In Defence of Minoxidil...

[gbhscot]

Always seems to me that Minox, whilst essential, is still regarded as having limited effectiveness, particularly when used totally on its own. I've been using it for about 7 months or so now, have cut my hair short for the first time in a long time recently and was just comparing some pics, if I'm being honest, was pretty surprised at how much Minox seems to have helped! Before & After pics below, my regimen is :

 

Minox once a day, every few days I use it twice if I'm not going out in the morning.

Supplement with vit B complex, mostly to reduce immune responses, inflammation due to hayfever.

Use Nizoral once or twice a week for 6 week cycles.

Wash hair with salt once a week. Maybe I massage my scalp for like 1 minute a day.

That's all.

Pics aren't great but think you can definitely see the difference, thought I'd share as it's the first time I've looked at my hair since 2010 and been pleasantly surprised...

[Wwiizzkkiidd24]

looks like you're a good responder to minoxidil. its definitely working that's for sure.

 

I think I'm gonna try it out myself just got given by one off my friends some minox she got from belgravia plus some shampoo and conditioner unfortunately it didnt wprk for her but I might use it and see if it works for me.

[gbhscot]

looks like you're a good responder to minoxidil. its definitely working that's for sure.

 

I think I'm gonna try it out myself just got given by one off my friends some minox she got from belgravia plus some shampoo and conditioner unfortunately it didnt wprk for her but I might use it and see if it works for me.

 

I would definitely try it out - doesn't cost much and maybe you will respond well too. My concern is that the gains are only temporary and that I might not maintain them for long, however if that is the case, I am aware that you can now get higher concentration Minox so might try that out if I plateau. Also, I do think washing the hair with salt once a week has helped a lot...I'm sure I read somewhere that sulphates increase minox uptake, so using minox after showering might have had some impact.

[Wwiizzkkiidd24]

Yeah what percent minox are you using? I think I got a 5% solution.. and how do you apply sulphates to your hair is there a shampoo you use or something? and how are you applying the minox are you towel drying your hair first or just applying it straight after you jump out the shower..

[gbhscot]

Towel drying it. Basically just through washing hair with salt, kind of scrubbing scalp with it. Had read it years ago on a forum, decided to do it just to help with energy metabolism on the scalp (I read a lot from Danny Roddy) but the guy who had posted it had written something about sulphates, salt and hair regrowth. Probably just bro science and i#ve never looked into it in depth, but could be worth exploring. Use 5% yeah.

[Wwiizzkkiidd24]

cool thanks. well whatever you're doing its working maybe up the dose when you feel youre not getting any more gains from the 5% monox.

[mahhong]

Nice result, I'm pleased it's worked so well for you!

 

I agree minoxidil can be a pretty potent drug by itself. It's often seen as a little "boost" to finasteride but I think in a fair number of guys it can make a big difference. That's particularly true of guys with diffuse loss, where a combination of a healthier, thicker hair shaft and more hairs in anagen phase can make a real big difference (and minoxidil can improve both!).

 

I think you were a really good candidate for minoxidil improvement. You had a lot of miniaturisation but it's clear there's still a lot of hair up there, it was just weaker and thinner. Minoxidil looks to have thickened it up nicely and hopefully the Nizoral is helping too.

[gbhscot]

Nice result, I'm pleased it's worked so well for you!

 

I agree minoxidil can be a pretty potent drug by itself. It's often seen as a little "boost" to finasteride but I think in a fair number of guys it can make a big difference. That's particularly true of guys with diffuse loss, where a combination of a healthier, thicker hair shaft and more hairs in anagen phase can make a real big difference (and minoxidil can improve both!).

 

I think you were a really good candidate for minoxidil improvement. You had a lot of miniaturisation but it's clear there's still a lot of hair up there, it was just weaker and thinner. Minoxidil looks to have thickened it up nicely and hopefully the Nizoral is helping too.

 

Cheers for comment. Yeah I think I might just have been very lucky...Now just curious to see if it is something I become resistant to over time and lose ground..If I could stay the way I am now, I could probs do a 2k graft FUE and be sorted. Beforehand, I was getting consultations saying I needed up to 5k FUT for "acceptable" density....could never afford it. Really hope I can maintain without Fin though, wsa talked out of it by my doc last year because he is already treating a young guy with Gyno from it..

[gbhscot]

Just updating this - I had shared the thread on another forum and a few people had asked about exact regimen changes I had made. Above I had mentioned the author Danny Roddy. Having just watched a new video he had posted on youtube, I wanted to quickly come back here and leave an update saying that I've been following quite a few of his suggestions just to improve energy metabolism and reduce inflammation throughout my entire body, which I am sure has also really helped with hair (please note, I have diagnosed low thyroid). A few of the things I've been doing have been simply upping my salt intake, eating liver 1-2 a week, drinking orange juice every day (mixed with a greens supplement I should add). Due to where I now live, I eat a ton of sauerkraut which is a vitK source too. I'm not repping him or anything, but he has a book called Hair Like a fox which you could download for free, if you can find it, I'd really give it a read.

[plunke]

I never had any effect at all from minoxidil, but i did have a very good effect from cutting my heavy metal rocker hair, it looked tons thicker, same happened to a fellow heavy metal fan friend, when he came back from military service it was hard to believe it was the same hair. Much of what we see in your improvement could be just the haircut, minoxidil is known to not regrow hair, it will only stop loss and too often do nothing, i have a hard time buying that it works miracles on you. 7 months is not a long time in hair loss terms, you need to continue your regimen for some more years with yearly updates. However i will not discourage people from following your advices, as long as they have realistic expectations regarding "miracle" regrowth.

 

Edit: And your diagnosed thyroid condition, if youre under treatment for it that alone could stop hair loss and regrow your hair, making your regimen void for everyone not taking thyroid medication. Its not uncommon for both hypo and hyper thyroid patients to see vast improvements after/during treatment, without minoxidil, sauerkraut, orange juice or salt. Also we must keep in mind that salt with iodine has a very different effect on hypothyroid patients like yourself compared to people with high or normal thyroid, hyperthyroid people can even die from iodine overdoses.

Edited September 9, 2016 by plunke