Case Study

I am a 41 year old male with Androgenetic Alopecia or Pattern Baldness (V on the chart). I started developing a bald patch when I was 33. My father is British and my mother Dutch. Nearly all the males on my mothers side of the family have Androgenetic Alopecia. My Dad is also very bald with just a little hair around the sides and back of the head (VII on the chart) although the rest of the males on his side have normal hair growth. We both too suffered from acne during adolescence, perhaps another sign of excess dihydrotestosterone (DHT).

I was introduced to this Thai herbal baldness product via word of mouth from a very dear Thai friend. Of course I was a little sceptical at first but my friend insisted the treatment worked and she herself was using the ladies version of the treatment to strengthen her own long hair. The treatment had already been tested on both female and male Thai clients with excellent results. Simply looking at the fruit of the Citrus Hystrix, one can see the squeezing / pulling ability from the bumpy surface of the skin.

From the day I started using the treatment (I started with the ladies version for 2 months), it had a good feel about it and I could sense something beneficial was occurring, like a thirst being quenched. From the beginning of May until the end of August I diligently massaged my head with the treatment nearly every day. But I am a bit of an impatient person and towards the end of August I told my friend I was beginning to have a few doubts.

A few days later, on 21st August, I was given a small bottle containing 50ml of the extra dry treatment. I poured some onto a cotton ball and started rubbing it on my head. Almost immediately I felt a tingling, itchy sensation. I poured more onto the cotton and continued rubbing the treatment on my head. I did this 5 times during the day which in hindsight was too much, but I could feel something big was occuring and I wanted results. Waxy flakes started to appear on the surface of my head and it felt like some of the substance was also flowing down inside the back of my head. I wanted to take a shower and for the next few weeks I showered several times a day.

The next day I continued with the regular treatment and used some of the extra dry too. The cold tap water in the basin turned green as I spent more than one hour doing treatment. With each rinsing I could feel tiny waxy granules as they came out from my scalp pores. But I overdid the treatment on these two days because I started to feel nauseas and on the third day my scalp became unbearably itchy. I couldn’t sleep because of the itchiness and had to run down to the local shop to buy some coconut oil. The oil helped and I was able to get some sleep.

The following day I decided to stop treatment for a few days. After the pause, for the following 3 weeks, until 11th September, I did 20 hours or 1200 minutes of treatment.

White, waxy, flakes appeared on the surface of my head

As the waxy substance comes out, new hair growth appears. The above pictures show new hair growth after just 8 hours of treatment spread over 6 days. During this time I used 500ml of regular treatment and no extra dry. I bent my head over the wash basin to allow more of the substance to leave my body via the scalp pores. Treatment time = 480 minutes.

12th Sept: Treatment time = 150 minutes.
13th Sept: Treatment time = 245 minutes.
The 13th was a big day. Much more of the waxy substance came out from the scalp pores today and I used 500ml of regular treatment. I am eating lots of bananas and oysters about twice a week.
14th Sept: Treatment time = 110 minutes.
15th Sept: Treatment time = 30 minutes. I have used 7 litres of regular treatment and 180ml extra dry treatment since starting at the beginning of May.
18th Sept: Treatment time = 80 minutes.
19th Sept: Treatment time = 40 minutes.
20th Sept: Treatment time = 40 minutes.
21st Sept: Treatment time = 220 minutes.

