Rogaine Shedding Confusion

Hi Doctor. I am slightly confused. I have visited several balding forums looking for information about rogaine. Some members seem to be under the impression that rogaine accelerates hairloss by increasing blood circulation and therefore the amount of DHT that can reach hair follicles to miniaturize them. This seems rather counterproductive for a FDA approved product that is suppose to regrow hair…

can you please provide some knowledge and insight on this conundrum? Would taking Propecia for a couple months beforehand prevent this problem?

You’re not alone in being confused about this. I have rarely heard of this complication and have learned that it exists by my extensive reading on the internet. I see more reports online about minoxidil/Rogaine shedding than I’ve seen in my own patients.

Some say that it accelerates the anagen stage in the hair loss cycle, which means that it first has to go through telogen (hair loss phase). I really don’t have confirmation of this, though.