MSM (methyl­sul­fonyl­methane) is a sul­phur com­pound found in the body and in cer­tain foods in small quan­ti­ties. MSM con­tains sul­phur, a nat­u­rally occur­ring min­eral which is impor­tant for joint flex­i­bil­ity, cel­lu­lar func­tions, hair growth, and other bod­ily func­tions. It is avail­able as a sup­ple­ment in pill, flakes, cap­sule and pow­der forms.

MSM is adver­tised as ben­e­fi­cial for hair loss, and for increas­ing hair growth because it is said to sup­port healthy cell pro­duc­tion and tis­sue repair, mak­ing the body pro­duce more new cells. Some ads speak of it as a mir­a­cle anti-aging cure. It helps boost hair growth by repair­ing dam­aged hair fol­li­cles and the scalp. A healthy scalp is vital in grow­ing healthy hair. Dietary sul­phur is known to have a ben­e­fi­cial effect on the pro­duc­tion of col­la­gen and ker­atin. There­fore, MSM can help if there is insuf­fi­cient sul­phur in the diet.

Does MSM work?

Like many sup­ple­ments, there are dif­fer­ent views regard­ing MSM’s effec­tive­ness as a hair loss cure. While doc­tors cite the fact that there have been no peer-reviewed stud­ies doc­u­ment­ing MSM’s suc­cess in the pre­ven­tion or slow­ing down of hair loss, many users of MSM swear by it and claim a vis­i­ble, notice­able improve­ment in the con­di­tion of their hair and skin. As sul­phur cer­tainly plays a part in the pro­duc­tion of hair, there could be a ben­e­fit in main­tain­ing a healthy level of sul­phur in the diet by eat­ing sulphur-rich foods like egg yolks, grains, fruits and veg­eta­bles, or by tak­ing MSM regularly

Applied top­i­cally, it can repair an inflamed scalp and deliver nutri­ents directly to the fol­li­cles, encour­ag­ing new, thick hair growth. MSM is often used top­i­cally to treat skin ail­ments, such as scar tis­sue. Burn vic­tims have reported a sig­nif­i­cant reduc­tion in scars after using MSM. This is due to MSM’s effec­tive­ness in healthy cell production.

As MSM is a nat­u­rally occur­ring sub­stance, it is gen­er­ally con­sid­ered safe to use by most peo­ple (those not specif­i­cally aller­gic to sul­phur). It is also gen­er­ally agreed that it is safe to take a high daily dosage of MSM, as there have been no doc­u­mented cases of a harm­ful over­dose. It is best to start at 1000 mil­ligrams a day and slowly increase the dose to 4000 mil­ligrams a day.

MSM for treat­ment of hair loss

As MSM tar­gets cell regen­er­a­tion, it is a prod­uct suited for treat­ing hair loss caused by trac­tion alope­cia. It is a con­di­tion where hair fol­li­cles are directly affected by phys­i­cal pull exerted on them over time. This pull dam­ages the fol­li­cles in the affected area so that they stop pro­duc­ing new hair. Tak­ing MSM can encour­age cell regen­er­a­tion, result­ing in the fol­li­cles end­ing their dor­mant phase and pro­duc­ing new hairs again.

What’s the best way to take MSM?

MSM is avail­able in flake, cap­sule, tablet and pow­der form, as well as top­i­cal lotions and creams. The pow­der is rec­om­mended because it’s most eas­ily absorbed when taken orally and is also the most ver­sa­tile: It can be mixed into your own sham­poo or con­di­tioner and applied top­i­cally on the hair and scalp as well. How­ever it is impor­tant that the dose con­sumed is ade­quately mea­sured or weighed.

MSM works best when taken with vit­a­min C and water intake should be increased to help the body flush out dead cells and tox­ins that are being expelled from the body.

Ver­dict

Although fur­ther tests need to be done to sat­isfy med­ical prac­ti­tion­ers of the effec­tive­ness of MSM in treat­ing hair loss, anec­do­tal evi­dence seems to sug­gest it is effec­tive for a sig­nif­i­cant num­ber of users. Peo­ple who’ve taken MSM for other con­di­tions, such as joint pain, noticed an unex­pected sig­nif­i­cant increase in their hair growth. MSM is also a pop­u­lar choice for patients of hair trans­plant surgery. MSM can be taken in con­junc­tion with other hair loss treat­ments and is def­i­nitely a good prod­uct to add to any hair loss, or hair thin­ning treat­ment regimen.

Although MSM is widely avail­able in health food and vit­a­min stores and on the Inter­net, atten­tion should be paid to qual­ity. Find a brand that is free of pol­lu­tants and addi­tives which is achieved through dis­til­la­tion in the man­u­fac­tur­ing process. Always buy brands that are third– party tested and cer­ti­fied for qual­ity and consistency.

MSM is only one part of our 10-Step Pre­scrip­tion for Re-Growing Healthy Hair. See side­bar on how to get the full pro­gram in our new e-book at no charge. Rest assured that your infor­ma­tion will not be shared with anyone.