About AX Hair Growth

Adrian XHFounder and writer of AX Hair Growth · Certificate in Medical Research

Hair grows from the follicle. Every product sold for hair growth either changes what happens inside that follicle or it doesn’t.

That one rule decides most of what you read on AX Hair Growth.

I’m Adrian XH, and I write every guide on this site. I hold a certificate in medical research, so I read hair loss studies for the parts the headlines skip. Who was tested, how many people, how long and who paid.

Then I tell you what the numbers say. Even when the answer is “not much”.

What actually moves hair growth

Most thinning comes from one of two places. Your genes plus DHT, or a shock to the hair cycle.

Pattern hair loss is the big one. DHT is a hormone your body makes from testosterone. In follicles that are genetically sensitive to it, DHT cuts each growth phase shorter.

The follicle shrinks a little with every cycle until it only makes short, thin hair. That shrinking is called miniaturization. It’s why a hairline recedes or a part widens long before anything goes bald.

The other common cause is telogen effluvium. A fever, a crash diet, surgery or a rough few months pushes lots of hairs into the resting phase at once. The shedding starts 2 to 3 months later, so most people blame the wrong thing.

So anything that really grows hair does one of 3 jobs. It lowers DHT at the follicle. It keeps hairs in the growth phase longer. Or it removes whatever knocked the cycle off.

If a product does none of those, it’s cosmetic. Cosmetic is fine. It just isn’t regrowth.

The clock most people ignore

Scalp hair grows about 1 cm a month. One growth phase lasts 2 to 7 years, and the resting phase lasts about 3 months.

That slow clock is why most people quit too early. In the trial that put rosemary oil against 2% minoxidil, neither group had a measurable gain at 3 months. Both did at 6.

So give anything you try 6 months before you judge it, and 12 months for a fair verdict. Take a photo in the same light on day 1. Your memory will lie to you.

What moves hair, ranked by evidence

This is the short version of what the trials say. The grades use the same 4-step scale as every guide here.

Strong means repeated controlled trials in people, or a regulator approval for hair loss. Limited means one or a few small human trials. Lab only means cells, animals or hair strands tested in a lab. Untested means no good human trial for that claim.

Next in line is clascoterone 5%, a topical that stops DHT from acting on the follicle. It beat placebo in 2 Phase 3 trials of 1,465 men, and it isn’t approved for hair yet. The headlines said “539% more hair”. That number is a ratio against placebo, not 5 times more hair on your head. Here is what the trials really show.

How every guide is made

• I open every study I cite. A press release or an abstract isn’t enough, because the details that matter sit in the methods.
• Every claim gets a grade. Strong, Limited, Lab only or Untested.
• I say who paid. When a coconut oil company ran the coconut oil studies, the guide says so.
• Numbers beat adjectives. Doses, timelines and trial sizes. “Clinically proven” with no number means nothing.
• Guides get re-checked. Hair research moves. When a new trial lands, the guide gets updated and the date changes.

Some older guides on the site were written before I set these rules. I’m rewriting them one by one.

What this site won’t do

Promise regrowth on a shiny scalp. If an area has been smooth for years, most of the follicles there are gone. No oil or serum brings them back. That’s transplant territory.

Diagnose you. Sudden bald patches need a dermatologist, not a blog. So does a burning scalp or shedding that comes with other symptoms. Everything here is information, not medical advice.

Tell you to stop a prescription. If a doctor put you on something, talk to them before you change it.

How the site makes money

Some guides link to products on Amazon and to a few vendors. If you buy through those links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

That never changes a grade. A product with weak evidence gets a weak grade, even when it pays.

Where to start

• Not sure how far your hair loss has gone? Hair loss stages, explained
• Want the treatments with the best evidence? What hair loss solutions actually work
• Shedding after an illness or a stressful stretch? How long hair takes to grow back
• Prefer kitchen ingredients? 15 homemade hair masks, rated by evidence

If a guide here says something works, it also tells you how well and in how many people.