Moderate Crown Thinning — Should I Use Rogaine?

If I only have moderate thinning at the crown, is it worth the risk using rogaine if I may lose hair and make a somewhat bad situation worse? In other words, if it only works 50% of the time, why should I take a chance that the Rogaine causes intial hair loss and then hope I get it back with it working for me? Is this initial hair loss rare or common? If it only happens 5% of the time I will risk it but if it happens 20% of the time, it isn’t worth the risk to me. Can you help me out? Thanks.

It seems you have already made up your mind, but you may consider seeing a doctor to have your hair in the crown area measured for the degree of miniaturization (for an objective documentation) and explore other medical options, such as Propecia (finasteride 1mg). To blindly start a journey (medical treatment) without a map (miniaturization study) would not be very smart.

Minoxidil does not cause hair loss that lasts if shedding does occur, and whatever is lost from the initial shed should regrow back. I don’t have statistics to show what percentage of users the shedding occurs with.