​Rosemary Oil and Hair Growth is all the talk these days.

Last August I included an article in my newsletter under 3 Hair Trends That Will Be Everywhere This Summer about Rosemary Oil for Hair Growth.

Below is the article "Should I Use Rosemary Oil for Hair Growth?" from Healthline.com

​Should I Use Rosemary Oil for Hair Growth?

​Topically applied rosemary oil may help support hair growth and prevent hair loss. But applying too much can cause side effects.

Rosemary essential oil and hair

Rosemary is a culinary and healing herb. This woody perennial is native to the Mediterranean region, where it’s been used as food and medicine for centuries.

Much like oregano, peppermint, and cinnamon, rosemary is frequently found in essential oil form. Essential oils are highly concentrated and distilled extracts of volatile plant compounds. These are used for cooking, cleaning, beauty, health, and other purposes.

Rosemary essential oil is a common variety you can purchase and use as a home remedy. The oil’s health uses range from antioxidant benefits and anti-inflammation to memory enhancement and more.

In recent years, there have been claims that the oil may be great for hair growth. Some say it could even prevent hair loss, pointing to Mediterranean cultures’ use of rosemary in hair rinses to promote hair growth for hundreds of years as supporting evidence.

Can rosemary oil treat hair loss?

​The idea that rosemary oil encourages hair growth may come from the rosemary’s basic health benefits. The plant in essential oil form is said to:

• have anti-inflammatory properties
• promote nerve growth
• improve circulation

Like peppermint essential oil (also used to promote hair growth), rosemary essential oil strengthens circulation. As a result, it could prevent hair follicles from being starved of blood supply, dying off, and leading to hair loss.

Beyond stimulating hair growth, rosemary essential oil is used to prevent premature graying and dandruff. It may also help dry or itchy scalp.

Do studies support the claims?

According to some scientific evidence, rosemary may benefit nerve tissue.

Carnosic acid, an active ingredient in the plant, healed tissue and nerve damage in one study. This ability to heal nerve endings may rejuvenate nerves in the scalp too, in turn possibly restoring hair growth.

More revealing recent studies show that rosemary directly helps protect against hair loss. One 2015 trialTrusted Source pitted the essential oil against minoxidil, commercially known as Rogaine. Both were used on human subjects with androgenetic alopecia (male or female pattern baldness).

Results showed that rosemary essential oil was just as effective a minoxidil. During the process, it helped the side effect of itchy scalp more successfully than minoxidil.

Another studyTrusted Source of rosemary leaf extract (different from the essential oil) showed it stimulated hair growth. This occurred when hair loss was triggered by testosterone (as in pattern baldness). This study was performed on mice, however.

Two separate clinical reviews — one from 2010Trusted Source and one from 2011 — also acknowledge rosemary’s hair growth potential. The former cites a study with successful hair regrowth in people with alopecia who used essential oils. One of these essential oils was rosemary.

In the latter review, rosemary essential oil was described as a hair loss restorative. This was due to its circulation-improving effects.

How should I use rosemary oil for hair loss?

​Here are a few ways to try using rosemary essential oil as a hair restorative and thickener. Try any of these treatments one to two times per week to start out. Use them more often when desired or you’ve become comfortable using them.

1. Massage it directly into your scalpAfter mixing about 5 drops of rosemary essential oil with a teaspoon of carrier oil (like jojoba oil or coconut oil), massage evenly into your scalp after bath or shower. Rinsing out the oil afterward is optional — though if you do rinse, let the oil sit on your scalp for at least 5 to 10 minutes beforehand.

2. Mix it into your shampooThis can also apply to conditioners, lotions, or creams. Play it safe and don’t add too much. Keep to about five drops per ounce of product. Afterward, use the product like usual. You can also add 2 to 3 drops directly to any hair product when you apply a dollop of it on your palm before use.

3. Add it to your own homemade shampooThere are many recipes online for a shampoo base. You can also add essential oils for your preferred health and beauty benefits. These may incorporate a mixture of baking soda, coconut oil, essential oil, and possibly other oils. Try this one at Tiny Apothecary.

