HAIR LOSS Experiment - Does Nofap decrease hair loss?

[Halibut]

INTRO:

Hi guys, I am a 27yr old male who has been experiencing significant hair loss for the past 2 years. My dad has a full head of hair, starting to see thinning but he is nearly 60. On my mum side, her dad passed away in his late 40's still with hair and her grandad held onto his hair.

I naturally have finer hair but always had lots of it and my barbers said I would never go bald...

We are now talking hair loss of at least 50 hairs on my hand when washing my hair, everyday, with hair being found on my pillow.

Now I am noticing the effects with pronounced thinning, receding temples. There has been significant changes since the start of this year in terms of increase in recession speed.

I have been a heavy PMO user from 12 and have always experienced acne, dandruff and very greasy scalp. For the past 7 years I have been on / off NoFap with varying success. I completed a 4 month abstinence spanning OCT 21- JAN 22.

However, since then I have been struggling to get a good streak together, managing a 30 day and several 2 week streaks, as well as the 3 day rebounds. Unfortunately, like a lot of of I dont just fap and go. I like to edge. I like to edge a looong time.
I easily have edging sessions lasting 3 hours or more. My hair has noticeable got worse after returning to shorter streaks and the edging sessions getting longer. After a session my scalp will be itchy and become very greasy and the shed in the shower seems heavier.

I have done all the research and basically found very conflicting opinions about whether hair loss is caused by or at least exacerbated by PMO.

So I have thought that there is one person who can find out whether PMO affects my hair loss and that is yours truly.

Therefore I am going to conduct a hair loss experiment, delivering my results here weekly to see what affect stopping pmo with have on hair regrowth (if any) and hair fall.


THE EXPERIMENT:

- The results will be delivered weekly (every sunday) - This may change to bi-weekly.

- I will count how many hairs are in the plug, I will use one of those dishes that prevent bits of food going down the plug hole in the shower so none get past me!

- I will also report with how I feel my hair looks and feels generally. If it feels itchy, dandruff, how much grease woken up with.

- I will be taking photos of my hair every 2 weeks as well to see any temple progression or recession.

- I am not expecting significant results until past the 6 month mark, however, it will be interesting to be able to log any subtle improvements (if any) and therefore encourage and motivate others to take part.

OTHER WAYS I AM TRYING TO IMPROVE HAIR LOSS:

Please note I am not taking any finasteride or minoxidil.

- I am taking saw palmetto as a supposedly kinder dht blocker, I have been taking that for a month (end of july) and havent seen any improvement yet,

- Healthy diet, very limited sugar consumption, increase in plant material. My diet was ok before, however it was a lot of carbs and limited leafy greens or veg.

- Natural nettle shampoo, have been using for approx one month so far.

- Increase in cardio exercise, cycling, swimming

- Meditation / Wim Hof deep breathing

- Cold showers - I have been using cold water only to wash my hair and body for at least 3 months now and it has helped my eczema tremendously.


YOUR SUPPORT:

Hopefully you are interested in this experiment and I want to share the results with you as I feel like there is very limited research out there into this query and I want to give back to the community any way I can.

I count on your support as well to help keep me clean and on my journey, hopefully this experiment will keep my accountable - especially if there are a lot of you guys keen to hear the results.

Feel free to join in alongside me if you like - the more guys we get reporting back on this issue the better we will understand it.

Remember this is self-experimentation, results will vary based on your age, previous pmo habits, genetics, diet, exercise level, type of hair ect ect.

RESULTS:

27/8/22 Day 1 (Day after edging binge)

116 Hairs in shower
7 hairs on pillow
Hair feels flat, dry but an itchy and oily scalp this morning.

28/8/22 Day 2

103 Hairs in shower
6 hairs on pillow
Hair feel slightly better than yesterday, scalp doesnt itch or hurt as much

29/8/22 Day 3

84 Hairs in shower
8 Hairs on pillow

30/8/22 Day 4

115 Hairs in shower
6 Hairs on pillow

02/09/22 Day 7

76 Hairs in shower
2 Hairs on pillow
Hair has been very greasy the last couple of days, some slight itchiness

03/09/22 Day 8

86 Hairs in shower
13 Hairs on pillow
Itchy scalp again yesterday, thinking about investing more time into scalp massages

07/09/22 Day 12

115 Hairs in shower
7 Hairs on pillow
Have started scalp massage, has been making lots of dandruff but scalp felt less itchy.

