Minoxidil - Is it bad for your skin?

[GoldenMane]

I've been reading some stories online about people who experienced facial bloating, wrinkled faces and dark eye rings due to minoxidil. Is this a common side effect? I've only been using it 3 days and would seriously consider sticking to just finasteride if this is what I can expect.

 

[benjt]

FredTheBelgian shows up wherever someone mentions undocumented minoxidil side effects, trying to call bull**** on everyone who has had experiences with that. By now I read approx. 100 reports of people suffering from facial wrinkling due to minoxidil. It also happened to me. If you want the details, you can check my thread out on it.
There is an in-vitro study which has proven that minoxidil inhibits collagen synthesis. Collagen is what makes your skin flexible and non-wrinkly. Some people argue that minoxidil's way of inhibiting collagen synthesis and destroying collagen is actually how it works against hair loss, as bald and balding areas are very high in fibrotic collagen which hinders follicles from producing hair capable of penetrating the fibrotic collagen.
FredTheBelgian also denies the fact that there is an in-vivo study, including photos, of an individual that overdosed on minoxidil. Guess what: The study finds that "the individual's face features coarsened". If it reportedly happens to somebody overdosing, it can also happen to a less extreme extent to people not overdosing.

And no, development of a huge amount of wrinkles within just 12 months at the age of 22/23 is not "a side-effect of ageing", FredTheBelgian.

I commenced minoxidil treatment in late June 2012, not a single wrinkle on my face back then. I stopped minoxidil application one year later when my superiors told me to call in sick and get a good nights sleep because my eye circles looked terrible (and no, I didnt have any before minoxidil). At that time, I was sleeping between 8 and 9 hours a night. Friends said I looked like a drug addicted geezer. Only then I started digging into the matter and found more reports like mine. I've been off minoxidil for three months now. My face is unfortunately far from complete recovery, but at least it got a little better since I dropped minoxidil... The fact that some wrinkles actually vanished should be proof enough that they did not form due to natural aging in the first place. Or did you ever hear about people losing wrinkles just like that, FredTheBelgian?

That being said: Yes, it can happen. No, it does not happen to everyone and only very few people are affected. My advice is to try it out, but monitor your face closely. You should take photos of your face on the day you start treatment, both w/o any facial expression, and with the biggest smile you can pull off. The latter is useful as wrinkles in the process of formation will first show up when smiling. Take those photos from up front and from half side, from both sides. You should end up with 6 photos in total that way. Also monitor the size of your pores, as many people have reported an increase in pore size.
Then take similar photos each month so you can compare.

tl;dr: Try it out, but monitor your face's state closely. More likely than not you will not be affected by side effects. But if it happens, stop treatment immidiately, unless you prefer an old haggard wrinkly face over losing your hair.

 

[GoldenMane]

I appreciate both of your replies. I'll have a look at the studies relating to minoxidil and collagen production. I already had dark rings under my eyes (late nights, college stress did it to me!) but no wrinkles. I actually will stick with minoxidil for the moment Fred, and Bent, I will keep an eye on my skin and consider staying off if I notice any significant effects. I actually would make a slight tradeoff in skin quality if it meant keeping my hair. I'm also going to stick with finasteride regardless.

 

[Quantum Cat]

I suspect it's a bit like the Propecia issue - side effects from minoxidil are possible, but rare.

The internet makes them seem more common than they really are because only those that experience sides (or believe they have) come onto forums to complain and seek help.

 

[benjt]

The problem is that FredTheBelgian is in complete denial, and forces his opinion onto everybody else, calling dozens of people here liars. Fred, I'm not going to play this game with you again like on the derma rolling thread.

I want pictures, I want before/after, I want studies showing that minoxidil is causing those side-effects.

I linked
- the in-vivo study of the guy overdosing on minoxidil
- the in-vitro study proving that minoxidil inhibits collagen
- a photo from the in-vivo study
in that thread.

You realise he isn't going to stick with it now? Good job making someone potentially balder and more miserable

Unlike you, most people at our age can actually deal with information and make their own decisions. I told GoldenMane exactly that side effects are rare and told him to try it, but to be cautious. What the f**k is your problem, Fred?
You want to deny him that information altogether.

because you had more wrinkles at 23 than you did at 22. Because this is so unusual.