What should I know before using rosemary oil?

Avoid getting essential oil in your eyes. If contact occurs, quickly rinse your eyes with cold water.

Likewise, be careful not to apply too much to your scalp. Rosemary essential oil has been known to irritate the skin. It may cause discomfort, but no health dangers. To avoid skin irritation, dilute the oil with a carrier oil or other product before applying it.

Not enough is known about the safety of using rosemary essential oils while pregnant or breastfeeding. Though using the essential oil for hair loss is only done topically, be cautious — its effects in this regard are still unknown.

The bottom line

​Rosemary has been used by many to promote hair growth successfully. Using rosemary essential oil could very well do the same for you.

Science and personal experience together both strongly suggest the essential oil does protect against hair loss, particularly that related to male or female pattern baldness. It may even be effective for alopecia.

Rosemary essential oil is a simple remedy that you can use at home, and it may even be competitive with commercial products. What’s more, it’s quite safe when used correctly and yields very few side effects.

​I’ve talked a little bit about my postpartum hair issues in this post, but one way that I’ve been counteracting my thinner hair is with a rosemary essential oil hair growth spray.

Rosemary essential oil helps your hair grow faster and can even lead to thicker/fuller hair, so it was a great way for me to support my thinner hair (and help my awkward hair growth areas grow out faster).

​This study showed that rosemary essential oil worked just as well as a leading hair growth drug without some of the side effects that the drug produced in users. I think it’s such a cool finding to be able to go a more natural route (with even better results) than a drug.

​Anyway, here’s the easy recipe for rosemary hair growth spray that I’ve been using in case you want to try it for yourself!

It’s true that it’s a little hard to tell for sure how much this works unless you only did it on half your head and compared it to the half you didn’t do it on.

But, I will say that I have always had trouble growing out my hair and I definitely noticed it growing way faster than usual.
​
​How Long Does It Take to See Results?

This study says that the results were much more visible six months after starting treatments versus three months in, so I would stick with it a bit before giving up if you don’t see a difference right away.

And with any essential oil recipe, stop using it if you notice any adverse reactions.

Hope this simple recipe helps your hair look its best, too! 

from A Beautiful Mess

​Topically applied rosemary oil may help support hair growth and prevent hair loss. Applying too much can cause side effects.

Rosemary is a culinary and healing herb. This woody perennial is native to the Mediterranean region, where people have used it in food and traditional medicine for centuries.

You can also buy rosemary as an essential oil. Essential oils are highly concentrated and distilled extracts of volatile plant compounds used for:

• cooking
• cleaning
• health
• other purposes

Rosemary essential oil is a common variety you can purchase and use as a home remedy. The oil’s health uses range from antioxidant benefits and anti-inflammation to memory enhancement.
​
Keep reading to learn about the evidence supporting rosemary essential oil for hair growth and how to use it safely.

from Healthline

You'll want to check out this article, too.

Rosemary oil vs minoxidil 2% for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia: a randomized comparative trial

This section is for the "Follically Challenged".  There are so many conversations and articles on the topic and I want make sure you are getting good information. 

This month's article

Digestive Problems & Hair Loss:
How IBS & IBD Can Cause Hair Thinning

Hair loss is something a lot of people struggle with and it’s caused by a multitude of factors. Some of the most common are hereditary factors, aging, medication, hormone changes, and diseases like Alopecia areata. One of the less obvious factors involved in hair thinning is the disruption of the digestive process.

Your body needs certain molecules in order to grow hair. So, hair loss can be one of the consequences of any serious digestive problem. Afflictions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) can impede digestion. This means that your body might not get the proper nutrients it needs from the food you eat. Not having the necessary nutrients means no building blocks for hair growth.
​
In this article, we will discuss how your gut health can play a role in hair loss, and explore some of the ways you can improve your hair and scalp health. Read on to find out more.

Your hair is made out of protein, lipids, water, and some trace elements. But the process of hair growth requires a lot of energy and involves other important elements, such as hormones, minerals, and vitamins. If the body doesn’t have sufficient quantities of any element involved in this complex process of hair growth, then hair loss may become a real threat.