 

[OhWhenThe]

It didn't/hasn't for me, actually I'm leaning towards the opinion that it may have even accelerated it. I don't have severe hair loss or anything, just normal temporal recession that most guys get eventually. On a hormonal level it makes sense that nofap could accelerate hair loss as androgen receptor density increases(or you could say normalises) which in turn means more testosterone is being put to use and as we know, it's a subset of testosterone(DHT) that is responsible for hair loss. I don't have a 100% opinion on the matter but I haven't noticed any improvements on hair fall rates on long streaks, what I have noticed though is that I don't get dandruff anymore when I'm clean from PMO for a while but it soon comes back if I relapse.

I'm absolutely convinced that long-term PMO will destroy your mind and body but I'm not sure if it actually has much effect on hair. I only started to notice signs of hair loss around the time that I started trying to quit but that could just be a coincidence.

 

[Halibut]

Thats interesting, how long have you been able to abstain from pmo for?
Is there hair loss in the family on the maternal or paternal side?

DHT has been shown to be a responsible factor for hair loss, but I believe that stress from the relapses, the depression it causes and the lack of energy to truly look after myself can also contribute or may even be the biggest contributor and I may just have slow recession after that.

It seems like we could have a similar experience with dandruff, I end up with big flakes after a serious binge.
At the end of the day, this is an experiment that will run alongside the benefits that I know I get from nofap - less brain fog, more confidence, more energy ect.

I have nothing to lose by it and if I continue to lose hair besides being clean from pmo for 6months to a year then at least I know that my habit wasn't responsible and it was just going to happen, which I feel will make it a lot easier to accept my fate.

In terms of you noticing signs of hair loss when quitting, there is a stress response to quitting addiction as the body goes through withdrawals which may contribute as well?

I know that hairs in the telogen 'resting phase' stay that way for 4 months, so it makes sense to me that significant progress cannot be seen until past that time as regrowth, if it is to happen, will happen then when the 'stressor' causing the hair to stop growing is taken away and allows the hair to come out of its resting phase.

Obviously if the hair follicle is gone then it is gone but I stay hopeful.

 

[OhWhenThe]

Thats interesting, how long have you been able to abstain from pmo for?
Is there hair loss in the family on the maternal or paternal side?

DHT has been shown to be a responsible factor for hair loss, but I believe that stress from the relapses, the depression it causes and the lack of energy to truly look after myself can also contribute or may even be the biggest contributor and I may just have slow recession after that.

It seems like we could have a similar experience with dandruff, I end up with big flakes after a serious binge.
At the end of the day, this is an experiment that will run alongside the benefits that I know I get from nofap - less brain fog, more confidence, more energy ect.

I have nothing to lose by it and if I continue to lose hair besides being clean from pmo for 6months to a year then at least I know that my habit wasn't responsible and it was just going to happen, which I feel will make it a lot easier to accept my fate.

In terms of you noticing signs of hair loss when quitting, there is a stress response to quitting addiction as the body goes through withdrawals which may contribute as well?

I know that hairs in the telogen 'resting phase' stay that way for 4 months, so it makes sense to me that significant progress cannot be seen until past that time as regrowth, if it is to happen, will happen then when the 'stressor' causing the hair to stop growing is taken away and allows the hair to come out of its resting phase.

Obviously if the hair follicle is gone then it is gone but I stay hopeful.

Four months was the longest which was earlier this year, I've also done two months and countless one month streaks. I agree that the stress of relapsing and withdrawals could be playing a big part but it's kind of impossible to say for sure until you're totally and 100% clean for a long time. The men on my Dad's side all balded aggressively from a young age, the men on my Mum's side mostly kept their hair or had some slight thinning/recession so at this point I figure I've taken the hair genes from my Mum's side thankfully.

I also have a bit or retrograde alopecia at the sides, I saw a video of a hair transplant doctor saying that this phenomenon has massively increased in recent years and was very rare when he first started so that would suggest a more environmental factor is at play here. What that factor is I don't know but knowing what I do about the effects of long-term PMO use I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was some link between the two.

