March 30 2006, 9:33 am PT | Posted in: Hair Loss Causes
While it is a reasonable hypothesis that smoking can cause hair loss, will giving up smoking lead to/assist in hair regrowth - or is the damage that has been done by smoking permanent? i.e is it reversible?
Thanks in advance.
Generally it is believed that damage from smoking is additive. We know that about the lungs, heart disease, and emphysema. We also know that for those that stop smoking, the additive impact does slow or stop, but the smoking-induced coronary disease or emphysema does not go away. Now if you extend that logic to hair loss, then by stopping your smoking, you may stop whatever balding smoking is causing, but it would not reverse.
Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):
Related Entries
- Smoking and Hair Loss
- Cigarettes and Hair Transplantation
- Smoking Cigarettes Caused My Hand Hair to Die Off
- In the News - Smoking May Accelerate Hair Loss
- Smoking Cigarettes and Hair Loss
Balding Forum
Okay…it would not reverse you say…okay let me explain..at my point,i’ve been smoking for 5 years and im now quitting(another attempt) and i loss a lot of hair..so if i stop smoking, i cant regain my hair?!WTF $^$^… why stop smoking then?…i prefer smoking and relaxing thinking im losing my hair than.. not smoking and being all stressed and depressed for losing my hair….yeah there’s surgery, but wtf, why it cost so fuckin much? that is fuckin stupid, so why tell me why the high price for a doctor playing with a toy? thats stupid i say, by the time i get a good job and be able to pay, it’ll be late in my life, i need my hair more than ever..and right now
IF I STOP SMOKING WILL MY REMAINING HAIR, BE STRONGER AND MORE HEALTHY,AND THICKER.
I quit smoking 5 years ago when I didnt have any skin or hair related problems at all. Since I quit smoking, and believe me, I know this sounds crazy, my skin became unbelievably oil, I am being literally attacked by skin tags and skin irritations. My hair? Now, this one is really funny! My hair became a pot of grease and I have consistently hair loss which began exactly three months after I quit. Yet, every time I go to the doctor they tell me that in the long run, I will realize that I did the right thing. I dont miss cigarettes, and I dont doubt that they are very very bad for you. But I think doctors will not tell you what will happen to your body once you quit. My weight ballooned in 90 pounds without any major change in food intake or exercise routine. I now am also obese.
That’s a very interesting question. Smoking causes a lot of problems throughout your body, but I never heard of hair loss. When you smoke, you got bigger problems then hair loss!
Cigarettes contain a good deal of carcinogens, many of which effect people quite differently. They wreak havoc on circualtion, etc. And they do actually cause more stress than not smoking. Trust me - I used to smoke two packs a day, then finally quit. But back to your comments: I first noticed I was balding at 21 years of age (ten years ago), so I started using Rogaine and Propeicia. This stopped the balding, but did little to regrow hair. Later, I stopped smoking, and then the hair actually thickened and grew in. Back to normal, actually. No joke. I didn’t even realize the correlation until I started smoking the occasional cigarette (two years ago), and then my hair started to fall out. I have recently cut out the occasional and hope that the hair will grow back in. Of course, there could be no correlation. But this is a ‘risk’ I’m willing to take.
Listen guys, whoever this docter is…he doesnt know what he is talking about. I stopped smoking cannabis and cigerettes 2 weeks ago and i swear i am regaining more and more hair by the day. I am not going mad i know this for sure because i stopped smoking a while back and the same thing happened, then i lost what i gained when i started again. Stop smoking if you want your hair back. Darren
To everyone here that wants to know if smoking causes hairloss or not. i have found myself tht it does. If yopur hair is thinning the best thing to do is just stop smoking or cut down on the amount you smoke. Here are the 3 things i think causes definate hair loss, cocaine, excessive smoking, stress and anger. what i have found myself is that when you stop smoking your hair will be okay again but as soon as you start again it will start thinning again. hope this helps. If your worried about your hair you should never do cocaine it will reck your hair teeth ETC
Its not a debate which is going on here,there are many reason for your hair loss Stress,Living style and lot more,even doctors do not have much to answer this,if you have lost your hair then dont think in a negative way,just be happy that you are not effected by any other disease whicy are not curable,i hope you would understand the disease i am speaking about,and comming to smoking even a kid know that smoking is hazardous to health and even can cuse hair loss in some cases,so than why dont we quit smoking for a good reason to come.
I searched for this site and found my answer. Ive been smoking for 8 yrs and can remember that when i started smoking i started lossing my hair. Genes? Race? Dont know, but ive always had hair at the top that was just “slow growing”. Iv never took a break but after reading this I’m going to try. It never bothered me that i have “thining hair” and i never took rogain or anything. But since i can see my many hair stubs in the mirror, im going to try and stop smoking. I know that my body does’nt hurt yet and that to stop smoking will make me a nervous reck, but i also want to be the person that i used to be. With thick hair, thick longs, and a thick brain. Im goin to go for it!. Whitout one last blow.
p.s.
