Minoxidil And Facial Ageing/dark Circles

Erich Zann

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Hi everyone, I just wanted to share my experience with minoxidil and facial ageing since I think it may be useful for others.

A few years ago I noticed I was losing hair and so I started using foaming Rogaine and a few months later I switched to Belgravia liquid minoxidil and finasteride. Throughout this period I had started to get skin complaints on my face. The skin of my face was red, dry and rough. It got so bad that I had an outbreak of eczema around my eyes. This seemed to coincide with facial "ageing" - a loss of collagen which absolutely hollowed out my eyes and was accompanied by the worst dark circles I have ever seen. People used to say I looked young for my age but people stopped saying that. I had aged about 10 years in 1 year.

Although I didn't realise it at the time, minoxidil was the only explanation - the timing was just too coincidental. Some people on the internet claim that finasteride has aged them. In my opinion they are probably mistaking the effects of minoxidil (I started getting these symptoms while on the rogaine before using finasteride).

I tried to stop minoxidil and use only finasteride and with in only a few days I saw visible improvements. My skin became less red and my dark circles partially went away. I've seen many people claim that the facial ageing is irreversible but this has not been my experience. But I couldn't continue after a week since my hair felt limp and I was worried it was falling out despite the finasteride. I then went to a much lower minoxidil dosage (1/4 of full dosage only once a day). This was semi-effective at reducing dark circles but I again became concerned that I was losing hair.

After all this I think I have found the most effective strategy to deal with these side effects: the key is to avoid even small amounts of minoxidil coming into contact with your face. Minoxidil is a powerful vasodilator and even a small amount on sensitive facial skin can be a strong irritant. So try to do the following:
- Try to make sure the minoxidil gets onto your scalp rather than hair
- Try to avoid touching your hair and then touching your face (if you touch your hair, wash your hands)
- If you can see a few hairs damp with minoxidil and these hairs are hanging over your face, try washing the tips
- Wash your hair before going to bed
- Wash your pillow and bedsheets
Those last two are the most important since minoxidil on your pillow is the main way it gets onto your face. Doing all of these I've found my dark circles 80% reduced and my facial redness has gone away, and this is while applying minoxidil and near full dosage. Hopefully others will find this helpful.
 
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