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.
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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
Joseph…so much more your weekly updates.
I guess everyone dropped the ball on this one.
Maybe because smoking really has nothing to do with hair loss after all…and that it’s all just DHT.
so much FOR***
Hi All,
Sorry Danny, was on a long holiday and i am infact keeping a close watch on the hair regrowth. I started to maintain a journal from october last year and been updating it (unfortunately not the site). I have made some photos (17 in total) and have compared them closely. what i am about to report is something that my girlfriend confirms too. Apart from the odd cigarette (one or two per week), I have been smokefree for about three months now - feel great about it and there is no doubt that it improved me overall. I smell good, my taste buds are REBORN and in all im extremely happy. Regarding the hair loss - THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT that smoking contributes a great deal. we have noticed a marked regrowth on my scalp when I once thought it was a heriditary receeding hairline. The density of hair is increased drastically so much so that it is difficult to comb when my hair is dry (never used to be the case as far as my memory takes me). The texture of hair is much much better now and obviously getting less and less coarse - not to mention the consistency.
So I hope that this message will be the final nail in the coffin for every cigarette that you hold - quit it and see the difference.
Agian boys, very sorry for not having updated the site.
Best wishes for a smokefree life
Joe
If this is all true, I congratulate you man! I’m very happy for your success.
Where can we see these 17 photos?
i have not been smoking for about 2 years now thanks to nicotine patches and a lot of self-discipline. the withdrawal symptoms i got from quitting smoking was not nice though.
I am an 18 year old male, I have been smoking on and off for roughly two years, within the last year or so I have noticed my hair is not as thick as it once was and I have started to develop a receding hair line.
I thought it was heredity at first (and a little of it may be), but I knew in the back of my mind that the smoking was to blame, I probably average’d a pack and a half a week or so.
I’m officially quitting today, I will report back in 5 months and give you guys a progress report.
Good luck all.
im 20 and have a fucking patch on my head looks like alopecia i did quite smoking for about 8 months 2 years ago, it was realy fucking hard, when i quite my hair felt strong and i felt overall in good health but after 8 months i started again stupidly, now my hair is thin have a patch of hair missing i can just about cover it up. kind of scarey i still have to go for the blood test realy pisses me of. i wana quite but when i try now its 10 times harder then when i first did it. it maybe the ciggerrets i feel it is but not knowing just adds to my anxiety and stress. all im saying is dont smoke some people can handle it some people cant.
also been smoking since i was 14 15
Smoking -in addition to an unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle- is a strong factor that influences hair loss/thinning. Following the good doctor’s logic, I think his pattern of reasoning is flawed. Firstly, emphysema is a “full-blown” side-effect of cigarette usage, but its correlation with hair thinning, as opposed to baldness, is a mistaken connection. Hair thinning is not the “full-blown”, final result that is, in this case, correlated with emphysema. If a person is at risk of a progressive lung disease -and truly makes a committment to stop smoking- then this individual can expect a reversal -this, in turn, is the correlation with hair thinning. Secondly, depedning on the extent of your hair loss, in the case of miniturization, your follicles still exist, albeit in a malnurished and thinner form. Ceasing smoking -compounded with a healthy lifestlye- can certainly reverse hair thinning. I have abstained from cigarettes and have undergone a “diet revolution”, and my hair is healthy and vibrant again.
my last post was sept 18th 2009 and i haven’t grew any new hair it still looks exactly the same. i dont smoke anymore but now i have to wear a bald head because it looks like shit having a nice haircut with a receding hair line. life sucks! i want to kill myself
hi,
I have a problem with my hair just falling, I have been diagnosis that I have allopecia. But the doctor who supposse to help me only in July10 , I m now afraid its too far image its April10. What else can i do now.
Its giving me stress.
Help me
My story starts like this..back in the 90’s,with me being the average 15 year old trying to get some attention from girls,i began smoking.I have to admit i liked it at start,i even found it amusing at times for me.
I had medium length hair,near around my shoulders and a bit longer as a grew up,something related with hairfall for men,although back in that time it was hard to even see my scalp,i was proud of my full black straight hair with the thick and shiny look.
Growing up with my smoking habit,i noticed my hair started to get thinner,and losing around 100-150 hair every day.