Your body gets all the nutrients it needs in order to function by digesting food. Everything you eat ends up in your digestive tract. Once there, your enzymes and gut bacteria break it down into simple elements that are absorbed and transported for further processing or immediate use. This is why any digestive problems may indirectly lead to hair loss.

How Poor Gut Flora Can Lead to Hair Thinning

Getting the proper nutrients out of food requires having a functioning digestive tract and a healthy gut flora. The bacteria and microbes in your gut are essential for the production of certain elements like amino acids, triglycerides, and vitamins (B1, B9, B7, B2, B5, K). Some imbalances in gut bacteria are also associated with diseases like IBD.

A healthy gut flora represents a true ecosystem with a diversity of over 400 species of microorganisms. Most of these bacteria live in the large intestine, and they play an important role in digestion and the general health of the body, like protecting against harmful microbes. The balance between these types of germs is essential to our health, and any imbalance can lead to problems like colon cancer, and liver fibrosis.

Unhealthy gut flora may cause disruptions in the process of food digestion and absorption. So even if you eat the right things, your body may not be able to extract the molecules it needs. This can, in turn, lead to deficiencies in certain elements the body uses to grow hair. It seems that gut bacteria and hair loss are interconnected. Studies have shown that improving a patient’s gut may stimulate hair growth in patients with Alopecia areata.
​
The Link Between Gut Permeability & Hair Loss

After being digested, the micronutrients obtained from food have to pass through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream or the lymphatic system. The intestinal wall represents a barrier between the billions of bacteria and the rest of the body. But this barrier has to be permeable to allow nutrients to pass.

A change in diet, gut bacteria, or inflammation in the intestine can alter the permeability of the intestinal wall. While there is no direct relation between gut permeability and hair loss, changes in the intestinal wall disrupt the digestive process and impede the absorption of nutrients. And without the proper nutrients, hair growth is slowed down or stops entirely.

How Malabsorption can Lead to Hair Loss

Nutritional deficiencies can be a consequence of poor diet choices, or they might be a consequence of malabsorption. In certain pathological situations, even if you’re eating healthy food, your body might not be able to break down and absorb the nutrients from the digestive tract.

Malabsorption can be a consequence of certain food type intolerance, local inflammation, bacterial overgrowth, autoimmune diseases of the digestive tract, or parasites. There also appears to be a strong correlation between hair loss and patients who undergo sleeve gastrectomy procedures. This type of intervention may cause malabsorption of micronutrients like zinc and iron, both of which are necessary for hair growth.

In periods of nutrient deficiencies, your body uses all its resources to keep your organs functioning properly. A process like growing hair is not a priority, so your hair might take longer to grow or it can start to thin out.

IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and Hair Loss

Irritable Bowel Syndrome or IBS is a chronic medical condition that affects over 7% of the general population. Symptoms like pain, bloating, diarrhea, and constipation can severely affect life quality for patients and are often associated with the disruption of the digestive process.

There is no primary cause for this disease, but factors such as intestinal infections, parasitosis, alterations in serotonin levels, gut flora imbalances, and psychosocial factors have been associated with IBS. The effects of IBS are often local inflammation, food sensitivity, and carbohydrate malabsorption.

One study has shown that patients with IBS have reported hair loss, hair thinning, and brittle hair as part of the accompanying non-digestive symptoms.

IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) and Hair Loss

Inflammatory Bowel Disease or IBD is a term that includes Crohn’s disease, Ulcerative colitis, and other noninfectious inflammations of the bowel. The main factor associated with IBD is an overreaction of the immune system to the normal gut flora.

Symptoms can vary, but most patients report abdominal pain, diarrhea, rectal bleeding, weight loss, and fatigue. Hair loss in patients with IBD is associated with nutritional deficiencies and adverse reactions to medication. Recent studies have also uncovered shared risk factors with Alopecia areata and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
​
How to Improve Hair and Scalp Health

Change Your Diet to Improve Hair Health

You can improve your hair’s health and prevent hair loss caused by nutritional deficiencies by changing your diet. Changing your diet enables you to provide your body with the nutrients it needs to grow hair.

