Does melatonin promote hair growth?

Everyone is looking for the miracle substance that can boost hair growth and work towards stopping hair loss. There is a lot of information around about how melatonin can be used to promote hair growth and we’re looking into this and letting you know if it actually works.

Melatonin is a hormone found naturally in the body, however, melatonin that is used for medical reasons is made synthetically in a laboratory. Taken in either pill form or forms that can be placed in the cheek or under the tough to allow melatonin to be absorbed directly into the body.

Melatonin is taken by some to adjust the body’s internal clock. Melatonin is used mostly for insomnia and improving sleep in certain conditions (such as jet lag, adjusting sleep-wake cycles and those who do shift work).

The main purpose of taking melatonin is to regulate night and day cycles. Darkness causes the body to produce melatonin which signals the body to prepare for sleep. Light, on the other hand, signals the body to prepare for being awake. Some people that have trouble sleeping will have low levels of melatonin and using melatonin supplements can help them sleep.

There has been a number of studies on both animals and humans that look into melatonin and how it can promote hair growth. In one study of 40 women with hair loss, melatonin solution was applied to the scalp and hair growth increased significantly relative to placebo.

In an open-label, uncontrolled study of topical melatonin with 1891 male and female patients with androgenic alopecia, at 3 months 61% of patients had no hair loss, compared to 12.2% at the start; 22% had new hair growth at 3 months compared to 4% at baseline.  The incidence of seborrheic dermatitis also declined, from 34.5% at baseline to 9.9% at 3 months.

It is important to remember that during these studies the melatonin was applied as a topical treatment directly to the scalp and there is no evidence that using melatonin supplements in the usual tablet form have any impact on hair growth.

Although some studies have highlighted good results of melatonin promoting hair growth it is also important to remember that some types of hair loss such as male pattern baldness have no cure. Due to this, treatments such as melatonin will not help promote hair growth. If you would like more information on hair loss and what treatments might work for you, please contact us today for a no obligation consultation.

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