The years passed,and when closing 18,i joined the army,which requested us to cut our hair,short,very short.This was something i could deal with,after all i was getting bored of being hairy throughout all those years.
Well what i saw in the mirror when i cut my hair,was a nightmare.A head full of spots and scarce hair.
The army changed me,i decided to cut smoking and lead a healthy sporty lifestyle.
2 years later,with me starting my university studies,and haven’t smoked a cigarette since then,i started to see my hair growing thicker again,with most of the scalp spots disappearing.
Throught the years,i really thanked myself for quitting smoking.My hair is now full,thick and shinier than ever.
If it really wasnt about my hair though,i wouldn’t even consider stop smoking.
M, what sort of timelime are we talking here? I mean you abstaining from ciggies?
helo all, thnks for the comments, i have smoked light for 15 years and have seen balding/thinning come and go, i never thought it was the smoking, but it is, as a quit for a couple months last year and saw my hair regrow, but i returned to light smoking and now after 10 months it is thinning/balding again. I am taking schizandra to counter the effects with some success but it is obvious to me i need to quit. I researched and foung that the vascular system contracts with any smoke, even pollution, as the body protects itself from the contaminents. thanks for the comments
@sedd LMAO i agree
Thanks to all the people who took time to post about their stories, it really helps! Unlike some doctors. I am quitting the smokes too and will report back after a few months.
Some one mentioned that a healthy lifestyle also helps to improve your hair which I find to be true, I mean look at all the athletes and gym junkies, most of them have full healthy hair.
ok i believe the hair becomes thicker after you quit smoking but what about men who have never smoked and are as bald as badgers
3rd day without a smoke. Skin feels smoother and less shedding of the hair. I will update everyone in a few months.
I was shedding about 200 hairs per day when I started smoking again after a 5 year break. After I noticed the shedding and dry hair, I quit smoking for 2 months and shaved my head at the same time so it can grow back healthier. when my hair grew in, I did a test and I pulled it as hard as I could and only about 1 strand would fall out each time as opposed to 7 or 8 hairs while smoking( just slightly pulling on it) I was not loosing hair 2 months after quitting and it was the best feeling ever…..I started smoking again and again am facing the same problem, just a slight movement through my hair breaks off 7 or 8 hairs EVERY TIME. I’v been smoking for 4 months again and decided to quit today because I remember how much STRONGER and healthier my hair felt when I didn’t smoke
i have to admit reading some of these stories makes me feel better about my situation, knowing im not alone out here. over this past summer i noticed i was losing a lot of hair. i dont have a bald spot, but my hair has gotten thinner and it appears my hairline might be starting to reside. it bothers the hell out of me. im 20 years old and i never pictured myself like this. i have been smoking weed and cigarettes since i was 16, and everyday since i was 18. i just quit both two days ago, and hope i can stay strong. if quitting doesnt work i guess ill try rogaine and all that but im hoping its just smoking. anyway ill keep you guys updated.
I am 27 and my hair has been thinning slowly for about 4 years now and I have been smoking a pack a day for 9 years. In September 2010 I quit my position in the corporate world to pursue a business online. I am at home all day on my laptops. I started to smoke more and more and now I smoke a pack and a half to even 2 packs a day if I drink alcohol. Also, my condo is always a little smokey as i clear it out about 10 times a day but tend to smoke right after I clear the rooms out (stupid I know, Fucking Phillip Morris). I also started smoking 1/2 eighth a day of pot. Last month a big chunk of my hair was missing at the top of my head out of no where. I have been taking Biotin and all types of vitamins for about a month now. I see little to no change. I have been researching it and found that it does seem that smoking is definitely the problem. I will quit tomorrow and keep posting here. Some people have said that it can also be due to too much masturbation or anemia. Red blood cell count gets low and your body is lacking Iron but it seems to me out of all my research that the main reason is not enough oxygen to your hair follicles and smoking is one of the things, if not the biggest, to slow blood flow in our system. The scalp is also the least place on our body’s to get blood to as it is the highest point from our heart. So, lowering your head below your heart everyday for at least 10-20min. will help. You can bend over or lay on the edge of your bed or whatever works best as long as you put your head below your heart and get more blood to your head.
