confusion about where to use minoxidil, and other Qs

[bojangles]

I have a receding hairline and am thinking of using either minoxidil or propecia. I just turned 24 and started noticing this months ago, although it's probably been longer. I'm wary of propecia because of the nasty side effects I've heard (everything from limp dick to breast enlargement), but I'm kind of turned off from minoxidil because it seems like a hassle to use, and I'd rather use something that attacks the cause of the problem itself (DHT) rather than overriding it.

Anyway, I have a few questions about minoxidil.

1. First of all, is it only supposed to be used on areas where there is still hair, or can it be used on entirely bald areas (like the sides of the front)? by the way I'd say I'm about a 2 on the "norwood scale", except the spaces on the sides of my forehead are maybe a bit bigger, and the hair on the front of my head is kind of thin.

2. Also, can it be effective enough to only use once a day, like before I go to bed? And if applied correctly, is it noticable atl all (either by sight or smell), and can it rub off at all? I ask that because my dad started using rogaine a while ago and I remembered when he came over to my apartment and laid on my couch for a while, and a few hours later I noticed a big oily spot where is head was.

3. Also, if used for a while with fairly good results, how long until you notice hair loss again if you stop using it? If there's one thing that really turns me off off minoxidil as a long-term treatment it's the idea of having to keep buying it and using it day after day after day for the rest of my life until I'm too old to care about how I look.

 

[ShedMaster]

1. first of all minoxidil can be used anywhre that you want to regrow hair. chances are that you will not regrow much in areas that you are slick bald, but it wont hurt to try. If you are only a norwood 2, then you have a good chance of moving those temples down just a tad where you are thinning. You won't know unless you try, but keep in mind that it takes the longest to see results in the frontal areas of tha scalp.

2. I would recommend using twice per day, but that is debatable. I used it twice per day for 1.5 years, but then switched to once per day for maintenance and its been great. It sounds like your dad is using way too much if that happened. Only a small amount is neccessary for results.


3. How long it will last is anyones guess, but when combined with other treatments, like propecia the results should last much longer. 5 years is the general average time length, but then again, it is not certain. If and when it does start to wane in effectiveness you can add other treatments at that time or use a higher percentage amount of minoxidil, like 15%. Any who knows, at that time we may have other new treatments available.

 

[Radio]

My opinion is use both or lose your hair. :freaked:


Graph is around 600k, folk on 56k dial up modems will have to wait 1-2 minutes for it to start aninimating.

This graph is plotted from actual trial data.

Hair weight increases are represented by an increase in plot line thickness, these percentage changes have been doubled throughout this graph as a change from 100% to 124% (in the case of 2% minoxidil at 96 weeks) was just too subtle as to carry any meaning, so the 24% increased hair weight for 2% minoxidil @ week 96 is represented by a 48% thicker plot line.

The shape given to the evolving plot lines is pure conjecture, I have just smoothed out (using weighted splines) the linear plots generated by the known data points (the small circles), also the start point is ramped in by an arbitrary amount.

One thing to look out for is the fact that hair count declines with finasteride use (alone) after around a year, but hair weight (presumably shaft thickness) stays faily constant


Simplified minoxidil/finasteride efficacy graph.

 

[bojangles]

Thanks.

Can you tell me about this, on the minoxidil box, though?

Hair regrowth has not been shown to last longer than 48 weeks in large clinical trials with continuous treatment with minoxidil topical solution 5%.

What does that mean?

 

[Justlooking]

I'm guessing they stopped the trials after 48 months of treatment, so they cant claim that it grows hair forever. This is similar to how they cant claim frontal regrowth because they did a vertex trial only. I wouldnt worry about it, if you see noticiable dropoff after 48 weeks then stop using it I suppose.. but 3 years here and I'm still going strong