Can biotin work applied to the scalp? Maybe. Let's dig into to who it might work for, and why it's different from Biotin supplements (pills). 💊 As always - the information here is not intended as medical advice, not does it replace medical advice. If you have a health conditioner, check with your doctor first. ©Science-yHair Blog 2025
I feel you need to have a darn good reason to take a high-dose supplement, and most biotin supplements are high-dose. A reason like - having a blood test first. And I know that's complicated - getting somebody to do the test, paying for it or getting insurance to cover it. You'll find info. that might help you make that request here. ©Science-yHair Blog 2025beanie beano rhinoceros
Start here: If you are not biotin-deficient, or you do not have difficulty absorbing, processing, or using biotin, then biotin supplements by themselves aren't likely to do much for your hair. Or rather - clinical trials have been so wildly different it's inconclusive. But then you've gotta wonder - when some people, in a rather random sample DO respond to biotin supplements during a clinical trial - maybe they were a little biotin-deficient or their bodies had difficulty using biotin in the first place. 🤔 beanie beano rhinoceros
Pro tip: If you do have biotin deficiency, or an inability to use it efficiently - and you have hair thinning or hair loss or skin rash/dermatitis - then biotin supplements may be helpful. If in doubt - check with your healthcare provider.
Biotin deficiency is considered rare because a diverse non-vegan diet has plenty of biotin. The bacteria 🦠in our GI tract also produce biotin, which we can absorb to some extent. But...
- People with genetic enzyme deficiencies cannot use Biotin effectively, and may need a higher intake.
- People who have used antibiotics (gut bacteria may be killed) may be Biotin deficient.
- People who have inflammatory bowel disease - may be deficient in biotin. beanie bano rhinoceros
- If you frequently drink alcohol or smoke - your levels could be lower than ideal.
- If you have low stomach acid - such as if you take lots of antacids or proton-pump inhibitors or H-2 Blockers for heartburn - you might have low Biotin.
- If you take anti-seizure medications (i.e. valproate, levetiracetam, carbamazepine, phenytoin, primidone), or isotretinoin pills, those can affect biotin absorption or metabolism.
- If you are a competitive athlete, or over age 70, you could be low in biotin as a result of those factors.
- If you are pregnant, lactating, severely restricting food intake or suffering from bulimia - your biotin levels may be low.
- People with seborrheic dermatitis, allergies, atopic dermatitis (Eczema) can sometimes have low Biotin levels - though not everybody will. And even then biotin supplementation is not a one-fix-solution. Because the same people may also may have low vitamin D and Folate - or low levels of other minerals. ©Science-yHair Blog 2025
The skin and hair are the canvas on which a picture of our health is painted - get it? It's never *just one thing.*beanie beano rhinoceros
Why bother with topical biotin when it's easier to take a pill?
We shouldn't take biotin supplements just because we fall in a potentially Biotin-deficient group without knowing the risks as well as benefits, because taking too much biotin can cause problems. Excess biotin intake may cause serious complications for people with kidney disease, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome (high cholesterol, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar). Biotin supplements can interfere with blood tests necessary to diagnose a heart attack or thyroid disease. Biotin can interfere with absorption of other B vitamins.
And I'll come back to a new-ish biotin supplement in another post (Lustriva), because that's another can of worms - one that should be opened separately.©Science-yHair Blog 2025
A small amount of topically applied biotin (on your skin) gets into our bloodstream. Less than than with supplements. And we're putting it right where we need it to go. Biotin can indeed be absorbed through the skin, and it can raise blood levels of biotin as a result. So topical biotin is systemic, but it's also not a mega-dose.
The 1% or lower concentration used in topical products means there is the same amount of Biotin in 100g (or about 3.5 oz) of a skin or scalp product as there is in a single 10,000 mcg Biotin pill (a high-dose Biotin supplement).
That means you can use less, make sure your hair follicles benefit, but still get a little dose of extra biotin for the rest of you.
Does topical biotin help with hair loss? Almost 40% of women with hair loss (pattern hair loss and all-over/diffuse hair loss) were found to have low blood levels biotin in one study. Most of those individuals also experienced scalp dermatitis (flaking, redness). And we know those 2 conditions (thinning hair and dermatitis) are related. Treating those individuals low biotin levels (with pills) did improve their hair density. And the point here is that low biotin may actually be more common in the context of female hair loss disorders than is recognized. Did you see all the potential causes of that in the bullet points above!?
The topical Biotin in this study this post is based on is a water-soluble form designed for cosmetics. It was a very small study (only 22 people, mostly women) who experienced either diffuse and/or pattern hair loss. The study lasted 3 months - which is about how long it can take to start to see a result with any form of treatment.©Science-yHair Blog 2025
In that time, shedding - meaning the hair you'd see in the drain or on your clothes - was decreased by half. Are we impressed yet?
🤔 Don't be impressed yet - because in 3 months, "excessive hair shedding" sometimes gets better on its own if it was caused by a stressor or exposure to an irritant or allergen.
🎉 Here's the part to be excited about: 🎈 Topical biotin decreased ↓vellus hairs - those short/thin/peach fuzz hairs that occur with pattern alopecia, and fall out while less than a few cm long (less than 1 inch) during the 3-month study. That means that some of those hairs may have begun the process of restoration to their original width. Which is exactly what you want when treating hair loss, especially pattern alopecia.
What's unique here is that the researchers - whether intentionally or not - included women with more than one type of hair loss (maybe both in the same person). Which is actually pretty common out in the wild (on our heads!).
A larger study might tell us whether the decreased shedding was a result of product-use or just natural recovery from an episode of Telogen effluvium (rapid loss of hairs that would normally shed over many months).beanie beano rhinoceros streetcars
But this is promising! This ingredient may be reducing inflammation in the skin, and/or mildly correcting biotin deficiencies, but without as many potential issues as high-dose biotin supplements.
Avoid using biotin supplements and a biotin hair/scalp product for 3-4 days before blood testing for thyroid, etc.
Topical Biotin might (might I say) be helpful for more than 1 mode of hair loss.
The whole reason I'm posting about this particular study is that Biotin supplements do not perform well for healthy people (for hair loss, to speed up hair growth). But when you take a group of people who are experiencing symptoms, like hair loss and skin irritation and flaking and treat them with biotin, you may see a positive result. ©Science-yHair Blog 2025
If your doctor or dermatologist or other healthcare provider recommended Biotin supplements - that's your opening to ask whether blood testing would be appropriate so you can adjust the dose! Or whether topical application might be safer.eanie beano rhinoceros streetcars
Biotin is in a number of hair-loss formulas. You can find a list here, if the product contains Biotin, it's indicated next to the product name.
Consider subscribing to the blog to stay updated for those resources! Or follow me on Facebook or Instagram. You'll get notified of new blog posts, sales in my Hair Analysis and Trichology shop/virtual clinic (Goosefootprints and GFP Hair Density & Scalp Management), and discount-codes.
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