Hi all! I’ve been reading your comments and decided to add my own experience. i started smoking cigarettes at 23. im 28 now. i always had thick hair before i started smoking, but i noticed significant hair loss once i started smoking. im a black female with white and native american ancestry, so my hair is soft and wavy/curly like corbin bleu from high school musical. anyway i noticed that when i started smoking my hair suddenly became coarse, nappy, rough, and damaged looking. but i continued to smoke. i suddenly decided to quit in feb 2010. my hair grew back like wildfire! back to the soft, wavy, curliness that it once was. but lo and behold, i started smoking again. and within 8 months my hair has gone right back to the nappy mess it was when i was smoking the last time. so i have quit once again and for good b/c i really don’t like this! i chopped all of my hair off b/c i just couldnt help it out. i can’t speak for everyone else, but i found that for me there IS a direct correlation between smoking and hairloss. when i quit, it grew in quickly and thicker. when i started smoking, my hair texture changed for the worse and the slow growth and shedding began. but forget about hair loss. SMOKING KILLS!! i never had a respiratory infection until i started smoking!
i posted about a month and half ago about how i had lost hair and i was quitting smoking along with all the other drugs i was doing. i am here to tell you that my hair grew back. im not saying that it will happen for everyone but if you are smoking and doing other drugs while experiencing hair loss it could easily be that. it can mess up your chemical balance. i started eating better, working out five days a week and taking vitamins. Its not all the way better but every area has improved greatly. i still go out and drink but im not doing it as often or drinking as much. i hope this helped and good luck to everybody
Thank you everyone for your comments, especially people that have been updating their progress. I’ve been thinning hair at a slow rate for years now, in which I have been a 1/2-1 pack/day smoker for about 10 years. I always felt I didn’t have a reason to quit smoking, because I knew I wouldn’t have to face the health consequences till later. Now I have a reason, which is to improve my hair loss. If there’s a chance, it’s definitely a good enough a reason to take. I’ll pick my hair over smoking any day. I officially will quit today 2/14/2011 at 2:19 am. Hopefully, I can be one of those people that update in the future stating I have stayed off the bad habit and have begun to notice a difference in my hair. Thanks again everyone for the much needed motivation!
I’m so glad I found these comments.
I began smoking about a year ago, and my hair has become drastically thinner. It’s embarrassing beyond belief, and I’m only 17 years old. After reading these comments last night, I decided to quit smoking. Today has been my first day, and I really hope I see thicker hair by summer. I’ll post again in June with before and after pictures. Wish me luck!
Hey everyone. I’ve been smoking steadily since I was 16, I am now 24. My grandfather has some recession and smoked earlier in his life, most of the recession is due to genes. My mom smokes very little and has sort of thin hair. So there are hair problems in the family BUT. I am now 24, and I have more of a recession than my grandfather, and my hair is thin as hell. If I go only a day without shaving it down to nothing, you can play connect the dots with my hair. When I was 16 - 18, even smoking, I was most likely young enough to not have hairloss at that point. My skin was extremely smooth, I never got pimples, my hair was long, shiny, and girls use to play with it on the bus. I’m quitting smoking officially tomorrow, when I wake up. So my last cigarette will be tonight. I’ll be joining a gym soon, I already eat healthy, organic and such. So I’m going to bookmark and update everyone on any changes. Wouldn’t this be a great reason for everyone to quit smoking? It’s stupid that we wouldn’t stop for the fact that it’s deadly, but our looks and egos are obviously more important :).
Hi Kenny,
how is your quit going? any updates yet?
i can relate to many people’s stories and i don’t think that anyone here is crazy. because there is no doubt that smoking makes certain peoples hair thin..and to others, it does nothing!
i began smoking weed hard in august 2010, and today, 8 months later, my hair has become a mess again.. i smoke about 5-12 fat joints a day… my hair used to be really full and thick and now its so thin in some places (temples and crown).. my skin and scalp have also become so greasy.. I’m not overweight either.. there are no signs of hair loss on either sides of my family..
i know weed induced hair loss happens to me in my chronic phases.. my hair thinned from weed in my early and mid 20’s,and teens… so i know why it has gradually thinned again… my hair thickened up every time by quitting puffing, exercising and eating better.. so I’m gonna have to do it again.. though its so hard giving up weed.. the transition of lifestyles is just so drastic god damn it..i know I’ll thank myself in the future, but the now will be painful…. I’m gonna buy a rowing machine to help me sweat out toxins and to help with insomnia that goes hand in hand with quitting weed… it will also help with rage and irritability issues.. it’ll help clean my lungs too… gotta start focusing on health and natural highs again..i find that creating a really heavy sweat from your scalp is a great way to promote hair growth and cleanse your skin from the inside.. it also makes you feel great.. i hope that my story and tips helped you as much as yours helped me.. good luck to everyone.