22nd Sept: Treatment time = 65 minutes. Trimmed hair to approx. 1mm length.
23rd Sept: Treatment time = 70 minutes.
25th Sept: Light combing throughout the day.
26th Sept: Lots of dry skin came off the top of my head. Used some coconut oil to soothe the new skin.
27th Sept: Treatment time = 70 minutes.
28th Sept: Treatment time = 80 minutes. Rubbed on some extra dry treatment before going to bed.
29th Sept: Rubbed on some extra dry treatment.
30th Sept: Treatment time = 75 minutes.
1st Oct: Rubbed on some extra dry treatment before going to bed. Woke up twice during the night with an itchy head. Used a comb to scratch the itchy areas.
2nd Oct: For the past 2 mornings I have been able to rub some of the waxy substance out from my scalp while taking my morning shower. With the shower water flowing over my head I rubbed the fringe areas quite hard and could feel the waxy substance coming out the scalp pores. After the shower my scalp felt dry so I used some more coconut oil.
3rd Oct: Treatment time = 150 minutes.
4th Oct: Treatment time = 100 minutes.
5th Oct: Treatment time = 80 minutes. Rubbed on some extra dry treatment.
6th Oct: Treatment time = 105 minutes. I purchased some BIO ZINC today. Each tablet contains 25mg Zinc, 50mg Vitamin B6 + other minerals and vitamins. The RDA for Zinc is approx 12mg per day and a serving of 6 oysters contains aprox. 75mg Zinc.
7th Oct: Treatment time = 185 minutes.
8th Oct: Treatment time = 190 minutes.
9th Oct: Treatment time = 180 minutes. Trimmed hair to approx. 1mm length.
10th Oct: Treatment time = 95 minutes. Some totals for the record. Grand total regular treatment time since 21st August 2009 (50 days) = 4110 minutes or nearly 69 hours. Grand total usage of regular treatment since May 2009 = 9.7 litres. Grand total usage of extra dry treatment = 210ml.
11th Oct: Treatment time = 80 minutes.
13th Oct: Treatment time = 70 minutes. Rubbed on some extra dry treatment before going to bed.
14th Oct: Treatment time = 55 minutes. Rubbed on some extra dry treatment before going to bed.
15th Oct: Treatment time = 65 minutes.
16th Oct: Treatment time = 70 minutes.
17th Oct: No regular treatment today. Rubbed on some extra dry treatment before going to bed.
18th Oct: Treatment time = 70 minutes.
22nd Oct: Treatment time = 90 minutes. Trimmed hair to approx. 1mm.
23rd Oct: Rubbed on some extra dry treatment.
24th Oct: Rubbed on some extra dry treatment.
25th Oct: Treatment time = 40 minutes. Rubbed on some extra dry treatment before going to bed.
28th Oct: Treatment time = 30 minutes. Rubbed on some extra dry treatment before going to bed.
29th Oct: Treatment time = 30 minutes. Rubbed on some extra dry treatment before going to bed.
31st Oct: Treatment time = 90 minutes. Rubbed on some extra dry treatment before going to bed. Have used another 1.5 litres regular treatment + another 60ml extra dry treatment.
1st Nov: Treatment time = 50 minutes.
2nd Nov: Treatment time = 60 minutes.
6th Nov: Treatment time = 45 minutes.
7th Nov: Treatment time = 110 minutes. Trimmed hair to approx. 1mm length.
10th Nov: Treatment time = 20 minutes.
12th Nov: Treatment time = 20 minutes.
13th Nov: Treatment time = 30 minutes.
14th Nov: Treatment time = 40 minutes. Have used another 700ml regular treatment.
15th Nov: Treatment time = 30 minutes.
16th Nov: Treatment time = 40 minutes.
17th Nov: Treatment time = 40 minutes.
21st Nov: Treatment time = 40 minutes.
23rd Nov: Trimmed hair to approx. 1mm length.
27th Nov: Treatment time = 60 minutes.
6th Dec: Treatment time = 60 minutes. Have used another 500ml regular treatment.
7th Dec: Treatment time = 20 minutes.
8th Dec: Treatment time = 20 minutes.
9th Dec: Treatment time = 40 minutes.
10th Dec: Treatment time = 100 minutes. I had the great pleasure of speaking with the lady who makes the treatment today. She was surprised to hear that it was taking such a long time for new hair growth to appear and also surprised that I was using up so much treatment. She advised me to simply leave the treatment on my head for upto 3 hours per session, with maximum 2 sessions possible each day. 'Treatment time' from now on therefore =  the time with the treatment on my head under a shower cap.

11th Dec: Treatment time = 100 minutes. 2 sessions + rinsing time
12th Dec: Treatment time = 205 minutes. 2 sessions + rinsing time
13th Dec: Treatment time = 150 minutes. 1 session + rinsing time
14th Dec: Treatment time = 210 minutes. 1 session + rinsing time
15th Dec: Treatment time = 150 minutes. 1 session + rinsing time
16th Dec: Treatment time = 180 minutes. 1 session + rinsing time
17th Dec: Treatment time = 180 minutes. 1 session + rinsing time
18th Dec: Treatment time = 150 minutes. 1 session + rinsing time
19th Dec: Treatment time = 240 minutes. 2 sessions + rinsing time
20th Dec: Treatment time = 240 minutes. 2 sessions + 30 minutes rinsing under a cold shower. During rinsing I especially rub the fringe areas to push out the waxy substance. The fringe area is the circular line where the bald patch meets the hair.

