Scientifically Proven Ways To Grow Thicker Hair

Ask the internet how to get thicker hair, and you’ll find amusing solutions like sleeping with a mayonnaise hair mask on, cracking an egg on your head in the shower, or using a beer hair rinse. While we’re not against home remedies, why not cut straight to the scientifically proven ways to grow thicker hair?

Depending on the cause of your hair thinning, the solution for how to get thicker hair will vary. For instance, if you are dealing with male pattern baldness, medications may help address your hair loss issues. On the other hand, if your thinning hair is due to an irritated scalp, improving your scalp health can help.

Read on for 10 evidence-based ways to help improve the strength and thickness of your locks.

Before we get into the solutions, it’s helpful to first understand how — and at what pace — your hair grows.

The rate of hair growth varies from person to person and is influenced by factors such as genetics, age, health, and overall hair care practices. But on average, hair grows about half an inch per month, translating to approximately six inches per year. Hair growth also tends to be faster during warmer months and slower during colder months.

Amid the growth, hair loss is normal. The average person loses around 100 hairs each day as part of the natural hair growth cycle. New hairs grow in, too, but hair loss is just more noticeable than hair growth.

There are two main ways you can encourage hair to grow: Keep the hair you already have healthy, and stimulate new growth.

While you can't significantly alter your hair's natural growth rate, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, eating a balanced diet rich in essential nutrients, practicing good hair care habits, and minimizing stress can all contribute to optimal conditions for encouraging faster hair growth.

Frustrated about hair loss and dreaming of thicker, healthier strands? Here are 10 scientifically proven ways to grow thicker hair.

1. Clean and Stimulate Your Scalp

Just as a healthy garden requires healthy soil, healthy hair growth depends on a healthy scalp.

Cleaning and stimulating your scalp is essential for promoting thicker hair growth, as it enhances blood circulation and removes buildup that can clog hair follicles. A clean scalp also allows for better absorption of nutrients and oxygen to the hair follicles, which are crucial for healthy hair growth.

Regular scalp cleansing with a gentle shampoo helps to remove dirt, excess oil, and product residues that can weigh down hair and hinder growth. However, even washing your hair every day doesn’t guarantee optimal scalp health, as this can be determined by factors like certain scalp conditions, buildup from hair products like dry shampoo, dead skin cells, or natural scalp oils — all of which can cause an irritated scalp.

When your scalp is irritated, that can lead to hair thinning or loss.

One way to keep your scalp healthy is with regular scalp massages, which you can do yourself in the shower while you shampoo. Not only are massages relaxing, they can lead to thicker hair.

A 2019 study surveyed 340 men who followed specific instructions for twice-daily scalp massages to improve hair loss. Approximately 69 percent of participants reported that their androgenetic alopecia — a common form of male pattern baldness — had improved.

A much smaller study of nine men without hair loss who received a four-minute scalp massage every day for 24 weeks also reported increased hair fullness.

While more research is needed on this topic, the studies are promising. Plus, is there anything more luxurious than a scalp massage?

2. Eat a Well-Balanced Diet

The nutritional quality of the foods you eat greatly impacts your overall health and wellness. And as it turns out, good nutrition is also key to stimulating healthy and strong hair growth.

A few essential nutrients may be especially helpful for supporting hair growth:

• Antioxidants: While antioxidants are a trendy buzzword in the food and diet world, they’re actually incredibly beneficial for your health and can help fight oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is an imbalance between free radicals (which can damage cells) and antioxidants. When free radicals accumulate, they can cause hair follicles to close off, limiting hair growth and leading to hair loss. Boost your antioxidant intake by eating plenty of colorful plant foods.

• Protein: A low-protein diet can result in hair loss or thinning. Some good protein sources include lean meats, poultry, eggs, fish, lentils, beans, peas, nuts, seeds, and soy products like tempeh, tofu, and edamame.

• Omega-3 fatty acids: The omega-3s (ALA, EPA, and DHA) are anti-inflammatory and important for several bodily functions, including possibly promoting hair growth. One study found that women who took a daily supplement containing omega-3s, omega-6s, and antioxidants for six months experienced less hair loss and improved hair density compared to a control group.

Our guide on what to eat for hair growth covers even more foods to help keep your hair thick, strong, and healthy.

But remember: There is no single magic “superfood” to cure hair problems, and nutrition is a long game, no matter what issue you’re hoping to target.

Making dietary changes also won’t help if you have certain forms of hair loss. For instance, because male pattern hair loss is caused by genetics and hormones rather than nutrient deficiencies, a balanced diet by itself won’t stop your hair loss.

3. Use Hair-Growth Medications

Though many products for hair loss and male pattern baldness claim to be the answer to how to get thicker hair, very few live up to the hype — or have scientific evidence to back up their claims.

Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved only two products to increase hair growth and treat male-pattern hair loss: finasteride and minoxidil.

• Finasteride: This medication slows down hair loss by reducing levels of the hormone DHT, which is responsible for androgenic alopecia. This works best for hair loss along the hairline.

• Minoxidil: A topical solution, minoxidil is thought to stimulate hair growth by widening the blood vessels inside the scalp, which may help promote blood flow to hair follicles. This works best for hair loss on the vertex or crown.

As for the evidence, studies have shown that finasteride can significantly increase total hair count after about two months of using it as directed.

And while researchers aren’t fully sure how minoxidil works, they do know it can increase hair density, as well as the volume and thickness of the hair shaft.

For example, one year-long study in Germany found that over 97 percent of balding men who used minoxidil experienced either an improvement in hair growth or no further worsening of hair loss.

Interested in trying a hair growth medication? Hims offers finasteride in a once-daily oral dose and minoxidil in the form of a twice-a-day topical solution. We also offer a combination finasteride-and-minoxidil spray.

4. Add Essential Oils

If you’re curious about how to thicken hair naturally, certain essential oils can do more than just make your hair smell nice — they may even help promote healthy hair growth.

As it turns out, certain essential oils have natural properties that nourish the scalp and strengthen hair follicles, such as:

• Rosemary oil

• Lavender oil

• Peppermint oil

• Jojoba oil

These types of essential oils are known for improving blood circulation to the scalp, enhancing nutrient delivery to follicles and stimulating hair growth.

Some even have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties that can help maintain a healthy scalp environment, reducing the likelihood of dandruff and infections that can prevent normal hair growth.

Additionally, some essential oils can provide deep conditioning to hair strands, preventing breakage and split ends as well as contributing to overall hair thickness.

To use essential oils for thicker hair, try regularly massaging them into your scalp, diluted with a carrier oil or conditioning agent.

Just note that the FDA doesn’t evaluate the quality of essential oils, so it’s a good idea to speak with a healthcare provider such as a dermatologist — or at least your hairstylist — before you use essential oils for hair regrowth.

5. Avoid Tight Hairstyles

When hair is pulled back into styles like tight ponytails, braids, or buns, it creates tension at the roots, which can lead to a type of hair loss known as traction alopecia. This results in hair breakage and thinning, particularly around the hairline and areas where hair is under constant tension.

Over time, this can damage your follicles, making them unable to grow new, healthy hair.

Instead, opt for looser hairstyles. Wear your hair down, or pull it back with a claw clip or scrunchie instead of a damaging elastic. Not only will this help prevent future problems, but it can keep existing damage from getting worse, which is key to supporting the growth of thicker, stronger hair.

6. Minimize Heat Styling

There’s no arguing that heated hair styling tools are good at creating waves and ringlets for those of us with straight-hair and straightening out the spirals of the curly-haired. But the hair can take a damaging dose of heat in the process.

High temperatures, especially when used day after day, can weaken and damage hair strands. They can also strip your hair of its natural moisture and protective oils, leading to dryness, brittleness, and split ends.

Over time, this damage can cause your hair to break more easily, resulting in a thinner, less voluminous mane. To compound the problem, excessive heat can weaken hair's protein structure, further compromising its strength and resilience.

Our advice? If you want stronger, thicker hair, it’s time to turn down the heat. Save heat styling tools for special occasions (and use heat protectants when needed). You might also consider allowing your hair to air dry rather than blow-drying it.

7. Stay Hydrated

Staying hydrated isn’t just for your skin. Did you know the adult body comprises 50 to 60 percent water at any given time? This number fluctuates, of course, as we lose fluids through everyday processes, but it’s important to make sure we’re replenishing them.

Hydration helps ensure that your cells are functioning properly, including those in your scalp and hair follicles. When your body is well-hydrated, essential nutrients are delivered to your follicles to grow healthier, stronger hair.

Plus, adequate hydration helps maintain the moisture balance of your scalp, preventing dryness and flaky skin that can keep it from growing normally.

In other words, you can support stronger hair from the inside out by staying hydrated. Prioritize plain water over everything else, but when that gets boring, try infusing it with fresh cucumbers or lemon wedges, or rotate in some herbal teas or unsweetened seltzer waters.

8. Manage Stress

If you’ve ever noticed a correlation between your stress levels and the size of the rat’s nest stuck on your hairbrush, that isn’t a coincidence. As it turns out, there’s a link between chronic stress and hair loss.

When your body is under systemic stress, it can disrupt your typical hair growth cycle, leading to hair thinning and loss.

