5 Best Fixes for Hair Loss

The real deal on what works—and what doesn’t—when it comes to fighting hair loss. Whether you’ve just noticed a thinning hairline or you're constantly wearing a baseball hat to hide your bald spot, there's a good chance you’ve tried at least one product to keep your hair.

And while there are myriad products designed to fight hair loss, it can sometimes be hard to tell which methods to trust and which to toss. One hard truth: Hair loss is mostly out of your control. “Baldness comes down to your genes,” says Frederick Joyce, M.D., founder of Rejuvenate! Med Spa and a member of the International Society for Hair Restoration Surgery. “If you have the baldness gene, there are some natural remedies that may make your hair stronger and healthier to slow your hair loss slightly—but they won’t prevent you from going bald. Still, maintaining hair health by eating well and using the right products—combined with medical-grade treatments—can really work all together to help you have a fuller, thicker head of hair.”

There are some solutions that address the problem (using stem cells to regrow hair is promising) but many are still years away from becoming available as a hair loss treatment. So here's the lowdown on which baldness solutions available now are truly effective—and which hair-loss fighters are merely snake oil.

1. Nutrition
2. Nioxin Shampoo
3. Laser Light Therapy
4. Propecia
5. Minoxidil