21st Dec: No regular treatment today. Used some extra dry in the morning. Showered at 3pm. Lots of granules came out as I rinsed my head under the shower. Applied some more extra dry at 5pm. Things are moving forward very quickly at the moment all due to leaving the treatment on the head for much longer.
22nd Dec: Treatment time = 150 minutes. 1 session + rinsing time approx. 20 minutes. In the shower this morning I again noticed how much substance I was able to massage out from the scalp pores particularly on the top 'halo' where the majority of the waxy substance remains. The patty is getting smaller. As already mentioned, the waxy substance can be rubbed out from the scalp pores with effective massage.
25th to 28th Dec: Used extra dry treatment every day. No regular treatment due to holidays.
29th Dec: Treatment time = 180 minutes. 1 session. Have used another 500ml regular treatment.
30th Dec: Treatment time = 70 minutes. 1 session. Trimmed hair to approx. 1mm length. Rubbed on some extra dry treatment before going to bed.
31st Dec: Treatment time = 120 minutes. 1 session.
1st Jan: Treatment time = 120 minutes. 1 session.
3rd Jan: Treatment time = 120 minutes. 1 session. Have used another 500ml regular treatment.
6th Jan: Treatment time = 120 minutes. 1 session.
8th Jan: Treatment time = 180 minutes. 1 session. The beauty with this treatment is that one can feel the beneficial changes to the scalp long before new hair appears.
10th Jan: Treatment time = 120 minutes. 1 session.
11th Jan: Treatment time = 180 minutes. 1 session. These days I sometimes just go into the bathroom to rinse my head with cold water and every time I am able to rub away more waxy granules even without using any treatment.
13th Jan: Treatment time = 180 minutes. 1 session.
14th Jan: Treatment time = 150 minutes + 120 minutes. 2 sessions.
15th Jan: Rinsed under the shower for over one hour just allowing cold water over my head and rubbing away the waxy substance. Used some regular treatment but just put it on for about 10 minutes before lots more rinsing and rubbing..
16th Jan: Rinsed under shower again for about 40 minutes. This can be quite water consuming! I hold the shower head in one hand and rub / massage with the other hand. This really feels like the last stage of the treatment procedure. I can feel changes to my scalp on a daily basis.
17th Jan: Rinsed under the shower for 20 + 20 minutes.
18th Jan: Treatment time = 180 minutes. 1 session.
19th Jan: Rinsed under the shower for 15 + 15 minutes.
20th Jan: Treatment time = 150 minutes. 1 session.
21st Jan: More and more hair is appearing, especially lots of tiny yet firm white hairs that are difficult to see but easy to feel. Looking carefully, one can see some scalp pores starting to appear.

