What is Minoxidil?
Monixdil is the active ingredient found in Rogaine. It was found that many patients using Minoxidil for high blood pressure were growing hair or having a regrowth of hair.

How does Minoxidil works?

How minoxidil works to grow hair is a mystery. Since it was originally a blood-pressure pill, no one really understands how minoxidil really works. Researchers thought that it worked by increasing the amount of blood to the hair follicles. However other drugs of the same type do not stimulate the same response to hair growth so it is now thought that minoxidil works by a different mechanism. Recent studies have shown that topical minoxidil does not produce an increase in skin blood flow, which was thought to be the reason minoxidil, worked so well on growing hair.

How effective is minoxidil?

Minoxidil is effective on both men and women studies have shown. Clinical tests conducted by 27 US medical centers involving 2,300 patients with male pattern baldness showed that after using minoxidil for one year 48% of men rated their regrowth as moderate to dense, 36% of men who used minoxidil for one year rated their regrowth as minimal and 16% had no regrowth at all.
In the tests regarding the effectiveness of minoxidil on women about 2 out or 3 did report to have some hair regrowth by their physicians.
Using rogaine instead of topical minoxidil, surveys of over 7,000 men, 80% said they noticed a difference after using Rogaine, and after 12 months of continuous use, 40% showed re-growth of hair.

How long do I need to use Minoxidil for?

Hair regrowth with topical minoxidil does take time. You will need to be patient. While some individuals see results faster then others studies show that at least 4 months of treatment is generally necessary before there is any evidence of regrowth with minoxidil. Using Rogaine instead of topical monixidil you will begin to notice some regrowth and possible some new hair in 3 months time.

If treatment is successful the very first thing you will notice is less hair loss within the first 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 hardly visible at first. This can be an encouraging sign because it shows that minoxidil is actually causing some regrowth. If you continue to respond with further treatment the soft downey growth will change into hair of the same color and thickness as the other hairs on your scalp.

Because Minoxidil is a treatment, not a cure continuous use over a long period of time will be the only way to see if you are in fact regaining regrowth of your natural hair. If you stop using minoxidil it may cause the follicles to stop growing and you will more than likely loose the regrown hair in a few months

Minoxidil has to be applied on the scalp at least twice daily and for at least 4 months. It should be applied to a normal dry scalp only and left in place for at least 4 hours.

Precautions for oral minoxidil:
A fall in blood pressure can occur.
An increase in the heart rate
Weight gain in the form of fluid retention
An increase in the absorption of minoxidil from the scalp can occur with inflamed or abnormal scalps.
If you have heart disease or have had heart failure you should avoid taking oral minoxidil.
If you have high blood pressure you should talk with your doctor before taking minoxidil.

As with any and all medications talk with your doctor or health care provider concerning the dosage and concerns you may have with the use of monoxidil.