I always had super thick hair up until my late 20s and all that time I was PMO'ing and edging like a mad man, it wasn't until I started trying to quit that I began noticing some thinning and recession - like I say it's not terrible and I doubt anyone looks at me and thinks I'm balding but obviously I'd rather keep all my hair lol.

 

[silex_jedi]

to answer the poll, i'd say "i don't know"... the only thing i know for sure. changing shampoo to a solid shampoo with no sulfate has helped with allergic reactions, i make sure i rinse my hair correctly. there might be also diet factors as i don't eat much and not necessarily the healthiest.

 

[Halibut]

Four months was the longest which was earlier this year, I've also done two months and countless one month streaks. I agree that the stress of relapsing and withdrawals could be playing a big part but it's kind of impossible to say for sure until you're totally and 100% clean for a long time. The men on my Dad's side all balded aggressively from a young age, the men on my Mum's side mostly kept their hair or had some slight thinning/recession so at this point I figure I've taken the hair genes from my Mum's side thankfully.

I also have a bit or retrograde alopecia at the sides, I saw a video of a hair transplant doctor saying that this phenomenon has massively increased in recent years and was very rare when he first started so that would suggest a more environmental factor is at play here. What that factor is I don't know but knowing what I do about the effects of long-term PMO use I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was some link between the two.

I always had super thick hair up until my late 20s and all that time I was PMO'ing and edging like a mad man, it wasn't until I started trying to quit that I began noticing some thinning and recession - like I say it's not terrible and I doubt anyone looks at me and thinks I'm balding but obviously I'd rather keep all my hair lol.

I want to get past that 4 month mark as there has been anecdotes which suggest the 6 month + mark is where they noticed big things.

Aha sounds like you won that luck of the draw then in terms of getting mums side.

That is interesting, the environmental factor could be anything, the recent generations have been living in a society / environment completely different to their parents and grandparents. Yes there is the issue with digital HD pornography, but also the devices we use themselves we do not fully understand what effect they have on the body. In terms of the electromagnetical frequencies ect. There just hasnt been long enough since they have been invented to establish any long term studies.
I also think food quality has gone down too, genetically modified crops ect, good food is out there, however its not the cheapest option.

Stress in the younger generations is also up, although we have all this tech, social media creates a world of comparison, shortage of jobs, (My mum use to walk out of one job and into the next no problems), this expectation to 'make it big'

How old are you btw? I guess towards a certain age we are all vulnerable to a bit of hair loss

 

[Halibut]

to answer the poll, i'd say "i don't know"... the only thing i know for sure. changing shampoo to a solid shampoo with no sulfate has helped with allergic reactions, i make sure i rinse my hair correctly. there might be also diet factors as i don't eat much and not necessarily the healthiest.

Good point, have added a dont know option aha

Yes, shampoo can have a big impact, I used to be a very much head and shoulders kinda guy, but have switched to a natural shampoo and noticed less dandruff and eczema.
Diet is big as well, its difficult because some article may say that its great toeat oranges for vitamin C, but I personally found that oranges flared up my skin and made me itch all over. So again, its very much personal experimentation.
I think I have certain issues with gluten, not a allergy or anything but a sensitivity

 

[getbetter73]

I feel like I've had accelerated hair thinning over the past year and a half. I've wondered if it's due to my PMO addiction, so I'm hoping that if I can eventually get away from it, maybe I'd see a regeneration after some time. But if some of you have seen/heard anecdote that stopping PMO actually made it worse, well then idk what to say. Maybe our hair loss is just due to age then? But I think the more nutrients that leave the body through semen as well as increased DHT presence will lead to more hair loss. So that's why I feel like cutting out PMO long term will lead to more hair regrowth. But who knows...glad I came across this thread though as this has been on my mind a lot recently.

 

[silex_jedi]

Good point, have added a dont know option aha

Yes, shampoo can have a big impact, I used to be a very much head and shoulders kinda guy, but have switched to a natural shampoo and noticed less dandruff and eczema.
Diet is big as well, its difficult because some article may say that its great toeat oranges for vitamin C, but I personally found that oranges flared up my skin and made me itch all over. So again, its very much personal experimentation.
I think I have certain issues with gluten, not a allergy or anything but a sensitivity

what about milk?