22nd Jan: Treatment time = 120 minutes. 1 session. Trimmed hair to approx. 1mm length.
23rd Jan: Treatment time = 180 minutes. 1 session. Lots of rubbing and rinsing too. Things are moving forward very nicely. Have used another 500ml regular treatment.
24th Jan: Treatment time = 210 minutes. 1 session. Used the wooden comb with wider bristles to gently comb the area to keep scalp pores open with some treatment on head.
25th Jan: Rubbed the fringe areas quite hard under cold flowing water. I think it's better to use flowing water rather than water in a basin but it's more water consuming this way.
26th Jan: Treatment time = 150 minutes. 1 session. Didn't use a shower cap this time. Wet hair under flowing cold water, applied treatment, rubbed / massaged head, rinsed under flowing cold water. Did this 3 times. I am pleased my hair is short as it is easier to access the scalp.
27th Jan: Treatment time = 100 minutes + 120 minutes. 2 sessions. Rubbed and rinsed 3 times and then used the shower cap for 2nd session.
28th Jan: Treatment time = 180 minutes. Rubbed quite firmly in circular motion after applying treatment and then left treatment on head under shower cap. Loads of waxy & gas like (gassy) granules / substance coming out. The right side of my head seems to be more clear of waxy substance than the left side so I am concentrating more on that area. I am still using the wooden comb with wide bristles to gently comb with treatment on head and also combing a lot these days between treatment time. Have used another 500ml regular treatment.
29th Jan: Treatment time = 60 minutes. 20 minutes rubbing & masaging under flowing cold water and then applied treatment. The left side is clearing nicely. Rubbed / massaged again in the evening under cold shower for 30 minutes.
30th Jan: Treatment time = 120 minutes and then rubbing / massaging for 30 minutes under cold shower.
31st Jan: Just rinsed under cold shower for about 20 minutes.
1st Feb: Treatment time = 120 minutes. Rubbed under cold shower for 10 minutes. Applied treatment for 20 minutes. Lots of treatment seems to enter scalp pores. Massaged gently, applied more treatment, massaged gently, applied more treatment. Left on head with shower cap & small towel (used as head band) for 120 minutes. Then rinsed and rubbed for 20 minutes under cold shower. Things are feeling great on top. I still comb a lot during the day between treatment, gently raking the lawn. When my head is very moist I can feel the patty of waxy substance under the skin. It is still quite large but definitely getting thinner and smaller. What is interesting is that the patty encompasses the area on top where the visible bald patch is, and it also extends down the back of the head to the neck. So, during balding, while the areas are very slowly filling up on top with the waxy substance, some of this substance is seeping down into the body! I have very mild arthritis that seems to be improving. Is there a connection due to the fact there is less waxy substance seeping into my body? Most doctors say Pattern Baldness is a benign condition. With this experience, I wouldn't make that statement.
2nd Feb: No regular treatment today, just 20 minutes rinsing under cold shower.
3rd Feb: Treatment time = 150 minutes. 15 minutes wetting head & rubbing, then treatment for 150 minutes, then rinsing & rubbing for 15 minutes. Loads of waxy granules came out while rinsing. Have used another 500ml regular treatment.
4th Feb: Hair grows approx. 0.4mm per day so it sometimes feels appropriate to have a rest for a day or 2. This allows the re-awakened roots a little time to adjust to their new, clean environment. With gentle combing and under the shower (I used tepid water today), the waxy / gassy substance(s) still leaves the body. The bristles on my comb get visibly dusty very quickly when combing over dry hair these days.
5th Feb: Just rinsing & rubbing lightly for 20 minutes under cold shower.
6th Feb: Treatment time = 150 minutes. 20 minutes rinsing & rubbing under cold water and then 15 minutes applying treatment. Quite a lot of treatment seems to enter scalp pores. 25 minutes rinsing and rubbing after leaving treatment on head.
7th Feb: Treatment time = 100 minutes. 30 mintes rinsing, rubbing and applying treatment and 15 minutes rinsing and rubbing after leaving treatment on head.
9th Feb: Treatment time = 120 minutes. 20 minutes rinsing, rubbing and applying treatment and 30 minutes rinsing and rubbing after leaving treatment on head. I should note that rinsing and rubbing are done at the same time. One hand holds the shower head and the other hand rubs / massages. I usually rub with my index finger only, moving my hand in a circular motion (anti-clockwise with my right hand and clockwise with my left hand). By having the cold water flowing exactly over the area I am rubbing / massaging I can apply more pressure to squeeze out the waxy substance. Sometimes, once my head is nice and moist from the cold shower water, I apply treatment and then rub / massage straight away but this method uses up more treatment.
10th Feb: Just rinsing and rubbing under a cold shower for 20 mins.
11th Feb: Just rinsing and rubbing under a cold shower for 20 mins.
12th Feb: Just rinsing and rubbing under a cold shower for 20 mins.
13th Feb: Treatment time = 120 minutes. 15 minutes rinsing, rubbing and applying treatment and 20 minutes rinsing and rubbing after leaving treatment on head. Sometimes I adjust the water temperature very slightly to luke warm and notice a different sensation on my index fingers when rubbing. Warmer water is ok to rub and rinse before applying treatment but when washing treatment away I rinse only with cold or very slightly tepid water.
14th Feb: Rinsing and rubbing under a cold shower for 15 minutes in the morning and again in the evening.
15th Feb: Treatment time = 120 minutes. 15 minutes rinsing, rubbing and applying treatment and 30 minutes rinsing and rubbing after leaving treatment on head.
16th Feb: Rinsing and rubbing under a cold shower for 15 minutes in the morning and again in the evening.
17th Feb: Treatment time = 120 minutes. 15 minutes rinsing, rubbing and applying treatment and 15 minutes rinsing and rubbing after leaving treatment on head. I am rubbing harder these days trying to squeeze more of this stuff out.
18th Feb: Treatment time = 160 minutes. 20 minutes rinsing, rubbing and applying treatment and 30 minutes rinsing and rubbing after leaving treatment on head.
19th Feb: Treatment time = 120 minutes. 15 minutes rinsing, rubbing and applying treatment and 20 minutes rinsing and rubbing after leaving treatment on head. Rinsing and rubbing under a cold shower for 20 minutes in the evening but I rubbed too hard today because my head is a bit red in places. Will rest for a day or 2. Have used another 750ml regular treatment.

21st Feb: Photograph taken from the top right side to give an angled view of the bald patch. From this angle it is possible to see the army of new white hairs on top. After taking photographs I trimmed my hair again to approx. 1mm.
22nd Feb: Treatment time = 135 minutes. 15 minutes rinsing, rubbing and applying treatment and 20 minutes rinsing and rubbing after leaving treatment on head. I scratched in one area and drew a drop of blood which was a silly mistake.
23rd Feb: Day off due to sore area on head. Don't scratch!
24th Feb: Treatment time = 100 minutes. 30 minutes rinsing, rubbing, applying treatment & then rubbing again and 15 minutes rinsing and rubbing after leaving treatment on head.
25th Feb: Treatment time = 110 minutes. 60 minutes rinsing, rubbing, applying treatment & then rubbing again and 15 minutes rinsing and rubbing after leaving treatment on head. By wetting the hair very thoroughly first, the pores open and become more receptive to the treatment. Now that I am getting close to the top of my head in terms of removing the waxy patty, it is easier to rub and push some of the waxy substance out via the scalp pores. My head is feeling very clean and getting fresher by the day. It's very comforting to be able to feel firm new white hairs appearing all around the top of my head. I used quite a lot of treatment today because I kept re-applying treatment after rubbing / massaging / pushing which I did for a whole hour today.

NEXT PHOTOGRAPH: 21ST MARCH 2010

To be continued