Losing more hair after using minioxidil for 1 month.

Question

I am using minioxidil since last 4 weeks but now i lost more hair, more then 100 hair par day is it normal coz i am using minioxidil...

Amiya Prasad, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question. You’ve been on minoxidil for about 4 weeks, and observed your hair loss is actually getting worse to the point you are counting over a hundred shed hairs per day. You’re asking whether or not this is caused by the minoxidil.
I can share with you how I discuss the use of minoxidil in my practice for patients who are dealing with hair loss like yourself. A little background: I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgeon. I have been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years. I am also the founder of TrichoStem™ Hair Regeneration Centers, a system we developed from the use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and Acellular matrix during hair transplant as an additional tool in the treatment armamentarium for men and women with genetic pattern hair loss. We have treated patients from all around the world  with Hair Regeneration since 2011. 
I spend a lot of time putting the treatment strategies into context for people suffering from male pattern hair loss. It’s important to understand that the use of minoxidil may have a certain value based on its pharmaceutical effect, but its relative success for patients varies. Minoxidil was originally a drug for hypertension/high blood pressure, but had this side-effect of hair growth. There is variable expression of male pattern hair loss, so there are people who start losing hair early and very fast; people who start losing hair closer to their late 30s and lose hair very slowly; and a wide variation in between. It is common people make a correlation-causation error which means that they will use a drug like minoxidil, and because their hair loss is still progressing, they feel that the drug caused the hair loss - it’s a temporal thing, but not necessarily a cause and effect. 
It’s also important to understand that minoxidil is not the only treatment for hair loss. If you are progressing, you may want to also look at other strategies, which is the discussion I have with my patients. To go over the concept of Hair Regeneration, when we were doing hair transplants and we wanted to help our patients with better wound healing in the donor area, and  better graft survival. The material we used Acellular matrix and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) appeared to also stimulate hair growth so thinning hairs that were not transplanted became thicker. From that, we derived a system to help patients maximize hair growth. 
What we do is an injection treatment, and then we watch our patients. Routinely, we’ll also do a booster injection around 15-24 months depending on a profile I developed from all these years of experience in treating so many patients from around the world. The profile is based on gender, age of the patient, age of onset of hair loss, rate of progression of hair loss, degree of progression,  as well as other variables such as the use of different drugs, certain hormonal issues, and other medical conditions. 
That said, it is not unusual to hear about someone trying minoxidil, got frustrated with it, and then they abandoned it; or they tried minoxidil and thought it made their hair loss worse. 
When I see a patient, and they learn about Hair Regeneration, then want to come for treatment, I also discuss with them other options including transplant, and for men the use of a DHT blocker like finasteride. It’s very important to understand that regardless of the strategy that no one is curing hair loss, but we’re working with your genetics to maximize the longevity and coverage of your scalp. 
A lot of my patients who are describing a scenario like yours of male pattern hair loss, where they’re losing a lot of hair, I’ll tell them even if Hair Regeneration can make a big impact independent of other drugs, I have attributed a certain level of DHT sensitivity based on a person’s profile. For a lot of our patients, I still have a discussion about DHT, and I’ll put them also on a drug like finasteride. 
There’s a lot of fear about finasteride, but the medical community has a general consensus that the drug is effective, and relatively safe enough to continue prescribing it with consistency. That said, the key to hair loss is not just DHT. We’ve had many patients who were on finasteride, and they would still progress, but I feel the DHT blocker did have a value in sustaining the hair follicle longer than it otherwise would without the pharmaceutical intervention. In those patients, I’ll do a Hair Regeneration treatment so their hairs will get thicker. DHT blocking will prolong the lifespan of the hair, and the stimulation of Hair Regeneration results in better coverage - there's a synergy opportunity. 
If someone has been on minoxidil for an extended period of time, then I usually let them stay on it because that’s a strategy to control a variable. However, minoxidil’s pharmaceutical effect is dependent on the drug being continuously applied, and the relative responsiveness. I would argue it is really dependent on relative DHT sensitivity, and the rate of progression. For example If someone in their late 30s or really 40s is starting to lose hair to the point they’re noticing something, they probably have a slower progression, someone like that generally seems to do well with minoxidil. In contrast, a younger person, with an early onset, and rapid rate of progression, so they will generally not find value in using minoxidil. 
It is important for you to explore all the options you have to help with your hair loss, which includes finasteride, the technology of PRP and Acellular matrix we call in our practice TrichoStem™ Hair Regeneration, as well hair transplant, and see what strategy makes the most sense for you. As far as the minoxidil is concerned, without the benefit of more information and detail, I can’t say if it going to have any value in your long-term treatment strategy, but I think you have to look at other options to get the most optimal benefit for your hair loss situation. I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck, and thank you for your question.

Camilo Diaz, MD · Answer

You must persevere - the hair loss can accelerate slightly in the early stages of using minoxidil but this will slow and help retain existing hairs normally around 2 months of use. Stick with it and review in another month or so.

Ilhan Serdaroglu, MD · Answer

Minoxidil helps to stopping hair loss and thickening of hair although it may cause a little loss at beginning . But ıf you stop to use minox after a long time usage, you may experience a fast thinning, even loss of hair because of ending action of active ingredient. That phenomena leads people to a misconception that minoxidil causes hair loss after  stopping to use it.

Robert Nettles, MD · Answer

As we know one of the main culprits of androgenetic alopecia is DHT.  DHT is created not only at the skin level on our scalps, but predominantly in the prostate.  It is then circulated through our bodies within our blood.Minoxidil (the active ingredient in Rogaine) is a vasodilator.  This means that it increases blood flow to the areas where it is used. It is also a mild hair growth stimulant.  If you happen to create a lot of DHT, then the amount of extra DHT you are sending to your scalp could very well be more than the hair growth stimulation effect of minoxidil resulting in more hair loss rather than less.I wrote an article about why we should stop using Rogaine as a hair growth treatment on my page, plus offer a better solution.  Feel free to stop by and check it out.

Jeff Donovan, MD, PhD · Answer

Minoxidil often causes hair loss in the first two months. Please see a physician if you have concerns.

Losing more hair after using minioxidil for 1 month.

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Answer: Can Minoxidil/Rogaine cause hair loss?

Answer: Can Minoxidil/Rogaine cause hair loss?

Answer: Minoxidil

Answer: Minoxidil

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Losing more hair after using minioxidil for 1 month.

Answers (6)

Answer: Can Minoxidil/Rogaine cause hair loss?

Answer: Can Minoxidil/Rogaine cause hair loss?

Answer: Minoxidil

Answer: Minoxidil

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Everything you need to know about Hair Loss Treatment

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