There’s a few factors that can greatly effect hair growth: diet, overall health, hormones, and hair/scalp health.
The one thing that stuck out to me when reading about your diet was the soy. Soy is known to moderately effect hormones (mimics estrogen in the body) and when you suddenly up your intake, it could throw things off balance. It could be contributing, so try to cut back a bit. Keep drinking that water & eating healthy!
Have you started any new medications?
Stimulating the blood circulation on the scalp is an awesome trick to encourage hair growth, however it sounds like you may be overdoing it. Which electric scalp massager did you purchase, and how often do you use it? How often do you use the scalp scrub? If it’s causing dandruff, it’s probably not the best option for you. Doing a quick 2 minute scalp massage daily can stimulate the circulation without being too harsh on the skin (I do this with my normal conditioner- but this is where an oil mixture or serum will come in handy).
I would recommend for you:
Shampoo with Davines Energizing Shampoo and condition with Davines Replumping Conditioner. This stuff gets pricey at full retail, but it WORKS. The energizing line is full of ingredients that target hair loss. The replumping line moisturizes from the inside out. Davines is cruelty free and vegan too! There’s only about 4,000 salons across the US that carry them, BUT you can order online through amazon (it’s the legit stuff too, they have some kind of contract to keep “black market” sales down).
Massage your scalp 2-3 days a week, or every day if you can. I have two good product recommendations for you: a serum from the Davines energizing line, and an easy homemade oil.
Davines Energizing Superactive Be sure to get the traditional superactive as it’s designed for hormonal hair loss (this sounds closer to what you’re experiencing) rather than the seasonal.
Homemade oil mixture - 3 parts jojoba oil (closest to the skins natural pH and best for absorption) 1 part castor oil (antifungal properties) 1 part oil of your choice (tea tree for more cleanse, almond or lavender if you’ve got a sensitive scalp)
Rub in your scalp and use your fingers to massage for 2-5 minutes. The serum you can leave in indefinitely, the oil you will want to shampoo out.
Treating hair thinning/loss at the beginning stages is the best way to combat it!!! Your hair follicles are most likely still active since this is a recent problem. You just gotta wake ‘em up a bit! Keep your scalp clean and stimulated, and your ends moisturized. Stay away from hot tools! Skip the blow dryer and iron if that’s a normal thing in your routine.
As for brushing, look into a wide tooth comb or Wet brush. Anything that puts a lot of tension on the hair will only pull out what you want to keep! Brush as needed but don’t overdo it.
I hope this wasn’t too much at once! Please feel free to ask any questions if you need me to clarify or provide some more info!
Source: licensed cosmetologist for 8 years. Worked with these products first hand and have recommended this same routine to many clients!
Edit - I added a question about medications. These can definitely have an effect!
The one thing that stuck out to me when reading about your diet was the soy. Soy is known to moderately effect hormones (mimics estrogen in the body) and when you suddenly up your intake, it could throw things off balance. It could be contributing, so try to cut back a bit. Keep drinking that water & eating healthy!
Wow thank you so much for all the info. Regarding soy, I have eaten soy as my primary source of protein and never had any issues. From homemade soymilk to daily tofu blocks and to sometimes edamame. I have done it for years and never had any problems, unless it’s catching up. I began cutting it recently, hope it helps.
Have you started any new medications?
No new medication, but different vitamins (D3, zinc, biotin)
Stimulating the blood circulation on the scalp is an awesome trick to encourage hair growth, however it sounds like you may be overdoing it. Which electric scalp massager did you purchase, and how often do you use it? How often do you use the scalp scrub? If it’s causing dandruff, it’s probably not the best option for you. Doing a quick 2 minute scalp massage daily can stimulate the circulation without being too harsh on the skin (I do this with my normal conditioner- but this is where an oil mixture or serum will come in handy)
This is the electric scalp massager I bought https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07G35RPSF?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_yo_pop_mb_pd_t2
Today was the first time trying it out for 10 minutes and had about 10 loose hairs in my shirt by the time I was finished. I also use or used a wood hair brush for about 2-5 minutes and same thing. There was a large amount of hair by the time I was finished. A lot of dandruff would fall off also.
I’m beginning to think besides hormone unbalance, I could have some sort of fungus scalp blocking the air. Like I said, the hair brush would take out a large amount of dandruff. I used a hair scrub in the shower yesterday and same thing, I noticed dandruff in my hair during the day. Something I never had. Perhaps the brush and scrub is cleaning up my scalp and all the built up dandruff.
Shampoo with Davines Energizing Shampoo and condition with Davines Replumping Conditioner. This stuff gets pricey at full retail, but it WORKS. The energizing line is full of ingredients that target hair loss. The replumping line moisturizes from the inside out. Davines is cruelty free and vegan too! There’s only about 4,000 salons across the US that carry them, BUT you can order online through amazon (it’s the legit stuff too, they have some kind of contract to keep “black market” sales down).
I’m going to look into these. Quite honestly I’m a bit paranoid when it comes to anti hair loss products. I feel the simpler a shampoo is the better. I usually use this one
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0016BC2BM?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_yo_pop_mb_pd_t2
And tried this one when the hair loss started happening
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07CSMTPWL?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_yo_pop_mb_pd_t2
For some reason I decided to wash my hair with warm water (always cold water) and that’s when my hair began falling out.
Shampoo with Davines Energizing Shampoo and condition with Davines Replumping Conditioner. This stuff gets pricey at full retail, but it WORKS. The energizing line is full of ingredients that target hair loss. The replumping line moisturizes from the inside out. Davines is cruelty free and vegan too! There’s only about 4,000 salons across the US that carry them, BUT you can order online through amazon (it’s the legit stuff too, they have some kind of contract to keep “black market” sales down).
Massage your scalp 2-3 days a week, or every day if you can. I have two good product recommendations for you: a serum from the Davines energizing line, and an easy homemade oil.
Davines Energizing Superactive Be sure to get the traditional superactive as it’s designed for hormonal hair loss (this sounds closer to what you’re experiencing) rather than the seasonal.
Homemade oil mixture - 3 parts jojoba oil (closest to the skins natural pH and best for absorption) 1 part castor oil (antifungal properties) 1 part oil of your choice (tea tree for more cleanse, almond or lavender if you’ve got a sensitive scalp)
Rub in your scalp and use your fingers to massage for 2-5 minutes. The serum you can leave in indefinitely, the oil you will want to shampoo out.
Definitely a lot of great info here. Will this help with the dandruff?
Edit: btw I only wash my hair every third day, but by the second day my hair is already too oily. Almost as if I had gel on and my scalp feels warm ( could be the warm weather of Southern California,but still feels warm)and a little itchy.