Natural remedies
Pumpkin seed oil for hair
One placebo trial in men is the number worth quoting. It is not a reason to skip a diagnosis.
Written in the UK, for women and men.
In one 24-week trial, 76 men with mild to moderate pattern hair loss took 400 mg a day of pumpkin seed oil or a placebo. Hair counts rose about 40% with the oil and about 10% with placebo. A separate three-month study in 60 women called pumpkin seed oil promising next to minoxidil foam. It is not the same result as minoxidil, and it is not an NHS treatment.
See a GP if hair loss is sudden, patchy, or comes with illness, a rash, or other symptoms. The NHS asks for that conversation before a private clinic.
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Pumpkin seed oil is sold as a DHT blocker in a bottle. The fair way to talk about it is to quote the trial, then stop.
What happened in men?
Cho and colleagues randomised 76 men with mild to moderate androgenetic alopecia to 400 mg a day of pumpkin seed oil or to placebo for 24 weeks. Men on the oil rated their improvement and satisfaction higher (P=0.013 and P=0.003). Hair counts after treatment were higher than at the start, more so than in the placebo group (P<0.001). The mean increase was 40% with pumpkin seed oil and 10% with placebo (P<0.001). Adverse effects were not different between the groups.
| Pumpkin seed oil | Placebo | |
|---|---|---|
| Mean hair-count increase at 24 weeks | 40% | 10% |
| Dose | 400 mg a day | Placebo |
It is a single, modest trial. It is not a licence, and the NHS does not list pumpkin seed oil. A branded capsule is not automatically the preparation that was studied.
What about women?
Ibrahim and colleagues compared pumpkin seed oil with minoxidil 5% foam in 60 women with female pattern hair loss, 30 in each group, for three months. They reported changes on dermoscopy and called the oil promising. The abstract does not show that the oil equals minoxidil.
Where it sits next to other options
Saw palmetto is the other plant men ask about, and it does not have a percentage on this site. Rosemary oil has a head-to-head with minoxidil 2%. Minoxidil itself remains the medicine. If you would rather wear a device, red light has its own trials, written up on does red light work and compared on red light hats. An oil and a hat are not the same experiment.
Common questions
Does pumpkin seed oil regrow hair?
In one trial of 76 men it increased hair count more than placebo over 24 weeks. That does not make a supermarket oil the same as the capsules used, and it does not replace minoxidil or finasteride.
What dose was studied in men?
400 mg a day for 24 weeks, against a placebo. That is a description of the trial, not an instruction to start it.
Does it work for women?
Ibrahim and colleagues studied 60 women for three months, half on pumpkin seed oil and half on minoxidil 5% foam. The authors called the oil promising. It is not the same result as minoxidil.
Sources
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