Some of these nutrients are the actual building blocks, such as proteins, and others like zinc and iron are necessary for the chemical reactions taking place inside the cells that synthesize the hair fibers.
​

• Protein – this is an important nutrient in any diet and you can get it from animal and vegetable food sources. Some healthy sources of protein are meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, whole grains, and legumes like lentils, beans, soybeans, peas, and peanuts.

• Omega 3 fatty acids – are considered essential fats because the body can’t produce them on its own, which means that you must acquire them from food. They are part of the cell membrane, and your body uses them for proper cell function and the synthesis of important molecules, such as hormones. Fatty acids are also important for skin and hair health. Great sources for Omega 3 fatty acids are fish and other seafood, nuts and seeds, and plant oils (canola oil, soybean oil, flaxseed oil).

• Vitamin B12 – or cobalamin is an important factor in cell replication. This vitamin can be found in abundant quantities in meat, fish, dairy, and eggs. Unfortunately, people with vegan diets are predisposed to B12 deficiencies.

• Iron – deficiencies in this mineral are quite common, the main causes being blood loss or insufficient dietary intake. Some important iron sources are red meat, liver, nuts, fortified cereals, dried fruits (apricots), and beans.

• Zinc – an important mineral involved in many chemical reactions in the body, involved in the functioning of the immune system, and known to support hair growth. Some important zinc sources are oysters and other types of seafood, meat, dairy products, peas, beans, pumpkin seeds, and oatmeal.

• Glutathione – General hair loss is often associated with low glutathione levels. Supplementing your glutathione consumption can help prevent or treat hair loss.

How Stress Can Lead to Hair Loss

Stress can have severe effects on a person’s health by causing both psychological and biological damage. Stress can damage the autonomic nervous system and affect the immune system. It can also play a role in the pathology of various diseases like Irritable Bowel Syndrome and cause alterations in the body’s hormone balance. All of these factors may have a negative effect on hair growth.

• Regular exercise may help protect against the harmful consequences of stress and have positive effects on the circulatory system and metabolism. Studies also show that physical exercise has antidepressant and anxiolytic effects.

• Aromatherapy might also be a great way to manage stress levels. One study has shown that aromatherapy can reduce stress, anxiety, and reduce pain. Its effects will probably be more powerful if paired with sessions of mindful meditation.

• Having unhealthy sleeping habits can cause insomnia and amplify the effects of stress on the body. Getting enough sleep and having good sleep hygiene are essential practices for stress level management.

Other Methods to Treat Hair Loss

• Probiotics are made of live yeast or bacteria. You can take probiotic supplements as a way to add good bacteria to your body. Your doctor might recommend probiotic supplements after antibiotic treatments. Studies have shown that there might be a connection between the administration of probiotics and hair growth. One clinical study has shown the improvement of hair counts, hair thickness, and hair growth in patients with androgenic alopecia.

• Limiting hair product use can be beneficial to your hair health. Most products like shampoos contain a lot of chemicals that can dry out your scalp and hair if used too often.

• Using brushes and combs on your wet hair can damage hair fibers. When you’re drying your hair with a towel, try to be gentle and use patting motions instead of a vigorous scrub.

• Avoid pulling out your hair with rough combing or tight hairstyles such as braids, buns, or ponytails. Using very tight hair ties can damage the hair fiber and hair follicles.

• Try to limit the use of curling irons, straightening irons, hot rollers, or hot oil treatments. High temperatures can be very damaging for the hair fiber, and it may cause irreparable damage to your hair.

Conclusion

Hair loss is a condition that affects both men and women, and often has a huge emotional impact on those who are affected. It can be caused by a multitude of factors, and some of them are related to digestive tract issues. Any disturbance in the digestive system has the potential to cause a deficiency in the nutrients your body needs in order to grow hair.

Hair loss may be prevented with proper care for gut flora health, eating a healthy diet, and managing stress.
​
Most importantly, make sure to consult a medical specialist. Get assessed by a Naturopathic Doctor to find the root cause for your condition with natural medicine solutions.