Minoxidil: Actually worth it?

[ledon]

Hi all,

Why does almost everyone seem to have minoxidil as part of their regimen? From what i understand it grows, at best, weak vellus hairs and stops working (even in terms of just "maintenance") after a couple of years at best. Around this time presumably people either keep using it, to no great effect, or stop and see themselves lose everything they might have gained/maintened and potentially lots more......

Is minoxidil actually worth starting? Don't know if there's anyone here who's been using it for a long period of time, as the majority of posters seem to be at the early stages of combatting their problem....

Any opinions welcome.

Thanks.

 

[hellohello]

Well you may be right about the new growth being weak and almost useless, but i think a lot of people don't think of it this way.

FOR EXAMPLE:
Before minoxidil, you lose 60-70 hairs a day, your body naturally begins to regrow say 40 a day. This may decline with time.
Therefore each day you are 'balding' by 20-30 hairs. Say 150 a week.
Sounds little, but you can imagine over years it would add up.
150*4*12 = about 6,000 hairs permanently gone! :shock:

Using minoxidil You lose about 20-30 hairs a day max, your body still naturally produces maybe 40-50 a day and then it may slowly increase.
The gains made are that you aren't losing as many hairs, which means your hair gets thicker.

Hopefully thats a bit clearer.



This gain happen usually for about 2 years.

The results may slowly decline upto about 5-7 years where you will probably end up where you started.

 

[ledon]

HH,

Thanks for that. Am just really confused right now - went on xandrox for literally a couple of weeks 6 months ago and since then have seen my crown lose hair in a way that I never imagined possible a few months ago....

Now that I'm reavaluating everything and starting from scratch, I realised that while everyone seems to be on minoxidil, its benefits, besides potentially some growth short term, seem negligible. If you're right in saying that minoxidil use can positively impact hair growth/maintenance for up to 5/6 years then I couldn't be happier - I've just never heard that before : all I've heard is that it loses its effectiveness, even in "maintaining" (by which I mean growing new hairs at the rate that others are lost) after a couple of years max.....

I've ben reading this site for a pretty long time now, and haven't heard anyone say how well minoxidil has improved/maintained their hair over any decent period of time.......

 

[hellohello]

Ledon, try and look for posts written by BruceLee. He's been using minoxidil for 10 years without any decline in its efficiency.

Have a search around google and you'll find sites where people have been using it a lot longer.

THis site seems to have a lot of newbies to hairloss and therefore deals more with the negatives than the positives.

Xandrox may have needed more time to see results... dunno everyone responds differently.

 

[kiwi1973]

my brother has had amazing results from just minoxidil he went from having very thin looking defuse hair in the Norwood 6 area to very slight thinning in 4 months
a lot of people asked him how he grew his hair back, I think my brother is very lucky i think hes in the top 5% of minoxidil users
for me it only helped stop the loss

but i do think it worth a try as its cheap, over the counter and has very few major sideffects

 

[Old Baldy]

I think it's worth it.

 

[itchy080]

been using 5% rogaine for less than 4 months, i have regrown more than i expected to at this point, sure a lot of it is vellus hairs, they arent shorter though, just less pigmented, but hopefully within the next few months that will change, if not hair dye is an option
i mean look ur gonna lose ur hair its either u go down swinging or down crying about it...thats how i look at it at least

 

[nohairnodandruff]

5% is suppose to grow more terminal hairs then 2%

 

[Dinzy]

been using 5% rogaine for less than 4 months, i have regrown more than i expected to at this point, sure a lot of it is vellus hairs, they arent shorter though, just less pigmented, but hopefully within the next few months that will change, if not hair dye is an option
i mean look ur gonna lose ur hair its either u go down swinging or down crying about it...thats how i look at it at least

Your missing one option. You could shave it all and go out not caring. I will try that if all else fails

 

[alfonso2501]

I started using both Xandrox 15% in the morning & Fincar about a year ago when my hair line & crown areas started thinning & receding after about 9 years of Minoxidil 5% use. I’m happy with the results. I think you should go with the Minoxidil because you have to start somewhere. I feel that it would be even better if you started Finasteride as well.

 

[Justlooking]

I've taken 5% for about 4 years now and it has done an incredible job maintaining.. I'm noticing a bit of recession/thinning in my left temple only though, which is odd. I am considering adding laser comb or stepping up to 15%, but im concerned with 15% might do to my blood pressure.