 

[Halibut]

I have limited dairy and have alternative milk like almond

 

[Deleted Account]

I don`t want to crush your hope guys, but from my opinion and experience, no matter what you do, your hair growth/balding is in the end caused by GENETICS. You can use any shampoo, try 50 different methods, and still go bald, while some other guy with good hair genes can use drugs, eat junk food and not exercise his whole life, and he still will have a very good hair and never get bold. So just relax, and learn to live with it, you can not do anything to stop it. The only exception to this rule are some very serious diseases or huge stress, but I know a case where guy lost his hair to stress, but when he recovered(stressful period passed) his hair grew back. You cannot stop nature in process, if it`s destined for you to go bald by 30, you will. And it`s also interesting that your hair genes do not necessarily link you to your parents, or even your grandpas, it can be some grand grand parent from 300 years ago, that is how genetics are interesting and mind blowing topic. For instance, I am blond, I have blond hair all over my body, but nobody from my family is blond. So just relax, the looks does not matter(unfortunately, in this day and age it seems that the looks are everything, but we live in a sick world), learn to work on yourself and your intellect, what does a good looks mean if you could not offer something more to this world?

 

[Meshuga]

Here’s the theory.

Whatever materials your body uses to make the spooge, it uses to make keratin as well. Stop emptying your balls, and you might get healthier hair and nails.

Might. Depending on how old you are and how frequently you ejaculate. You also smell different if you hang onto that stuff: multiple SOs say so.

Most of it is genes. Sorry. Going bald is not something pleasant, especially when you had hopes that it wouldn’t happen, but you just have to get used to it.

 

[Freeddom_Taker]

Baldness could indicate high level of testosterone too. I've seen dudes get bald in their early 20's. Contrary to popular beliefs, men who tend to have full hair have less testosterone than men who don't. Like some above users already said it could be genetic as well.

 

[ARCEUS]

INTRO:

Hi guys, I am a 27yr old male who has been experiencing significant hair loss for the past 2 years. My dad has a full head of hair, starting to see thinning but he is nearly 60. On my mum side, her dad passed away in his late 40's still with hair and her grandad held onto his hair.

I naturally have finer hair but always had lots of it and my barbers said I would never go bald...

We are now talking hair loss of at least 50 hairs on my hand when washing my hair, everyday, with hair being found on my pillow.

Now I am noticing the effects with pronounced thinning, receding temples. There has been significant changes since the start of this year in terms of increase in recession speed.

I have been a heavy PMO user from 12 and have always experienced acne, dandruff and very greasy scalp. For the past 7 years I have been on / off NoFap with varying success. I completed a 4 month abstinence spanning OCT 21- JAN 22.

However, since then I have been struggling to get a good streak together, managing a 30 day and several 2 week streaks, as well as the 3 day rebounds. Unfortunately, like a lot of of I dont just fap and go. I like to edge. I like to edge a looong time.
I easily have edging sessions lasting 3 hours or more. My hair has noticeable got worse after returning to shorter streaks and the edging sessions getting longer. After a session my scalp will be itchy and become very greasy and the shed in the shower seems heavier.

I have done all the research and basically found very conflicting opinions about whether hair loss is caused by or at least exacerbated by PMO.

So I have thought that there is one person who can find out whether PMO affects my hair loss and that is yours truly.

Therefore I am going to conduct a hair loss experiment, delivering my results here weekly to see what affect stopping pmo with have on hair regrowth (if any) and hair fall.


THE EXPERIMENT:

- The results will be delivered weekly (every sunday) - This may change to bi-weekly.

- I will count how many hairs are in the plug, I will use one of those dishes that prevent bits of food going down the plug hole in the shower so none get past me!

- I will also report with how I feel my hair looks and feels generally. If it feels itchy, dandruff, how much grease woken up with.

- I will be taking photos of my hair every 2 weeks as well to see any temple progression or recession.

- I am not expecting significant results until past the 6 month mark, however, it will be interesting to be able to log any subtle improvements (if any) and therefore encourage and motivate others to take part.

OTHER WAYS I AM TRYING TO IMPROVE HAIR LOSS:

Please note I am not taking any finasteride or minoxidil.

- I am taking saw palmetto as a supposedly kinder dht blocker, I have been taking that for a month (end of july) and havent seen any improvement yet,

- Healthy diet, very limited sugar consumption, increase in plant material. My diet was ok before, however it was a lot of carbs and limited leafy greens or veg.