Smoking pot or cigs will cause/contribute to hair loss. It’s tough to stop cuz its really a lifestyle change. Just stop smoking it all, go without fast food, and get some exercise and you will be a new person. Seriously, way more productive, healthy, and confident. You have to survive the transition, but if you can then you’re golden. Cut out soda too.
well, its been 10 days since i quit smoking weed cold turkey… and guys, i swear on my life that i already see an minor improvement in my hair, and a big improvement in my skin… i wash my hair every second day now, there is no need to wash it every day anymore.. i remember looking at myself in the mirror in the early hours before going to bed, after having smoked a good 10 joints all day long and my skin looked so tired… it’s 2:20am now and my skin is looking bright and way, way less greasy. it really makes a big difference for me. what can i say?
i did buy a rowing machine like i said i would and i use it with rage and fury almost every day!.(in a dedicated trance, i battle fate itself on that thing, the blood flow is intense and the exhaustion leaves you calm and tired. its a great feeling).. just in 10 days.. i promise you guys, knowing what weed does to my body, i wouldn’t even smoke a joint of the sweetest most dank bud out there if you payed me right now..
I’m starting to think much more clearly and I’m becoming optimistic again.. my sex drive has skyrocketed too.. i find that i am way more productive now and less misanthropic and paranoid.. paranoia is pretty much gone actually. no more staring into empty space depressed and miserable anymore..all these things will in turn help my hair as well.it just makes sense.
many of you might think that I’m either a bullshiter, or even crazy, but i am dead serious here.
I’ll admit that my sleep is kinda bad, (especially the first nights) but I’ve bought some 5-htp (check it out) and it really helps me sleep better..(although it makes you have some weird dreams, some of you might like that though. lol). and even though i don’t zonk out like a stoned bum for 12 hours, i now sleep 6-7 hours and feel so full of energy when i wake up..no kidding.. i lift weights in the mornings now. (i do 1 hour of exercise a day)
i know now that weed isn’t for me.. but stupidly, when enough time goes by, i forget about that. but i seriously think I’m done with it for life now. why pay my money for so much negativity? we only live once, and you realize that bluntly when you’re clear headed. boredom shouldn’t be drowned with weed. boredom should be filled with productivity.
I’ll be back in a month. good luck to everyone.. and don’t forget, the need for weed is all in your head. if i did it, anyone can.
So i decided to quit smoking today. The reason is my hair line at the front is getting more and more noticeable. I dont see any hair on my pillow or what not, or when i shower barely any hair comes out. However someone once told me that smoking in young people is a big factor to hair loss. Therefore im deciding to give it a try today. I see little blonde hairs when the hair is going missing and little light brown hairs. I figure they are not getting enough blood circulation or oxygen and the skin pore gets clogged. So im hoping by quitting smoking that it will open up the pore and cause my hair to grow back. its funny cause just the front of my hair is weaker and the rest of my hair is full and thick. so here we go wish me luck hope to see results very soon. Keep you guys posted.
Hi All, just quit smoking today. Found this thread and it’s enlightening.
Have been a very heavy roll ups smoker for many years and am looking to combat my thinning hair.
Kicking the evil weed into touch looks like a good place to start.
Good luck to all.
Hi, quit smoking 1/1/2011. Didn’t quit to regrow hair, in fact I never thought about it. This morning I noticed a few small hairs popping up below my receding hair line. Got to looking a little bit closer and these small new hairs seem to be everywhere! Thought I might be crazy…then I found this wonderful online conversation. I hope it’s not something I just didn’t notice before. It’s been a few days short of 3 months and even two weeks ago I felt that my hair was looking healthier. Good luck to everyone!
