Can Minoxidil delay male pattern baldness?

Question

If I use minoxidil everyday before I actually have male pattern baldness, will my hair loss happen later?

Anil R. Shah, MD · Answer

Hello,Minor early hair loss takes a detailed plan of future hair loss and goals.  Oftentimes medications such as finasteride can be used but are often not desired by 20 year olds.  Nutraceuticals such as Nutrafol can be a nice alternative to help patients work on a multifaceted approach to help preserve hair.  Rogaine also has limited side effect profile and can be considered as well as ketoconazole shampoo and possible laser caps.  Minor hair transplants can be performed provided future hair loss expectations are considered.Best, Dr. Anil Shah

Jae Pak, MD · Answer

Minoxidil does not delay hair loss or stop male pattern balding.  It can help grow hair but your genetic predisposition will always be a factor. To be a smart consumer, you need to understand there is no "cure" for genetic balding.

Jon E. Mendelsohn, MD, FACS · Answer

When used twice daily, this product has shown it can reduce shedding from male pattern baldness.We have found that it is most effective when you layer it with other modalities such as LLLHT.The gene that causes the problem to begin with is very strong and sometimes just doing 1 thing is not enough.

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

I do PRP, progesterone injections and minoxidil daily to prevent hair loss.  Many studies show minoxidil not other regrows but also strengthens active hairs.  Best, Dr. Emer.

Jeff Rapaport, MD · Answer

In my opinion, the use of minoxidil will delay male pattern baldness. Although studies have not been done on this off label use, the product keeps hair in the growth phase thereby preventing miniaturization. Hair may also appear thicker. Start as early as possible. Similarly , we have been using  PRP for patients who want to thicken their hair. Some have no loss. I view this as a new paradigm shift towards cosmetic useage. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Jeff Donovan, MD, PhD · Answer

It is a great question and this has never been fully addressed. It's quite unlikely to fully prevent loss. However, it could delay onset or speed of loss.Minoxidil is not recommended at present in males or females without hair loss. It is however, FDA approved for males and females with hair loss due to androgenetic alopecia.

Omeed Memar, MD, PhD (license suspended) · Answer

The answer is yes.  The study was done in the 80s and showed hair pattern improvement to an earlier Norwood stage by the use of minoxidil. The study is below:1985 Aug;13(2 Pt 1):185-92.JAADTopical minoxidil in early male pattern baldness.AbstractOne-hundred twenty-six healthy men with early male pattern baldness completed a 12-month double-blind, controlled trial of 2% and 3% topical minoxidil. Subjects were initially randomly assigned to use placebo or 2% or 3% topical minoxidil. After 4 months of study, the placebo group was crossed over to 3% topical minoxidil. Both objective measurement of hair growth by counting of vellus, terminal, and total hairs in a vertex target balding area and subjective assessment by subject and investigator were done. Treatment of subjects with topical minoxidil for 4 months resulted in a statistically significant increase in terminal hair growth in comparison with placebo therapy. In addition, subjects initially treated with placebo, when crossed over to topical minoxidil, showed a significant increase in the number of terminal hairs. No subject had a net hair loss in the target area during the study. These results indicate that topical minoxidil can increase terminal hair growth in early male pattern baldness.

William Rassman, MD (retired) · Answer

The answer to this question is no, minoxidil can not delay male pattern balding. The drug finasteride can slow or stop the process in most young men, but sooner or later as you get into your 30-40s, the process will pick up again.

Can Minoxidil delay male pattern baldness?

Answers (8)

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