Minoxidil is a very popular hair loss treatment which is easily available, and doesn’t require
a prescription.
Both men and women can use minoxidil for genetic pattern hair loss.
However, it is common for people to not find it limited in effectiveness , or feel that
it stopped working.
I’ll discuss the role of minoxidil in the treatment hair loss and how I make decisions
about its use in consultation with patients about hair loss everyday in my practice.
I’m Dr Amiya Prasad.
I’m a Board Certified Cosmetic Surgeon and Fellowship Trained Oculoplastic Surgeon.
I’ve been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years.
Managing hair loss has been a significant part of my practice beginning with surgical
hair transplant and developing strategies to maximize hair coverage after transplantation.
In an effort to improve the outcomes in hair transplant surgery using a material called
extracellular matrix, a door was opened around 2011 to apply regenerative medicine technology
to nonsurgically treat male and female pattern hair loss we call TrichoStem Hair Regeneration.
This nonsurgical treatment made a significant impact on bot male and female pattern hair
loss resulting in us treating patients from around the world since 2011.
In fact, we made such an impact on female pattern hair loss which prior to our work
was treated mostly with minoxidil with limited success.
Minoxidil was originally a drug used to treat high blood pressure.
A side effect of the drug was the stimulation of hair growth which soon became more popular
for topical hair loss treatment.
Minoxidil is available over-the-counter as liquid and foam.
Custom solutions are sometimes available through doctors of but the higher percentage does
not necessarily mean more effectiveness.
A common side effect of topical minoxidil use is scalp irritation and redness.
Many men and women have found minoxidil to help with their hair coverage at least in
the short-term.
Many also find that it really makes no difference with their hair coverage.
Minoxidil does not work with everyone.
While the exact mechanism of how minoxidil works on hair is not known, it appears to
delay the normal hair shedding cycle, and extend the hair growth cycle so users have
more hair on their scalp at a given time.
It needs to be used daily to sustain the effect, and people who discontinue minoxidil often
report hair shedding soon after they stop using it.
Even with consistent daily use, hair loss continues to progress.
In my clinical experience, especially with our experience after developing TrichoStem
Hair Regeneration, I find minoxidil to be of limited value.
Minoxidil can stimulate hair growth, but most users report that growth usually consists
of fine hairs that don’t grow very long, or never grow thick, and these hairs shed
easily.
In the case of male pattern hair loss, minoxidil does not affect DHT or dihydrotestosterone,
which is important in male pattern hair loss.
For women, minoxidil is one of the few hair loss treatments available.
Of the two medical hair loss therapies available for men, minoxidil and finasteride, I find
finasteride to be a more effective treatment since it blocks the formation of dihydrotestosterone,
or DHT, which in DHT-sensitive men, causes scalp hair to thin.
However, we’ve observed that even if finasteride can be used continuously to control DHT, it
is limited to primarily slowing down hair thinning with some regrowth.
People who come to see us typically start treating their hair loss by first buying minoxidil
and applying it.
They come in because they recognize that they are still progressing and often will report
scalp irritation.
I evaluate every patient with microscopic photos and specific standardized digital photography.
Having performed Hair Regeneration treatment since 2011, I’ve accumulated a lot of data
and first hand experience.
At this point I’ve developed a Hair Loss Profile classification system which I use
to customize treatment plans.
Factors which I look at include gender, current age, age of onset of hair loss, severity of
hair loss, medical history, and other hair loss medications.
These are used to assign the patient a hair loss profile which determines the formulations
delivery method and treatment plan.Although hair loss is progressive, with our treatment
we’ve been able to stimulate hair growth, prolong the hair growth cycle, and induce
thinning hair to become thicker.
As mentioned earlier, this has made a significant impact on the treatment of female pattern
hair loss which previously was treated mostly with minoxidil.
With our treatment plans in place, more than 99% of men and women see significant improvement
in their scalp coverage.
In contrast to minoxidil which requires daily application, we are able to achieve long term
results ranging up to 5 years or longer with one or two injection sessions.
Most of my patients do not stay on minoxidil after undergoing Hair Regeneration.
Some people I wean off of minoxidil to avoid shedding related to sudden cessation of use.
For male Hair Regeneration patients, I make a determination about their relative sensitivity
to DHT or dihydrotestosterone and prescribe finasteride accordingly.
Hair Regeneration, hair transplant, or any other hair loss treatment are not cures for
hair loss.
Hair loss is managed.
Hair Regeneration is about maximizing hair growth and coverage for as long as possible.
The effect of Hair Regeneration working can be seen as early as three weeks however, there
is continuous improvement which goes on for 15 to 18 months before the hair coverage appears
to be stable.
As far as time required is concerned, most patients return to work the next day.
We treat many patients who come from around the world and many actually fly home the same
day as treatment.
At a time where regenerative or stem cell-based technology such as TrichoStem Hair Regeneration
have been shown to be so effective, the role of minoxidil in the management of hair loss
is of limited value in the treatment plans I provide for my patients.
I hope you found this information helpful...thank you for your question.