Uhmm it’s me again…after more than a year even though.So I didn’t really succeed on quitting a year ago but I did succeed now,it’s been 36 days without smoking including today.My hair never stopped thining during the whole year actually and I feel like I should take those damn blood tests or whatever they are.Noone in my family have alopecia,my father has more hair than me lol,I guess I’ll report back to you guys after 2 or 3 other months.Goof luck to yall fellows
One last thing,since 15 I’ve participated in lots of male beauty contests,in some I won in some others I didn’t but the point is if I lose all my beautiful blonde hair all my life will change,cmooooon it’s gotta be smoking….!!!!!!
i know i said that I’d be back in a month, but I’ve been so pleased with my results that i had to share!! my hair shedding has stopped COMPLETELY! been off weed for a month now.
its now been 72 hours since i showered and my hair is still not greasy.. when i run my fingers through it and pull on it, nothing comes out!! this is amazing because when i was smoking weed, I’d need to wash my hair every day, (or every other day)and when i did, clumps would come out and my scalp was severely itchy!
my hair has also grown quite a bit in this month without weed. this can only be good news guys.. i rarely think about myself balding anymore.. i don’t think it will happen to me anymore.. but when i was smoking, that’s all I’d think about because of how much hair was falling out!
in another 3 months, i reckon my hair will be perfect again. its been just a month now and i see no thin patches anymore, I’m so pleased and proud of myself for having the courage and willpower to quit! fuck weed forever.
Well two weeks off the smokes and can’t say I’m noticing any improvement at all.
Early days tho I guess.
by the way, i still smoke rollies. about 4 small cigarettes a day. and i drink alcohol every now and then..
Hey Cgaig, i doubt that cigarette smoke has much to do with hair loss.. maybe a tiny bit… its the weed that makes certain people lose hair..
i believe that the people who experience paranoia, depression and anxiety while high, are the ones who experience hair loss from weed.. those who can smoke blunts and be social and happy need not worry (about their hair at least).
- the link is between stress (paranoia, anxiety ,depression) and hair loss. your health is bound to improve, but i don’t know about your hair.
Hi Larry yes I’ve noticed the common thread here is weed smoking.
Have quit regular heavy smoking regardless and just to improve my health, tho losing hair tempts me back to smoke due to the sadness it brings
Craig i can assure you that your hair will improve,I’m almost 2 months smoke free now and I already feel better,better health,better hair!!I haven’t got the male baldness pattern and still I was losing my hair soon after starting to smoke!!Have you done the blood tests btw??
Hi everyone!
Well, I started smoking almost 2 years ago (I’m a soon to be 27 year old) and in the past few months I started to notice some serious hairloss and thinning on the crown of my head. I’ve always had thick and great hair, but now it’s just awful! You can clearly see my scalp right through the top of my head! It’s been driving me crazy so I started smoking even more from stress. I notice that if I even brush my hair lightly a few strands fall out. I want to quit smoking and see if there are any changes. I’ve tried a few times already with no success. WISH ME LUCK! I want my great hair back! Best of luck to all of you also, and I’ll try and report back with my results soon!
Patrick try patches to help you quit, I’m using them and they help a great deal. Good luck, hairloss is a shitty aflfliction that’s for sure.
Craig, i know the vicious cycle you speak of.. that used to be me! its hard to break but you can do it, because i did it too! and seriously, reading Patrick’s last message about being able to see your scalp sends shivers down my spine because that was me a month ago.. some scary shit!
i still smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol from time to time (cant help it), but no more weed for me ever again!
this is what you should do if you are serious about stopping the hair loss and becoming healthy again. try to run a lot and sweat out toxins. at least an hour of exercise EVERY day. drink 2 liters of water a day and cut out all, or most of the sugars in your diet.. NEVER drink pop. cut out ALL junk food and fast food. try to eat healthy like fruits veggies, nuts, meat, rye bread, oat meal, fish, milk etc. take a multivitamin specifically formulated for hair problems, try to have normal sleeping patterns, buy organic shampoo (sulfate free).. go for a colon cleansing (i never did one but i want to after all the trash I’ve been eating for years).. while watching TV, sit upside down with your head hanging to promote some serious blood flow to your scalp for 30-45 mins. (not kidding) do all these things and i promise you that you will see a real improvement. i was a chronic burned out lazy, balding pot head and i did it, so i know you can do it to.