Again, you only see what you want to see. How about actually losing wrinkles that had been there before, which I did? How usual is that?
And how about eye circle formation? Does that also happen in only one year, naturally?
Fred, those are not rhetorical questions. Go on ahead and reply.

I suspect it's a bit like the Propecia issue - side effects from minoxidil are possible, but rare.

Which is exactly what I said.

Fred, for some strange reason, wants to deny people this information altogether. Fred, get used to the fact that people can make their own decisions and should always have access to all information.


@GoldenMane: Take my advice and take photos. Without photos, you cannot really track potential changes. It's impossible to look in the mirror and remember if a wrinkle was already there three months ago or not.

 

[benjt]

Placebo/Nocebo effect.

I, for one, had never been on any hairloss forum before I started online searching for "minoxidil wrinkles". And I only made that possible link in my mind many weeks after I noticed those ****ing wrinkles and dark circles, cause I had no clue it could be linked to minoxidil. This completely rules out placebo/nocebo. And this is actually the case for many reports on the net. Many people start threads like "hey, I got wrinkles, the only thing I take is minoxidil, could it be connected?".

This is my reply.

Yay, you were evading exactly the questions that you cannot answer. Great! How predictable!

I will turn 24 in November and it will be soon 4 years that I'm using minoxidil and I have actually almost no wrinkles at all. It was all in my head and I don't want newbies to suffer for nothing.

Great for you. Unfortunately, right now I have a lot of them. I even posted a photo in my thread. So shut the **** up. The fact that you are not affected does not mean that noone else is.

You don't seem to realise how the statements you write on a message forum can negatively impact others.

I assume people can decide for themselves. I will not deny them my own experience. I would have been very happy if somebody had told me before what minoxidil can do. This way, I'd have discontinued treatment way earlier and maybe have less wrinkles and less pronounced eye circles now.

Let's turn this around: You don't seem to realise how bad it is that you boldly tell everyone who asks for those side effects that they are nonexistant and just bullsh*t. Let the people fu*king decide for themselves and don't deny them information that might be important, even though being affected is unlikely!

 

[Quantum Cat]

have the makers of Rogaine listed skin problems as a potential side effect?

 

[All_The_Above]

I have seen threads like this a million times, yet I have not once seen anyone post a before and after pic showing these wrinkles. Of course, the before and after pic should be within a reasonable time frame, say one or two years. If someone has been using Rogaine for 10 years and shows an after pic with more wrinkles, well then that obviously doesn't count. So, in other words, PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!

 

[benjt]

I supplied a photo of myself in my thread, as I have told you a dozen times by now, but ignorance is a bliss right? As I did not document my state at the beginning of the treatment, I obviously have no before/after photos, as I did not know of those ****ing side effects before commencing minoxidil. Everyone can decide for themselves if the amount of wrinkles shown on that photo is normal for a 23 year old. And please tell me if it's normal to loose wrinkles in a timespan of three months after dropping minoxidil, would you be so kind?

I have photos from far away which show the development of my eye circles pretty well, but it's impossible to post them w/o being identifiable.

If you choose not to believe it, hey, it's your choice to. I've read so much bullsh*t from you by now I'm not even surprised you are in denial. You are pretty good at fooling yourself. But don't tell everyone you come across that those side effects don't exist, as there are more than a hundred of reports. And hey - you still ignore the study of the guy overdosing on minoxidil, who confirmedly developed coarse face features. The logic that it can also happen in a less extreme manner to other people is obvious to everyone with a brain.

 

[talmoode]

I am not so sure about Minoxidil casuing wrinkles but I think it makes my face bloated/puffy (just me!)

 

[s322]

Yeah... a lot of people are coming forward about the skin aging thing. I mentioned this in another form, but I wouldn't necessarily give weight to people that were in their 30's and on saying it. However, if it is coming from a lot of younger people (20's range) I would pay more attention to that. It's pretty easy to see changes in your face, especially when you are younger and that's not supposed to happen yet. That type of thing is pretty noticeable when you're younger.

- - - Updated - - -

I also assume people just don't want to show their faces as a before and after aging thing, that's why we don't see more pictures. It is the internet after all, showing the top of your head is one thing, showing your full profile face (especially in regards to possible aging because of a hair loss treatment) is something else. Still, I would also like to see pics from any brave souls wanting to put them up to show proof, but can understand if they don't.