- Natural nettle shampoo, have been using for approx one month so far.

- Increase in cardio exercise, cycling, swimming

- Meditation / Wim Hof deep breathing

- Cold showers - I have been using cold water only to wash my hair and body for at least 3 months now and it has helped my eczema tremendously.


YOUR SUPPORT:

Hopefully you are interested in this experiment and I want to share the results with you as I feel like there is very limited research out there into this query and I want to give back to the community any way I can.

I count on your support as well to help keep me clean and on my journey, hopefully this experiment will keep my accountable - especially if there are a lot of you guys keen to hear the results.

Feel free to join in alongside me if you like - the more guys we get reporting back on this issue the better we will understand it.

Remember this is self-experimentation, results will vary based on your age, previous pmo habits, genetics, diet, exercise level, type of hair ect ect.

RESULTS:

27/8/22 Day 1 (Day after edging binge)

116 Hairs in shower
7 hairs on pillow
Hair feels flat, dry but an itchy and oily scalp this morning.

28/8/22 Day 2

103 Hairs in shower
6 hairs on pillow
Hair feel slightly better than yesterday, scalp doesnt itch or hurt as much

Are you literally counted that much hair

 

[ARCEUS]

INTRO:

Hi guys, I am a 27yr old male who has been experiencing significant hair loss for the past 2 years. My dad has a full head of hair, starting to see thinning but he is nearly 60. On my mum side, her dad passed away in his late 40's still with hair and her grandad held onto his hair.

I naturally have finer hair but always had lots of it and my barbers said I would never go bald...

We are now talking hair loss of at least 50 hairs on my hand when washing my hair, everyday, with hair being found on my pillow.

Now I am noticing the effects with pronounced thinning, receding temples. There has been significant changes since the start of this year in terms of increase in recession speed.

I have been a heavy PMO user from 12 and have always experienced acne, dandruff and very greasy scalp. For the past 7 years I have been on / off NoFap with varying success. I completed a 4 month abstinence spanning OCT 21- JAN 22.

However, since then I have been struggling to get a good streak together, managing a 30 day and several 2 week streaks, as well as the 3 day rebounds. Unfortunately, like a lot of of I dont just fap and go. I like to edge. I like to edge a looong time.
I easily have edging sessions lasting 3 hours or more. My hair has noticeable got worse after returning to shorter streaks and the edging sessions getting longer. After a session my scalp will be itchy and become very greasy and the shed in the shower seems heavier.

I have done all the research and basically found very conflicting opinions about whether hair loss is caused by or at least exacerbated by PMO.

So I have thought that there is one person who can find out whether PMO affects my hair loss and that is yours truly.

Therefore I am going to conduct a hair loss experiment, delivering my results here weekly to see what affect stopping pmo with have on hair regrowth (if any) and hair fall.


THE EXPERIMENT:

- The results will be delivered weekly (every sunday) - This may change to bi-weekly.

- I will count how many hairs are in the plug, I will use one of those dishes that prevent bits of food going down the plug hole in the shower so none get past me!

- I will also report with how I feel my hair looks and feels generally. If it feels itchy, dandruff, how much grease woken up with.

- I will be taking photos of my hair every 2 weeks as well to see any temple progression or recession.

- I am not expecting significant results until past the 6 month mark, however, it will be interesting to be able to log any subtle improvements (if any) and therefore encourage and motivate others to take part.

OTHER WAYS I AM TRYING TO IMPROVE HAIR LOSS:

Please note I am not taking any finasteride or minoxidil.

- I am taking saw palmetto as a supposedly kinder dht blocker, I have been taking that for a month (end of july) and havent seen any improvement yet,

- Healthy diet, very limited sugar consumption, increase in plant material. My diet was ok before, however it was a lot of carbs and limited leafy greens or veg.

- Natural nettle shampoo, have been using for approx one month so far.

- Increase in cardio exercise, cycling, swimming

- Meditation / Wim Hof deep breathing

- Cold showers - I have been using cold water only to wash my hair and body for at least 3 months now and it has helped my eczema tremendously.


YOUR SUPPORT:

Hopefully you are interested in this experiment and I want to share the results with you as I feel like there is very limited research out there into this query and I want to give back to the community any way I can.

