Hair-growth problems

Q For some strange reason my hair won’t grow. A friend suggested taking biotin, but when I looked it up in the internet it said that acne is a side effect. I’ve started taking B complex vitamins and a multivitamin. My tongue is also coated and there are a lot of red spots at the back of it — could the two be related? I’m taking 50mg of horsetail tablets every day. Is there anything else that you could recommend?

A The reason horsetail (equisitem arvense) is recommended by many herbalists for healthy hair is because it is rich in silica. I prefer to combine horsetail with nettle (Urtica dioica) and oat straw (avena sativa) since these three seem to work particularly well together as a synergistic blend when it comes to getting silica and other supportive minerals and phytonutrients for hair, skin, and nails. Biotin is another wonder nutrient for hair growth, your friend is quite right. As far as it causing acne, this link has yet to be proven scientifically. However, biotin (also known as vitamin B7) is similar in structure to vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid), and it appears that when additional B7 is introduced to the system via supplementation, it can be at the expense of the absorption of vitamin B5. Since low levels of vitamin B5 can trigger acne outbreaks in some individuals, the supplementation of biotin can indirectly lead to acne.

Fortunately, the solution is as simple as supplementing with vitamin B5 at the same time as biotin (or better, using a B-complex as you already do) and drinking more water since biotin is a water-soluble nutrient.