how long can minoxidil be effictive if you respond to it?

[stjimmy]

wondering how long minoxidil can work for if you respond to it

 

[casperz]

As I understand it, each individual hair will be better off than than
before you started using minoxidil but the hair will continued to be damaged
by DHT and over time(lifetime?) it will get smaller and smaller.

minoxidil alone did not do anything for me.

 

[Bryan]

wondering how long minoxidil can work for if you respond to it

Possibly forever, in my opinion, although there's a notable lack of really long-term topical minoxidil studies to prove that hypothesis conclusively.

And once again I caution you that even if it _does_ work forever, that doesn't mean that it stops or even interferes with the fundamental balding process. All topical minoxidil seems to do is provide that famous "offset of growth" that I've talked about so much.

 

[ShedMaster]

I believe after 5 years you will start to see a dropoff in the benefits of the increased stimulation of hairgrowth. I think I remember from reading a chart that after this point the growth will slowly start to dropoff. Hopefully if you are of age like late 20's or early 30's (like me) you will have found other ways to deal with it or they will not be as devastating as it would be if you were, say, in your teens or early 20's when your life would over (for lack of a better explanation.)

 

[Bryan]

I believe after 5 years you will start to see a dropoff in the benefits of the increased stimulation of hairgrowth. I think I remember from reading a chart that after this point the growth will slowly start to dropoff.

How do you know that's not just an advancement of the fundamental male pattern baldness process, rather than a failure of minoxidil to continue to grow hair?