I count on your support as well to help keep me clean and on my journey, hopefully this experiment will keep my accountable - especially if there are a lot of you guys keen to hear the results.

Feel free to join in alongside me if you like - the more guys we get reporting back on this issue the better we will understand it.

Remember this is self-experimentation, results will vary based on your age, previous pmo habits, genetics, diet, exercise level, type of hair ect ect.

RESULTS:

27/8/22 Day 1 (Day after edging binge)

116 Hairs in shower
7 hairs on pillow
Hair feels flat, dry but an itchy and oily scalp this morning.

28/8/22 Day 2

103 Hairs in shower
6 hairs on pillow
Hair feel slightly better than yesterday, scalp doesnt itch or hurt as much

If it's not genetic, its absolutely cuz of p! I also have greasy scalp, dandruff and 2-3 white hair and I observed it, the quanity of all increased when I became addicted, its true if you leave this addiction, there will definitely be an improvement, your hairs will start become softer and stronger.

 

[Deleted Account]

If anything, going bald is great test to work on your ego and self-confidence. If you can be more charismatic and funnier with balder head you will definitely win one battle with life! And people please don`t throw your money away to so call shampoos and medicine against baldness, if they really work you won`t be seeing so many bald man around, and so many celebrities are bald, you think all of them like that, with all that money and they are still bald? It`s all simple gene code, like your height, you can not increase it, if you are destined to be six feet tall, you will be no matter how hard you stretch or exercise, play basketball etc. So relax, don`t waste your time on thinking about that, counting your hair can only be bad for your psyche.

 

[Deleted Account]

Baldness could indicate high level of testosterone too. I've seen dudes get bald in their early 20's. Contrary to popular beliefs, men who tend to have full hair have less testosterone than men who don't. Like some above users already said it could be genetic as well.

I disagree with that, simple example: many bodybuilders who inject insane amount of testosterone, and some of them still have great hair in their 50s and 60s. I personally never heard of a scientifically accepted fact that men who have more testosterone have less hair, if you have some documents and literature please post it here, I`m really curious about that. But again, you can`t go against nature, like if you try to change your eye color from blue to black, it won`t happen, just like your hair can not grow if it`s destined to fall. Gene code is unchangeable, and nothing you put in your body can change it(except for maybe science lab experiments or something like that, but that is a different subject).

 

[Freeddom_Taker]

I disagree with that, simple example: many bodybuilders who inject insane amount of testosterone, and some of them still have great hair in their 50s and 60s. I personally never heard of a scientifically accepted fact that men who have more testosterone have less hair, if you have some documents and literature please post it here, I`m really curious about that. But again, you can`t go against nature, like if you try to change your eye color from blue to black, it won`t happen, just like your hair can not grow if it`s destined to fall. Gene code is unchangeable, and nothing you put in your body can change it(except for maybe science lab experiments or something like that, but that is a different subject).

Why you think women like dudes who are bald???
Because they could sense high amount of testosterone in them.
And btw I have hair in my head.
The less hair you have, the more testosterone it indicates.....

 

[Deleted Account]

Why you think women like dudes who are bald???
Because they could sense high amount of testosterone in them.
And btw I have hair in my head.
The less hair you have, the more testosterone it indicates.....

Now you generalize, every woman is different and wants something different, some like bald men, some with long hair, some with short hair... I would just like to see scientific researches and experiments on the subject, but I searched and it`s all bro science, like I already wrote the best examples are bodybuilders with great hair. Just take Arnold(most famous, very masculine and big guy)and Stallone for example, they take God knows what chemicals and testosterone shots, train regularly and still even today they have great hair, and they are only two guys, you can search over hundreds of bodybuilders that are in their 50s and 60s and most of them have great hair. Testosterone does not have any connection to hair growth, if it had minimum 95% of men would grow bald in puberty, because then testosterone levels are higher then ever, and as a man grows older, testosterone lowers, by that logic all old men should have more hair then they had when they were in 20s... Your theory has no logic, I would really like to see some arguments.

 

[Halibut]

For me this is just an experiment, to see if I can get some evidence that NoFap can in fact improve your hair. I understand that it may be the hand I am dealt to go bald. I have always enjoyed conducting my own studies and maybe this will help someone out with their own hair loss.
I have counted the first 4 days but am now just going to count on milestones / every week or so, just to be able to spot a trend, if there is one.