I feel that people who can handle smoke and drink have the ultimate body of resistance. Even though I still smoke to this day, why keep it up even if we dont hurt. We know that its bad as well as knowing that we can be the ultimate human in our lifetime. What ever you wanted to do you can do far better, than anyone else, if you stop smoking. Think about it. We’ve already inhaled hell. Its only up from here.
Yes I stopped recently, and before that I had slowly started to loose hair in the front and got this hairline curvy things you know what I mean. Well after stopping a lot of hair grew back and it’s now like 5 years ago or so, and still growing more. Also more healthy and strong hair.
i have been smoking since three years and i experienced hair loss 4-5 months after i started it.I haven’t smoked since about a month now,and the hair loss has reduced drastically,i even rub my fingernails together everyday for 10 minutes which is supposed to be a great cure for hairloss,since the nerves in our scalp ends in our fingertips(it is a yoga therapy).I would like to know how much time does it take for the hair to regrow after i quit smoking, i mean when will it be noticeable.
to carlos the growth cycle is generally 3 months, once the hair has miniaturized it can take up to 5 months but after you stop smoking this will decrease and you will notice thicker more healthy hair, i had been smoking 2 packets a day and noticed my hair falling out and very thin and wiry now it has come back like a bush, i have quit for a year
to justin…thanks for your reply,i would also like to know that will my hairline also improve…if yes then how much time will it take for the new hair to sprout up…i would like to tell everyone that its almost 3months since i have quit and i do not experience any hair loss now,there are no hairs on my pillow,on my comb,in the toilet and i think my hairs are a bit thicker now but am not sure.
Strange. I quit smoking about three months ago and I’ve noticed that my temples have become very sparse of hair. I never had a low hairline by any means, but my once reasonably thick widows peak has become a thinning nightmare. I’m not about to start smoking again, but I did consider the option to see if any of my hair comes back. I suspect I will have to suck it up and shave my head as there is no hairstyle for a balding scalp akin to George Costanza. I just find the balding to be a strange coincidence, or just crappy luck. It sure doesn’t help a 40-something having a midlife crisis and then losing his mane. Ah well, my hair was mostly grey up til now. I had colored my hair to hide grey since my mid 20s.
Sam
Not to get your hopes up, but it might be some type of shedding phase youre going through right now. I read somewhere (cant find it anymore though) that compared quiting smoking to using Rogaine. The reason why is because when you quit smoking you get an increase in Nitric Oxide(this is also found in Rogaine).
I have quit going on 5 months now and I see an improvement.I notice shedding phases too and there were times when I lost a lot of hair but it appears to be getting darker and thicker.
Thanks Mike, that’s interesting and I’ll look into finding more about that. I hope this is the case for me, but I’ll accept losing hair over lung cancer at any rate.
I quit smoking at the end of Jan this year after about two decades of doing it full time, so I’m about five month ex-smoker as well. Congratulations.
I am a 20 y/o male. I have been losing my hair for about the past 4-5 months, and it seems as if it’s just getting worse. I’m a hairstylist, so I do know a lot about hair, just can’t figure out why mine is falling out. I’ve had blood tests done for everything under the sun and everything is normal. I smoke about 10 cigs a day. Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts or ideas of why else my hair may be falling out and whether quitting does make a difference. I also have ruled out male patter baldness because my hairline is not receding, my hair is just getting drastically thinner all over. Please Help!
hello,i am 7 months smoke free now, i wanted to confirm that smoking aids hair loss,in these 7 months i smoked for 1 month between 3-4mnths period, just to check the effect of smoking.the 1st 3months when i stopped smoking i did not experience any hair loss.as soon as i started smoking i started seeing more hair coming out. now again my hair is really strong, it has regained its volume,its darker and shinier.some people believe i went for hair transplant ,which was the best comment i heard.please do not see your friends who smoke and still have head full of hair, smoking affects different people differently, its the same way as everyone doesnt acquire cancer or emphysema,only a handful do. some doctors say that it also depends on how good your nervous system is, if its not well developed smoking will damage it more and hence lesser mobility of blood .after you quit smoking try to jog/run for 25 minutes early morning, so that there is more oxygen in your blood.hope this helps.
hope you all quit smoking and regain your crowning glory.
Wow, Carlos that’s an amazing story. I truly hope that I get the same results as you. I’m turning 23 this week. I haven’t smoked in 3 days, on the patch. Hair has been thinning and losing density for a little over a year, and rapidly. I am almost certain smoking is to blame.
I’m 25 and started smoking cigs about 2002. Now around the end of 2006 I noticed my hair was falling out. I was still in my denial phase until about may of this year when i found this web site. It’s makes perfect sense. I always knew smoking was bad for me but i didn’t care until I couldn’t leave the house without a hat on. I’ve found so much inspiration from this website that i decided to quit(for the sake of my 360waves) so july 3 I smoked my last cigarette and have been smoke free for 77 days. Hopefully my hair will grow back. can anyone tell me how long it will take? because i think i see a few new strands but sometimes I think my eyes are playing tricks on me because I want my hair to grow back so bad.
