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I've seen sites and pictures online that say castor oil cures baldness, complete with photos.

While there are some commercial products available that claim to stop and reverse hair loss, using home remedies work too. Castor oil for hair loss is one such home remedy.

Castor oil is replete with omega-9 essential fatty acids, which help to nourish hair and prevent the scalp from itching. In addition, the oil has ricinoliec acid, which is a fungicide. This prevents scalp infections, which can cause hair loss. The oil also works as a humectant and attracts moisture from the body to the scalp and skin. So, the hair stays soft and lustrous.

—Castor Oil for Hair Loss and Treatments

There are some home remedies you can use to help prevent or treat hair loss. Castor oil is one remedy that does not require any special recipe since you can directly apply it to your scalp.

—How to Use Castor Oil to Treat Hair Loss

Is this supported by scientific evidence?

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    No time for sources right now, but a "cure" that's been around for decades that's cheap and simply "unknown" when men spend hundreds of millions a year other treatments? Nope, not buying it. Also a few other holes: Fungicides kill fungus, but do not prevent infections (unless it's a fungal infection) - and hair loss isn't caused by a dry scalp, but hormonal changes. Too good to be true, here. If it was that easy to treat hair loss every guy with male pattern baldness would know about it.
    – MCM
    Sep 21, 2012 at 16:59

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There are many causes of hair loss. As the claims do not clearly specify which one is intended, it isn't clear what to search for.

Nonetheless, I have been unable to find any studies of the effects of Castor Oil on androgenetic alopoecia - i.e. male pattern baldness.

When it comes to alopecia areata, alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis, I can be more categorical. A Cochrane review of the evidence revealed that:

There is no good trial evidence that any treatments provide long-term benefit to patients with alopecia areata, alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis.

On the other hand, if you merely want your remaining hair to look more lustrous, by giving it an oily sheen, castor oil may help.

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  • Why the downvote? The answer gives all the proper references.
    – nico
    Mar 24, 2013 at 11:02
  • @nico you'll get used to seemingly random downvotes here. There are people who'll downvote things because they don't match with their ideology or preconceived ideas for example, or simply because of who wrote the answer.
    – jwenting
    Mar 25, 2013 at 7:16
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    @jwenting: I perfectly know that, but I still ask because it is a good reminder for newcomers who may have not understood what downvotes are for.
    – nico
    Mar 25, 2013 at 7:55
  • @nico yes, sadly though it's mostly oldtimers who seem guilty of it...
    – jwenting
    Mar 25, 2013 at 9:51
  • @jwenting: Not sure how you would be able to tell that. (Of course, you need 125 rep to downvote + 1 per downvote, so I suppose no downvotes are from real newbies.) My guess if drive-by downvotes correlate with mobile phone use, where the keyboards make it more difficult to contribute text.
    – Oddthinking ♦
    Mar 25, 2013 at 14:01

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