Why the hell does minoxidl actually work?

[Boondock]

This is something that's been bugging me for a while. Given that the dominant idea of hairloss is that it's from the effect of DHT on hair follicles, the mechanism for propecia's effect makes perfect sense. But for minoxidil it totally doesn't.

Since it can regrow hair in some people, I see only two possibilties:
--- Minoxidil must have some elusive way of protecting follicles from DHT that we don't know about
or
--- Hairloss is a bit more complicated than just DHT causing follicle damage.

Anyone got any good explanations for this? It doesn't really affect my life, but it's something I've been curious about.

 

[Flavio]

This is something that's been bugging me for a while. Given that the dominant idea of hairloss is that it's from the effect of DHT on hair follicles, the mechanism for propecia's effect makes perfect sense. But for minoxidil totally doesn't.[...]

Apparently, nobody knows for sure. Minoxidil is still a big mystery. It is a vasodilator, but that doesn't seem to be the reason why it regrows hair.

 

[icdalite]

IMO, minoxidil will regrow hair because although it won't stop DHT from attacking your hair follicles it works by opening the potassium K channel to the follicles and supply it with nutirents.

This last bit had stopped happening because DHT had blocked nutrients to the follicles.

Bear in mind that once DHT attacks follicles the follicle still grows hair although its thinner and thinner everytime.

 

[Bryan]

IMO, minoxidil will regrow hair because although it won't stop DHT from attacking your hair follicles it works by opening the potassium K channel to the follicles and supply it with nutirents.

This last bit had stopped happening because DHT had blocked nutrients to the follicles.

Your real name wouldn't just happen to be "Ernie", would it?

 

[Guest]

I don't know why it works for some people, I certainly don't use it. I read from a website that minoxidil works by activating PGHS 1 (prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase-1) which helps promote hair growth...

I don't believe DHT is the reason for hair loss, although it plays a part, it's not the whole story.

 

[ali777]

minoxidil is like the manure farmers feed the plants with, ie it's a fertiliser :whistle: