Does Rogaine Foam Cause More Shedding than the Rogaine Liquid?
I have read all over that Rogaine Foam causes vast more amounts of shedding than the liquid form. Is this true or do both cause the same amount of shedding (which of course varies by person)? I would like to know this because both are using the same growth agent in Minidoxil so I do not see how one could cause more shedding then the other. I have used the liquid form of Minidoxil for 2 months and have not experienced great amounts of shedding so I do not want to switch to Rogaine Foam if it will cause alot more.
I have not seen this in my patients, so I can not comment on the shedding comparison between the Rogaine foam and the liquid. If any readers want to share their experience with this, please leave a comment.
I noticed when using the foam that my hair seemed to be more brittle and inclined to break, rather than falling out in a “shedding” way.
I used 2% monoxidil for about 8 years and maintained most of the hair I had. I was never happy with the way the liquid ran off my head and took forever to dry. I tried using 5% liquids but I had a bad reaction- lots of itching. I was very happy to hear that Rogaine started making 5% foam. I started using the foam 2 1/2 months ago and have loved how: 1) it stays on my head
2) it is not oily
3) it dries fast
HOWEVER, I have to report that I have been shedding at startling rate. I am hopeful that it is simply my scalp reacting to the 5% and that follicles are “waking up”. I will continue another few months before I make any final decisions.
I used liquid for about 8 months and lots of shedding the first couple of months. Eventually, it slowed down and course hairs started sprouting here and there. I then found a great sale on 3 months of foam (always looking for the bargain). I went ahead and purchased it. I had a pretty tough time with the application of the foam on the sides, top, and back of my head (would just seem to lay on my hair and not penetrate the scalp). I decided to only use the foam on my temple area where I had pretty much lost all of my hair. It worked great! I didn’t have any shedding, but then I had no hair to shed in that area. It grew tons of hair though! I was very impressed. Nonetheless, I wanted to apply the product to my whole head so as soon as I was out of the foam I moved back to the liquid.
That is when my problems started and have yet to end! About 2 weeks in I started shedding like crazy!! I really think worse than my first shed! It’s really quite alarming. It’s only been about two weeks so I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will end soon! I imagine the shed is due to the fact that I hadn’t used any product on those areas of my scalp for about 3 months so I guess it was like starting over?? Oh my am I sorry I did that. This shed is so bad that my hair is noticeably thinner from what it looked like 2 weeks ago!
I don’t guess that really answers your question specifically regarding foam and the it’s increased shed rate if in fact one exists, but all the same it’s a crazy shedding story so I thought I might just go ahead and share it!
BTW, I am a 46yr old woman who is likely experiencing hair loss due to menopausal issues.