ROGAINE / MINOXIDIL

In the late 1970s, the American drug company Upjohn created a drug called Minoxidil. This medication was first administered internally to patients who were suffering severe high blood pressure. As a side effect of the drug, it was discovered that patients grew hair on various parts of the body. And, in some patients, when applied externally as a lotion, directly to the fine hairs remaining in a thinning area of hair on the scalp, the 2% solution of minoxidil was shown to start the hairs growing longer and thicker.

Currently produced under the trade name of Rogaine Topical SolutionTM, the medication’s exact mechanism of action is unknown. We know it stimulates the hair follicles’ active growth (the Anagen phase), causing the hairs to thicken and grow longer. Minoxidil is helpful in slowing down the rate of hair loss in approximately 70%-75% of patients; and, about one in two patients actually experiences hair re-growth.

Rogaine Topical SolutionTM is available over-the-counter (without a prescription) in both 2% and 5% concentrations. To be effective, the solution should be applied to your scalp twice daily. Our recommendation to patients is to shampoo and towel-dry your hair before applying the Rogaine solution. We also suggest using the dropper applicator to spread the solution over the entire top of the scalp and allow it to get onto the skin where it can do its job.

We counsel patients to understand that it will take at least four months before you will notice less hair falling out; and, at least seven months to see hair re-growth. Usually, this re-growth will be fine, short (Vellus) hairs. Rogaine must be used continually, as prescribed, over the long-term in order to maintain its beneficial effects. If you stop using the medication, you will eventually begin to lose your hair again.

The main side effects of Rogaine, which occur in approximately two percent of patients, are dermatologic: skin itching, scaling and redness.

Minoxidil can be used by both MEN and WOMEN.    Minoxidil is considered the “first-line“ of therapy for women with hereditary hair thinning.