Congratulations, Bobby! 77 days is a great accomplishment. I quit 9/11/09 and I hope to see results soon. I would also like to know from everyone how long it will take to see results once one stops smoking.
I might add that I’ve been on Promox (www.hairgrowthmd.com) for 5 months. Most of my friends think my hair has gotten thicker. However, I know that it’s because instead of spiking it up with gel, I leave it down, dry. It gives it a thicker look. In reality, I’m almost certain that it’s getting worse by the day. Thinner hairs and less of them. If I put my hair up, you can see my scalp. It’s pretty crazy to have gone from having immaculately thick hair a year and a half ago, to now. The worst period was from January of this year till now. I’m looking back at New Year’s pictures with my hair up, it’s night and day. I don’t know if it’s smoking, or genetics. All I know that my father is 57 and he still has a good amount of hair for his age, and when he was 23, he had the hair that I had 2 years ago. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with Promox or if it’s just another scam, for which I’m wasting money on. I’ve heard everything from my having male pattern baldness to telegen effluvium, and now hair loss caused by smoking. I don’t trust any dermatologists anymore.
i used to smoke pot every day and my hair kept getting thinner and thinner. i was losing about 10% a yr from 18 so at 23 i had lost half of my hair. i stopped smoking and stopped taking pot a yr ago and have about 20% more hair then i did last yr so my hair loss from 18 is now about 30% which is not too bad. My hair looks great now and stays dry for longer so looks thicker anyway. moral of this story… i am totally convinced that for me smoking causes hair loss
comment on bobby’s latest… Try taking pictures of your scalp (where you notice thinning) and try to compare future photos with that.
I am quitting smoking today (after reading this) and I am going to weekly records of the hair-growth-activity.
Watch this space…
I guess I’m younger than everyone here,I’m 17 and I just started smoking 1 year ago.After 4-5 months I noticed that my hair was getting thinner and thinner.At the time I blamed the gel and the shampoo so I just stopped putting gel,changed shampoo and I actually stopped smoking for 14 days or something like that.I immediatly noticed that my hair wasn’t falling down anymore and I felt that my hair was growing back so I started smoking again.Not long after restarting smoking,2 months from it,I noticed that my hair was getting thinner again and at the time I realised that the real problem were cigarettes.I made a couple of tentatives that didn’t even last a week until 18 september and that means 22 days without smoking.My hair are still falling down and I’m waiting for results(hoping that I’ll have any).
Folks, it has been 9 smoke free days and I can confirm that the texture of the hair (less dry and more oily/moist) and skin is beginning to change (softer and moist). Although, I am yet to see a ‘marked’ change in the hair density, it appears that the number of hairs ‘falling’ has decreased. It is too early for me to personally correlate thinning of hair density to smoking BUT quitting smoking seems to have paved a promising path…more on this later.
I’m a 20 year old male. started smoking about a year ago, and for 3 months now i started losing hair, thinning day by day and getting very greasy one day after i wash it.It’s not receding but getting thinner all over. 4 months ago i had quit for one month, and the hair i had then compared with what i have now is a very big difference. It never occurred to me that the 1 pack a day would do this. I’ll quit today, hope to see some effects soon.
p.s: wish me luck.
best regards, andrew
im 22 years old and been smoking pot everyday for the past 4 years…im not talkin about 1 or 2 joints a day, im talkin 2 or 3 fat blunts a day. i usually wear a fitted hat everyday too. This past year i noticed my hair thinning. my hairline isnt receding tho.. i have a thinning circular spot in the front of my head.. and a small spot on the top, and its off to the side instead of right in the middle. i def. think my hair loss is from blazing, wat else could it be?. Both sides of my family have very good hair. i dont drink much and dont do any other drugs… i have no other health problems,, my diet could be better tho b/c im about 10-15 lbs overweight. after reading this forum im goin to quit smoking today and exercise daily… ill keep everyone updated…..
I’m in the same boat as you Dan. I am a month shy of 19 and i used i smoked tons of weed daily because i used to sell it, and all my friends that smoke daily have the same type of hair loss as us. I have completely stopped smoking for 4 weeks now. I see little one inch hairs fall out when i shower, but I think they will grow to be stronger. I’m not exercising much besides gettin laid;)(which is the only thing keeping me sane) but I definately feel that I am changing mentally. Anyways I also have little white hairs on the sides of my temples that i hope will be regrown in 5 more months. Anyway if you google “johnny depps hairline” you will see that he basically has the same amount of recession as me(I think he used to blaze because in nightmare on elm street he has the same amount of recession)and I think that he just doesnt do it more than once a month or so. But anyways all girls love johnny depp and he has a receding hairline just like you and me. I was depressed for a little bit because I got a buzz cut and I was like “fuck im going bald” and since I’m a drummer my hair has always been part of my style but I’m not smoking again until 4/20 which will be about six months and I’ll post and tell everyone whats up. PEAAACE
I mean I’m in the same shoes as bob