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I don’t know how I became a member of a certain natural hair group on Facebook. It just sort of started appearing, about a month ago, in my newsfeed. At first I thought to myself, “Arrgghh…are these women really going to talk hair all damn day long?” But then I realized that the conversations around hair became interesting and very informative. For instance: Did you know that there are women using Monistat 7 for hair growth? Yes, the vaginal anti-fungal cream.

Yeah, I was just as taken aback as some of you who are reading this. Why would anyone put vag cream, used mostly to treat yeast infections, onto their scalp? Nothing about that correlation between yeast infection and glorious long hair sounds inviting. Now I know there are all sorts of weird concoctions we ladies come up with for our hair (I once got duped into putting some caramel-based “conditioning” creation on my hair before. It was not the business…), but this one just might take the yeast-filled cake. But apparently women have been doing this for a number of years; I’m just late to the party. From KinkyCurlyCoilyMe.com comes the tale of Kamilah from Philadelphia:

I started using Monistat 7 in April of this year and used it faithfully for about 2 months”.  She explains that she found out about using a anti-fungal vaginal cream for hair growth from bloggers. “I was very skeptical about using this in the beginning, when I first heard about using Monistat 7 there were only white people using it. Even on YouTube (YT) there were only white women making videos about it. I noticed that their hair looked greasy but the results were very noticeable. One day I stumbled upon a black woman on YT that had been using it for 3-4 months.  Her hair was relaxed and was having problems with her ends and was using the Monistat 7 to grow her hair faster so she cut trim her ends. I also found a video of a black man on YT that was using it to treat his receding hair line and his hair had grown back in.  When I saw that a man could get over the stigma, I knew that I could do it.”

I would like to hear from the very first woman, who looked at her yeast infection cream and thought, “hmm, you know what? My edges have been a little thin lately. I wonder…” – And then kept putting it on their scalp until she got results. But, as pointed out on many of the blogs and postings I have read about this topic, the active ingredient in Monsitat 7 (and many other over-the-counter vaginal creams for yeast infection) is miconazole nitrate, which is an anti-fungal agent that cures all sorts of fungal infections, including athlete’s foot, thrush, ringworm, jock itch, and of course yeast infections. And if you have a fungus on your scalp, using this cream could help to eliminate the infection, which might prohibit your hair from breaking off. However, that is a big if.

I have yet to see any information about doctors prescribing or recommending miconazole for the specific use of hair growth. In fact, I’m pretty sure it is not even FDA approved for that purpose. But besides that, some of you folks might not even have a fungal infection on your scalp, which means that you might be using it for nothing. Also, on the Monisat 7 website, it clearly states that the product is used for vaginal use only. It also notes that the use of the product, particularly the active ingredient miconazole nitrate, can have a negative reaction with certain drugs, particularly Warfarin, which is a drug used by patients at risk for stroke and blood clotting.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you stopped reading after the line, “Monistat 7 for hair growth.” Long hair is just NOT that serious. Do what you want, but be wise and at least consult with a dermatologist first. I mean, even if it is harmless, Monistat is only recommended for use up to seven days in a row, and some folks have been putting it on their scalps for months. That can’t be good…

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