Caffeine 0.2% Topical Almost As Effective As minoxidil 5%?

[CureWhoDis]

Yes I know, caffeine brought up once again.. What is the general consensus on caffeine? I know it was considered years ago but we missed something.

I came across this recently and it looked promising as an alternative to min. for those that don't respond to it or don't want to use it. (maybe they work through different mechanisms and could give a better result if used together?)

https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/481141

Methods: We conducted a randomized, open-label, multicenter noninferiority study to determine whether a caffeine-based 0.2% topical liquid would be no less effective than minoxidil 5% solution in males (n = 210) with androgenetic alopecia. The primary end point was the percentage change in the proportion of anagen hairs from baseline to 6 months using a frontal and occipital trichogram. Results: At 6 months, the group of the 5% minoxidil solution showed a mean improvement in anagen ratio of the trichogram of 11.68%, and the group of the 0.2% caffeine solution had an anagen improvement of 10.59%. The difference of mean values between both groups was 1.09%.

 

[mecevik]

I wonder this very much. In a Turkish forum, users say they use %3-%5 pure caffeine lotion. They claim caffeine is very effective and report effectiveness of it is visible. But why caffeine-included market products don't work? They say that the amount of caffeine in them is very low almost 0.05mg/gr or less.
In addition,I researched a litte bit on the internet and found caffeine has an effect on prostglandins. And some show caffine prevents connection of testosterone to hair follicles. That's all I know.

I'm contemplating give it a try soon. Let's see if it works.

 

[zaman]

Are there caffeine lotions on the market, or is it all shampoos?

 

[champpy]

I wonder this very much. In a Turkish forum, users say they use %3-%5 pure caffeine lotion. They claim caffeine is very effective and report effectiveness of it is visible. But why caffeine-included market products don't work? They say that the amount of caffeine in them is very low almost 0.05mg/gr or less.
In addition,I researched a litte bit on the internet and found caffeine has an effect on prostglandins. And some show caffine prevents connection of testosterone to hair follicles. That's all I know.

I'm contemplating give it a try soon. Let's see if it works.

Does the turkish forum mention how they are obtaining this lotion?

 

[mecevik]

Does the turkish forum mention how they are obtaining this lotion?

They buy it as pure from abroad because it is not legal in Turkey. Then they mixture with alcohol.

 

[mecevik]

Are there caffeine lotions on the market, or is it all shampoos?

As far as I know it's not sold as prepared. They themselves make it.

 

[champpy]

As far as I know it's not sold as prepared. They themselves make it.

Well i just bought some alcepin shampoo. Should have it in a week or so, so ill report anything positive here

 

[jonnywalker93]

I wonder this very much. In a Turkish forum, users say they use %3-%5 pure caffeine lotion. They claim caffeine is very effective and report effectiveness of it is visible. But why caffeine-included market products don't work? They say that the amount of caffeine in them is very low almost 0.05mg/gr or less.
In addition,I researched a litte bit on the internet and found caffeine has an effect on prostglandins. And some show caffine prevents connection of testosterone to hair follicles. That's all I know.

I'm contemplating give it a try soon. Let's see if it works.

Would you mind posting the solution they are using or how they prepare it?

I'm very tempted to try this as minoxidil gave me heart palpitations...

 

[Oppenheimer]

5 % caffeine solution, 30ml. only 7 euros.

http://theordinary.com/product/rdn-caffeine-solution-5pct-egcg-30ml

it also contains egcg.


topical egcg stimulates hair growth:


study-> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17092697

 

[Xander94]

5 % caffeine solution, 30ml. only 7 euros.

http://theordinary.com/product/rdn-caffeine-solution-5pct-egcg-30ml

it also contains egcg.


topical egcg stimulates hair growth:


study-> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17092697

how's this absorbed without having alcohol ?

 

[BlueLion]

how's this absorbed without having alcohol ?

Probably it doesn't penetrate at all..don't waste your money on these products.

Just make your own topical ethanol/water/pg and get caffeine and egcg in powder form. It's dirt cheap and will last you for 10 years.

 

[Xander94]

Probably it doesn't penetrate at all..don't waste your money on these products.

Just make your own topical ethanol/water/pg and get caffeine and egcg in powder form. It's dirt cheap and will last you for 10 years.

do u have any sources where I can buy these stuff ?

 

[br1]

Having a cup of coffee right now..

 

[BlueLion]

do u have any sources where I can buy these stuff ?

Caffeine powder
https://www.bulkpowders.co.uk/caffeine.html

Green tea extract with 50% egcg
https://purebulk.com/green-tea-extract-powder-50-egcg/

I just googled fast, there are a lot of other suppliers as well.

 

[IdealForehead]

Thanks. Great study if it's believable. I just ordered 100 g of caffeine powder on ebay. Cheap as dirt.

Anything that lets me more confidently stop minoxidil is great. It makes me look old and haggard.

0.2% topically with 2 ml twice a day is only 4 mg twice daily which is tiny in amount and not likely to affect sleep. Amazing if it works.

 

[charlie76761]

Great work - going to add to my regime.

Skeptic in me does ask why a big pharma hasnt picked this up - some would have seen this so be interesting to know why.

 

[IdealForehead]

Great work - going to add to my regime.

Skeptic in me does ask why a big pharma hasnt picked this up - some would have seen this so be interesting to know why.

Same reason other topical treatments like niacin, cetirizine, desloratadine, procyanidin b, and even topical retinoids are not capitalized on by big pharma.

Pharmaceutical companies are only interested in NEW and synthetic compounds which they can patent. Otherwise it would cost millions to bring a product to market and run studies proving it works, and right out the gates generic companies will be able to sell the same thing without doing all that research themselves. Ie. the pharma company that did all the hard work gets undercut.

Can't really blame them for not wanting to go through that.

 

[Xander94]

what if we buy caffeine supplement will it have same effect ?

 

[mecevik]

Thanks. Great study if it's believable. I just ordered 100 g of caffeine powder on ebay. Cheap as dirt.

Anything that lets me more confidently stop minoxidil is great. It makes me look old and haggard.

0.2% topically with 2 ml twice a day is only 4 mg twice daily which is tiny in amount and not likely to affect sleep. Amazing if it works.

But caffeine has its forms. I saw this in the topic. One or some forms of it aren't soluble.

 

[mecevik]

Would you mind posting the solution they are using or how they prepare it?

I'm very tempted to try this as minoxidil gave me heart palpitations...

There are no pictures regarding it. Sorry :/

 

[Massive]

There was this guy here (forgot his name, that got banned I think) that used 30% minoxidil cream. He said he also used some sort of caffeine foam/lotion that worked quite well at increasing thickness of the existing hairs, but only that, and nothing else. I'll try to find later if I can find the product he was talking about.