About to start on Rogaine Foam - Need some answers!

[minoxhelpplease]

I've recently noticed that my hair is thinning slightly around the crown area. It's not really noticeable unless I wet my hair and run my fingers through it, but it is definitely thinning slightly. I also have a bit of receding on my temples, although it is minimal.. I've always had a bit of a widows peak, even as a kid. As far as I can tell any thinning/receding that is happening is occurring fairly slowly.. Also, I don't seem to ever have any "shedding" like people describe.

After looking through all the options and speaking with my dermatologist I have decided to stay away from propecia. I have decided to use Rogaine foam, and probably Nizoral a few times a week as well. So, as a newbie to all of this, I have a few questions. If someone can please address this, I would greatly appreciate it:

1. I typically don't notice any shedding, although I know many people go through a shed on Rogaine. Seeing as my hair is still fairly full, if I do go through a shed, do you think this would be noticeable? Or it's usually more noticeable on people that already have more noticeably thin hair to begin with?

2. I mentioned I plan on going on the Foam, but is there any benefit to the liquid as opposed to the foam?

3. Alternatively, is there any benefit to starting on 2% seeing as my thinning is fairly minimal? And if so, would this minimize potential shedding?

4. I understand everyone reacts to minoxidil differently, but for someone in my position with relatively mild hair thinning, is it realistic to maintain results for 5+ years on just minoxidil, with no propecia?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. I hope minoxidil will help me strengthen what I already have and get me through the next 5 - 10 years.. And who knows what else will be available by then.

 

[Rawtashk]

1. I typically don't notice any shedding, although I know many people go through a shed on Rogaine. Seeing as my hair is still fairly full, if I do go through a shed, do you think this would be noticeable? Or it's usually more noticeable on people that already have more noticeably thin hair to begin with?

Doubtful. Besides, even if you do shed, it will almost certainly come back in fuller.

2. I mentioned I plan on going on the Foam, but is there any benefit to the liquid as opposed to the foam?

If you have longer hair, then I would suggest using the liquid. It's harder to apply the foam to longer hair because the foam tends to get mostly on the hair when you apply it. The liquid you apply with a dropper, which means you can get it where you want it...your scalp

3. Alternatively, is there any benefit to starting on 2% seeing as my thinning is fairly minimal? And if so, would this minimize potential shedding?

Possibly, but it's hard to say. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and go for it. With hairloss a lot of times the saying "It's going to get worse before it gets better" apply to minoxidil and finasteride. If you have full enough hair, then I wouldn't worry about it and just go with the 5%

4. I understand everyone reacts to minoxidil differently, but for someone in my position with relatively mild hair thinning, is it realistic to maintain results for 5+ years on just minoxidil, with no propecia?

It's impossible to say for certain without more background. It depends on underlying factors. If your hairloss is very aggressive, then I would highly highly doubt that minoxidil alone would allow you to maintain. DHT causes your follicles to die off, so minoxidil just treats the surface of that problem.

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. I hope minoxidil will help me strengthen what I already have and get me through the next 5 - 10 years.. And who knows what else will be available by then.

Here's to hoping that you're right!! I've maintained about 90ish% of my hair in the last 3+ years on finasteride/minoxidil/Nizoral...and I hope that there will be something permanent within that time frame.

Just keep monitoring your hairloss and remember that it's 100x easier to MAINTAIN your hair than it is to regrow it. Think of your hair like a heart, and regrowth medicines like a defibrillator. It might shock your heart back to life...but it's so much easier if you just keep it beating in the first place!!!

 

[minoxhelpplease]

Thanks Rawtashk! This definitely clears some things up for me. If I need to down the road, I'll definitely consider propecia, but I have a hunch that because my hair loss seems to be slow and not very aggressive, I might be able to get away with just minoxidil for at least some time...

Best of luck with your regimen, It seems that you've found something that really works for you!

If anyone else wants to put in their 2 cents, I'd appreciate some more feedback! This forum is very helpful.

 

[minoxhelpplease]

Also, my hair is medium length.. Maybe 3 - 4 inches long. I would really prefer to use the foam though.. Do you think it will be less effective? Just how greasy is the liquid version?

 

[hairhoper]

Yeh just to say 2% minoxidil is being phased out for a reason, I'm suprised they still sell it anywhere but basically if you think about it, if you start on 2% and...

- DON'T get results, you will want to try 5% to see if you get better results.
- DO get results, you will also want to try 5% to see if you get better results.

So you might as well just start on 5% to begin with.

To answer your question about the liquid minoxidil, it's crazy greasy and will literally look like you have oil in you hair/on your scalp for several hours. Foam dries with barely a trace in 10-15 mins. I only use liquid minoxidil before bed, swear by foam for the AM.

 

[minoxhelpplease]

Yeh just to say 2% minoxidil is being phased out for a reason, I'm suprised they still sell it anywhere but basically if you think about it, if you start on 2% and...

- DON'T get results, you will want to try 5% to see if you get better results.
- DO get results, you will also want to try 5% to see if you get better results.

So you might as well just start on 5% to begin with.

To answer your question about the liquid minoxidil, it's crazy greasy and will literally look like you have oil in you hair/on your scalp for several hours. Foam dries with barely a trace in 10-15 mins. I only use liquid minoxidil before bed, swear by foam for the AM.

That's exactly what I thought initially.. And I could be completely unaware of how tolerance factors in to this, but:

Theoretically, if you got good results on 2%, continued for a few years and then moved to 5% once you started losing ground again... Wouldn't you be able to stay on minoxidil longer in the end? In other words if on average it takes 5 years for the effect of minoxidil to wear off, than wouldn't it make more sense to start at 2%, because then you're likely to stay on for a total of 10 years, 5 on 2% and 5 on 5%?

I really don't know!

 

[danielnoir]

I'm just chiming in regarding the foam vs liquid.

I have long (ish) hair - about 3-4 inches - and the liquid, which I first tried over a year ago was awful. It was greasy and simply didn't dry at all. Made my hair look really, really bad. It put me off min for good and I think I had a really bad reaction to it as I used too much.

Anyway, fast forward to the last 3 monthes and I have been using the foam and it is so, so much better. It dries very quickly and with an application every evening before bed and an application when I have time in the morning (about twice a week) I am pretty sure that it is regrowing hair.

 

[minoxhelpplease]

Thank you, danielnoir.. I am definitely going with the foam!!

 

[Rashan]

Another added benefit to the foam is that when if fully dries, it actually makes your thin hair look thicker and fuller. At least that's the experience I've had with it for the past several years, and my hair is fairly long, down to my neck.