i used to be able to see my scalp like Patrick, i worried about my hair every effing day, because the problem was clear!! showering every day, i would tussle my hair over the sink and see at least 30 hairs each time. and my drain was clogged with hair.. i was going bald hardcore! now i promise you, i never worry anymore! i can go 4 DAYS without showering and when i tussle my hair over the sink not many come out, like 10 -15 and i haven’t cleaned my drain in weeks..
by cutting out weed and living healthier my hair has become very strong again! i look at it all over with a mirror and i see full coverage now! i can blast light on my hairline, temples and crown without feeling sorry for myself anymore! i don’t know what else to tell you. please just try the things i suggest, stick to them and please let me know how you did! what do you got to lose? try it for a month! it will work! because health starts from the inside, and is reflected on the outside. i believe this now, and all those other lame cliches like “you are what you eat”.
i might sound like a sewer rat scam artist, but I’m not making jack shit by doing this! i just know how painful it is seeing yourself deteriorate day by day and if i can help someone, i will try to.. all it takes is time, dedication and a little money for the products and food.
Well, I’m back to report…
Ok, so today is actually the first day of my quitting. I have really struggled with it and it’s been driving me crazy, but I’m ready to do it. My hair is starting to fall out like crazy and my scalp is still clearly visible, so I’m hoping for the best and I’ll report back with my results. Stay strong everyone!
even if it wont work, dont you think it is time to quit smoking? You should quit smoking, eat a bit more, and relax like you have retired. Living a relaxed life has more points than the life of a chimney in my books.
Seven weeks off the cigs, no benefit to my hair whatsoever.
Health must be improving tho
Ok, I’m back.
On my last post I said that I was quitting that day and I was going to chart the results. Well, I ended up starting up again after a day.
This time, I feel I’m ready. I no longer can stand what I’m doing to my body and there are too many benefits to gain from quitting. I want my hair back, yea….but I really want to be healthy and smoke free.
I will come back soon and let you guys know the results. I just crushed the cigs I had left and threw them out. I’m ready… Please wish me luck.
Nine weeks off cigarettes, no improvement whatsoever to my hair, still thinning, no regrowth, the continued loss of hair makes me yearn for the comfort of a roll up, but I guess improved Health is the obvious main benefit of being smoke free.
12 weeks off the cigs and I’m back on them
Tempory blip-but any way didn’t do anything for my hairloss.
So, I’m 22, my hairline appears to be receding at an alarming rate since January. At the moment I look pretty fine, no one can has really noticed yet that I have massive receded bits to each side of my head as I can cover them up with my longer hair. The idea that in 6 months or so it will be really obvious is pretty scary.
Anyway, I don’t smoke a massive amount, maybe 6 a day? I also don’t think it’s a case of my hair thinning, rather a receding hairline, so maybe quitting the little I do smoke isn’t going to do anything. What are the chances, though, that if I stop my hair might start to grow back a bit?
The main problem is that I get so depressed by my hairline that all I want to do is have a cigarette/alcohol.
so im 25 years old, and when i was 17 i started smoking hookah. you might know hookah is worse then cigg.
i started loosing hair when i was 18..and went into complete depression mode. i used to have beautiful thick hair and now its basically nothing left. im hoping that now that ive quit smoking hookah after 8 years my hair could come back…what do you guys think..give me yourr input..
STAY AWAY FROM SMOKING ANYTHING..
HOOKAHS, CIGGS, WEED
its not worth the stress, torture and depression i went through
felt like i was living in a coma for 8 years up until now
where im taking a step.
When people get hair transplants, the surgeons tell them not to smoke because it will inhibit hair regrowth. There’s gotta be a reason for that, right? Also, it takes about 4 months of Rogaine use before any results start to appear. Quitting smoking for 9 weeks isn’t enough time for anything to happen. Especially if it takes Rogain2 4 weeks to work.
