Rogaine Questions

Hello Doc

I have a few questions about Rogaine,

1. I know when I first start using it, I would suffer from a small cycle of hair loss, but do you think this lost hair is reversable once the medication starts to work??
2. Do you think Rogaine is effective in stopping hair loss in the front?
3. Would I be less likely to get a scalp irritation if I go for Rogaine 2% instead of 5%, and do you think they are almost the same in effectiveness?

Thanks for help

The hair loss that sometimes occurs with the use of Rogaine / minoxidil is believed to occur from the “resetting” of the hair cycle. This does not occur all the time.

I believe Rogaine is as effective in stopping hair loss in the front as it is on top or crown, but the drug company only studied the crown. The crown in many ways is a better target for it is often slower to lose hair there. Shorter term hair loss responds best to medications such as Rogaine or Propecia.

Scalp irritation from Rogaine may be due to two factors — the active ingredient in Rogaine itself (minoxidil) or the inactive ingredient in Rogaine. If you are allergic to the active ingredient, 2% or 5% would not make that much difference. If you are allergic to the inactive ingredient, you can try using Rogaine Foam, which has a different base formulation (with the same active ingredient).