Does Minoxidil Work for Hair Loss?

Minoxidil was the first drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat the form of hair loss known as androgenetic alopecia, or male/female pattern hair loss. Originally prescribed to treat blood pressure, one of the side effects of orally ingested minoxidil was increased hair growth. However, due to the myriad of other side effects with minoxidil based blood pressure medications, scientists developed a topical version of minoxidil to treat baldness.

The topical variant was commercially known as Rogaine, and was initially available in a 2% concentration, with subsequent versions increasing to 5% concentrations. Interestingly, minoxidil does not influence the levels of DHT-a male androgen that has been clinically proven to increase hair thinning and weakening in the body. As such, DHT based hair loss would be more effectively treated with other treatments instead of minoxidil.

Minoxidil has also been shown to work optimally in younger men who suffer from balding in and around the crown area of the scalp. Minoxidil also works best when balding has just begun near the vertex of the scalp, and will not work as efficiently in pronounced baldness that has gone untreated for several years. It should also be noted that while the 5% concentration of minoxidil will accelerate hair growth in most men, it can also cause more side effects due to the higher dose, including pronounced skin irritation and itchiness.

Furthermore, both men and women can use minoxidil to help combat hair loss. However, most dermatologists recommend the lower concentration of minoxidil for women, partially because minoxidil can also lead to increased facial hair growth, which may be embarrassing for some women.

The effectiveness of minoxidil will vary from patient to patient. For instance, studies conducted by the Upjohn Corporation found that 39% of subjects noticed newfound hair growth in 12 months, and that minoxidil was equally effective in treating hair loss in female subjects. Furthermore, the studies found that while some patients did not notice any newfound hair growth, they did notice that the amount of hair loss was reduced. In other words, minoxidil may not lead to new hair growth in some patients but may reduce existing hair loss in those same patients.

What’s more, some studies have found that some patients may notice thicker hair in as little as 4 months, although most studies have found that people need to take minoxidil for 12 to 14 months on a continual basis to obtain optimal results.

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