@ sam
Fair enough - I’m going to stop smoking again anyway, hate the ashtray mouth I’ve got again, regardless of hairloss, and hopefully it’ll benefit that too in the long run.
can someone please tell me if i stop smoking, will my hair come back
ive been smoking for 8 years w no history of hair loss in my family but im very bald right now..
its been 4 months since I’ve quit weed and started to live healthier. my hair was a thin frizzy mess when i started.. you could clearly see a greasy scalp through some peach fuzz hair… and today, 4 months later, its extremely rich and shiny!! its even mid length now and it still looks thick! i take a mirror and look everywhere around my head, and there is no trace of scalp anywhere!
im totally convinced that pot smokers who experience paranoia, fear and anxiety from weed, will also lose their hair… like i was! i had no reason for losing my hair! my dad is 67 and he has a full head.. my bro is a weed fiend but he doesn’t experience the anxiety from the weed, so it doesn’t affect his hair.
4 months later and it seems so stupid that it was so hard to quit, because today i wouldn’t even smoke if you payed me.. I’ve also become so much more sociable, have a girlfriend and a couple other girls lined up for me! if i was still smoking weed, i wouldn’t have these experiences.. I’d still be miserable, alone, balding playing 360 high!
fuck that guys. don’t be fools! we have ONE life, and its too short to be miserable! if you think weed is fucking your life up,or making you lose your hair, just quit it… get over the initial hard period, and after that, everything will be fine!! weed isn’t for everybody!!
I had always beautiful shiny hair. always got comments about it until 2 years ago (at the age of 31) i started smoking. stupid i know. after 3 months i started shedding like a dog but it never occurd to me that smoking could be the cause. my search for a good dermetologist began!! i saw total of 7 dermetologists and spent thosands of dollars. they all asked for blood tests and sinece everything was normal, they blamed it on stress. it was bull as i never stress. i am just not a stressy kinda person. the funny thing is i told some of these doctors that the only thing that has changed in my lifestyle is that i have taken up smoking.
they said no way, this is not the reason unless i am smoking 3 packs a day. i had always been smoking 10 sigarettes or less per day mind you. but after all, i decided to stop smoking and see what happens. surely even after 3 days i saw results. my hair stopped from falling out and after a month, i had a lot of regrowth and my hair is shiny and nice again.
i just want to tell you this. doctors are hand in hand with the tobacco companies. i know for a fact that they recive money and insentives not to tip people off about the dangers of cigarettes. of course we all know the dangers of cigarettes on our internal organs as it has been proven and is difficult to hide but when it comes to hairloss, this is a huge booming business for them and the pharma!! they will never admit as this is the way they make money of weak people like us. so help this conspiracy fail and be strong and quit the damn ciggies for your own good. you’ll save a lot of money in doctor fees, hair products and also the money you spend on cigarettes itself. Peace to you all and be strong
Good luck.
I am 28, smoker for 7 years, my hair loss started almost 3 years ago, in 6 months i lost 40% of hair all over, top,back,sides. I am using minox (2 years), proscar for 7 months with no improvement also no further hairloss. I dont know was my hairloss due to stress or smoking.
After reading this blog and comments i will quit smoking soon and see what will happen.
There’s no scienfitic research which supports the theory that quitting smoking aids hair re-growth, that’s not to say that it’s not possible because in my experience is IS!
To the poster who is using nicotine patches; PLEASE listen to my advice and stop using patches, how can you treat nicotine addiction by giving yourself the very drug you’re addicted to? think about it, patches, gum, none of these methods work and neither does the will power method work. Read Allen Carrs Easy Way To Stop Smoking, once you have removed the brain washing that nicotine addiction causes and is the reason why you are kept in the trap, will you give up permanently. Remember smoking is not about enjoyment if it was you would only need to smoke one ciggy a day, it’s all about relieving the withdrawal pangs the previous ciggy created; nicotine doesn’t fill the void it creates it! Good luck!
NickD, this specific blog aims at sharing experiences about whether there is noticable hair re-growth after quitting smoking or not. your input will be much much helpful if you could share your experiences about hair re-growth rather than ways of stopping smoking - there are tonnes of websites for that
thanks for all the infos and motivation as well, I smoked since I was 14 and now im 32, doing 1-2 packs a day. I havent notice any problems on my respiratory but on my hair it is really tremendous. I WILL QUIT SMOKING STARTING TOMORROW.