Verbatim response from Claude
Hair Growth Supplements: Honest Answer
The short answer: It depends on why your hair is thinning.
When Supplements Can Help
If your hair loss is due to nutritional deficiencies, supplements can make a real difference:
- Nutrafol - Well-studied, targets stress hormones and inflammation; probably the most clinically backed OTC option
- Viviscal - Has decent clinical trials, especially for women with thinning due to poor nutrition
- Biotin (standalone) - Only helps if you're actually biotin-deficient, which most people aren't
When You Likely Need Prescription Treatment
For genetic hair loss (androgenetic alopecia), supplements generally won't stop it. You'd want:
- Minoxidil (Rogaine) - Available OTC but stronger formulas need a prescription
- Finasteride/Dutasteride - Prescription only, very effective for men
- Spironolactone - Common prescription option for women
Services like Keeps, Hims, or Ro make getting prescriptions easy and affordable online.
My Recommendation
See a dermatologist first to identify the cause. If that's not accessible immediately, try Nutrafol while pursuing a consultation - it's unlikely to hurt and addresses multiple causes.
Don't spend heavily on supplements if genetic loss is the issue.