While short-term stress is normal, when stress is left unmanaged, it triggers your body to produce higher levels of cortisol and other stress hormones. This can negatively affect the function of your hair follicles, making it harder for them to produce new, healthy, stronger hairs.

This stress-related hormonal imbalance can even push your hair follicles into the resting phase of the hair growth cycle too early, causing more hair to fall out in the shower.

We’re not saying you should never be stressed out — that’s impossible. But it’s important to find ways to incorporate regular stress management practices into your lifestyle — both for your hair and your overall well-being.

Some examples of stress-reducing techniques include:

• Going on a nature walk

• Listening to calming music

• Talking (or venting) to a trusted friend

• Taking a power nap

• Practicing yoga or deep stretching

• Doing progressive muscle relaxation or visualization exercises

• Journaling, drawing, or painting

9. Get Regular Trims

Have you ever heard someone say they get their hair cut regularly so that it grows back faster? It turns out there’s some truth to this.

Trimming your hair on a regular basis doesn’t increase the speed at which your hair naturally grows. However, you can prevent further hair breakage and thinning by eliminating split ends.

When the ends of your hair become split, the damage can travel up the hair shaft, leading to more breakage. This can make your hair appear frizzier and disrupt normal growth.

Removing the damaged ends can help ensure your hair stays healthy and robust. This is why many hair stylists recommend scheduling a maintenance trim every four to 12 weeks, depending on the thickness and texture of your hair.

10. Protect Against Environmental Stressors

Just as you slather your skin with sunscreen, your hair also requires some protection from the elements. Environmental stressors that can damage your hair include:

• UV radiation: Prolonged exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays can weaken your hair's protein structure, leading to dryness and breakage.

• Pollution: Dust, smoke, smog, and airborne chemicals like pesticides can weaken and clog hair follicles and scalp pores, slowing healthy hair growth.

• Harsh winds: Wind can tangle and pull on the hair, causing breakage and split ends.

• Extreme weather temperatures: Extreme cold and heat can strip hair of its natural moisture, making it dry and brittle. High humidity levels can cause hair to frizz and become more prone to breakage.

• Chlorine and salt water: Swimming in chlorinated pools or salt water can strip hair of its natural oils, reducing its natural protection.

• Hard water: Water with high mineral content can build up on the hair, making it dull, dry, and more prone to breakage. If you have hard water in your home, consider installing a shower head that filters the water.

Consider shielding your hair from these elements by using protective styles, wearing hats, or applying leave-in conditioners and serums that have UV filters. These can act as a barrier from environmental stressors and preserve your hair’s natural moisture and strength, so it can continue growing strong.

The conversation around promoting thicker hair often lands on hair growth supplements. But while nutritional deficiencies might play a role in hair thinning or hair loss, there just isn’t enough research overall to support supplement use for hair growth.

Two of the supplements discussed the most for hair health are biotin and keratin.

The truth is that while biotin supplements may help people who have thinning hair due to a biotin deficiency — a pretty rare condition — there is limited evidence that taking biotin can promote stronger or faster hair growth.

As for keratin, even less research supports its use for hair growth. One test-tube sample of keratin was found to strengthen hair and make it healthier, but that’s a far cry from robust evidence that keratin supplements are worth the investment.

Furthermore, hair growth supplements aren’t regulated by the FDA in the same way as medications, leaving safety and efficacy reviews up to the companies that make them.

Some supplements may also interact with medications, which is why it’s important to talk to your healthcare provider before taking any supplements marketed for hair regrowth.

If you’re dealing with hair loss or looking for ways to grow your hair better, faster, and stronger, you might be tempted to reach for the latest trend in hair care products or supplements. But oftentimes, these products don’t have the science to back up their hair-growth claims.

Fortunately, there are some scientifically proven ways to grow thicker hair. Here’s what to remember:

• Start at the scalp. Make sure your scalp is healthy, clean, and free of buildup. Scalp massages might promote increased blood flow, allowing critical nutrients to reach your follicles and promote hair growth. Perhaps adding an essential oil to your shower routine can help as well.

• Eat a healthy diet. Speaking of nutrients, eating a well-balanced diet full of colorful, antioxidant-rich plant foods could help your hair. On the other hand, nutrient deficiencies might hinder hair growth.

• Consider medication. Two medications — finasteride and minoxidil — are approved by the FDA for hair treatments and have been proven to decrease hair loss. If you’re interested in trying hair loss medications, we offer both finasteride and minoxidil as part of our full range of men’s hair loss treatments.

Like many good things in life, hair growth doesn’t come quickly or easily — the process will take time. Still, science supports the above tips for hair growth.

If you’re interested in getting personalized advice, a great first step is to speak with a licensed healthcare provider about the best way for you to get thicker hair.