Studies have shown that solutions of minoxidil
are effective in promoting hair growth in individuals with male pattern
baldness.
Mode of Action:
Evidence suggests that minoxidil promotes hair growth by increasing matrix cell
proliferation and by prolonging the alagen phase. Higher concentrations appear
to be more effective in promoting hair growth.
What is Minoxidil?
Minoxidil was originally developed to treat
high blood pressure. It is use for teating thinning hair was originally
discovered when it was noted to cause increased hair growth as a side effect of
this treatment. Topical Minoxidil is now the most widely recommended treatment
for androgenetic alopecia.
How Minoxidil works?
How minoxidil works to grow hair is somewhat
of a mystery. Since it was originally a blood-pressure pill and because it is a
vasodilator it was thought that it worked by increasing the amount of blood to
the hair follicles. However other vasodilators do not stimulate the same
response so that it is now thought that minoxidil works by a different
mechanism. Recent studies have shown that topical minoxidil does not cause an
increase in skin blood flow which was originally though to be the mechanism by
which minoxidil works. Studies carried out by L'Oreal recently suggest that
minoxidil works by activating PGHS 1 (prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase-1)
which helps promote hair growth.
How effective is topical
minoxidil?
Topical minoxidil has been shown to be
effective in both men and women. Clinical tests that were conducted by 27 US
medical centers involving over 2,300 patients with male pattern baldness on the
top of the head showed that after one year of use
48% of the men who had used minoxidil for one
year rated their regrowth as moderate to dense.
36% of men who had used topical minoxidil for
one year rated their regrowth as minimal
16% of men had no regrowth.
In tests carried out to evaluate the
effectiveness of topical minoxidil on women almost two out of three women were
evaluated by physicians to have regrown some hair.
How long do I need to use Minoxidil
for?
Hair regrowth
with topical minoxidil takes time. While some individuals see results faster
than others, studies show that at least 4 months of treatment is generally
necessary before there is any evidence of regrowth with topical
minoxidil.
If treatment is successful the first thing you
will notice is less shedding within 90 days of beginning treatment. This is
because minoxidil may prolong the growth phase of the hair cycle, thus
increasing the number of follicles in the growth phase at the same time.
New growth may be soft, downey and barely
visible at first. This can be an encouraging sign because it shows that
minoxidil is actually stimulating regrowth. If you continue to respond with
further treatment the soft downey gowth may change into hair of the same colour
and thickness as the other hairs on your scalp.
Application:
The recommended dosage is 1 ml applied twice
daily to thinning areas of the scalp. The use of topical tretinoin
in conjunction with minoxidil appears to increase the beneficial
effects of minoxidil.