormone levels) causes many of your hair follicles to go into the resting (telogen) phase. But rather than returning to the growth phase, the hair falls out, making you want to cry when you look at your hairbrush!
This hair thinning is what happens all too often in fibromyalgia.
Help Has Arrived
The good news? Now there is something you can take to help, and people are loving it! It's called "Hair Renew Formula™," and it contains a number of unique and key nutrients to help promote healthy hair growth, including the especially powerful ingredients millet seed oil and the herb horsetail, and combined with 5,000 µg biotin and key amino acids.
Horsetail is a unique plant that has immune supporting, remineralizing and regenerating effects. It is a rich source of flavonoids, potassium and silicon — three ingredients that you need in large amounts if you want healthy and rapidly growing tissue, including hair and skin.[1] The level of silicon in your body decreases with age, which also results in nail and hair brittleness, along with decreased resistance to fungal and bacterial infections.
Especially powerful for hair growth are the components found in millet seed oil. In two studies[2,3], this was found to be very effective after three months of use. Not just in getting hair out of the telogen phase, but even in people with the most severe health problems! The vitamin biotin has also been clinically found to support healthy hair. All of these together not only seem to markedly decrease hair loss over three months, but improves hair thickness and shine. These ingredients and more are all combined in the Hair Renew Formula™.
Iron is also thought to be critical for hair growth, and dermatologists at the Cleveland Clinic recommend keeping your ferritin (the key test for iron levels) over 100, even though normal is considered anything over 12. (Note that I generally will not recommend iron supplementation unless the person has had a blood test to make sure that iron levels are not already too high.)
So if you have thinning hair, try a combination of the Energy Revitalization System and Hair Renew Formula™. Use it for a few months and see if your hair starts coming back!
References
[1] Horsetail. Szponar L, Stoś K, Ołtarzewski M. Suplementy diety – możliwości ich wykorzystania w prewencji wybranych niedoborów żywieniowych [Polish] Żyw Człow Metab. 2004;31(Suppl. I):441–6.
[2] J Cosmet Dermatol. 2019 May 28. doi: 10.1111/jocd.12998. [Epub ahead of print] "Miliacin encapsulated by polar lipids stimulates cell proliferation in hair bulb and improves telogen effluvium in women".Keophiphath M(1), Courbière C(2), Manzato L(1), Lamour I(3), Gaillard E(3).
[3] Gardani G, et al. A case-control study of Panicum Miliaceum in the treatment of cancer chemotherapy-induced alopecia. Minerva Medi. 2007 Dec;98(6):661-664.
Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D. is one of the world's leading integrative medical authorities on fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. He is the lead author of eight research studies on their effective treatments, and has published numerous health & wellness books, including the bestseller on fibromyalgia From Fatigued to Fantastic! and The Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Solution. His newest book (June 10, 2024) is You Can Heal From Long COVID. Dr. Teitelbaum is one of the most frequently quoted fibromyalgia experts in the world and appears often as a guest on news and talk shows nationwide including Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, Oprah & Friends, CNN, and Fox News Health.