How To Stop Using Minoxidil Without Losing Hair

Rogaine (minoxidil) is a pop pilus loss treatment. Information technology is often the first medication balding men will effort.

A common side consequence of Rogaine is a brief period of increased hair loss presently after treatment begins. This is called Rogaine shedding (or "dread shed"). Understandably, it tin can be very distressing to kickoff losing more than hair after beginning a baldness handling.

This article will outline exactly why Rogaine shedding happens and how long it typically lasts. Information technology will also advise methods of limiting the shedding and accelerating the new hairs' regrowth.

Using Rogaine to Care for Thinning and Receding Hair

Rogaine is an over-the-counter topical pilus loss treatment. The active ingredient is minoxidil. Application is twice daily.

Rogaine can be effective against diverse types of hair loss. Its main indication, however, is Male Pattern Baldness, also known as Androgenetic Alopecia (AGA) (1). This is past far the most mutual type of hair loss in men (2). It accounts for over 95% of instances of hair loss. The showtime sign of AGA is typically thinning temples and a receding frontal hairline. Over fourth dimension, it can affect the residuum of the head. In severe AGA, hair remains only on the sides and back of the head.

Minoxidil induces noticeable regrowth in slightly less than half the men who try it (3). Results take about 4 months to appear. Users who see no results after this time are brash to stop treatment (4).

The exact mechanism of activeness is unknown (v). It is possible that minoxidil regrows hair past increasing blood flow to the scalp. Another possibility is that it stimulates certain growth factors disquisitional to pilus growth.

The liquid and the foam versions of rogaine

A Dreaded Side Issue

As with any medication, minoxidil can crusade some side effects.

I of the well-nigh mutual and unpleasant side effects is a temporary phase of pilus shedding at the beginning of treatment. Minoxidil users sometimes call this "dread shed."

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Scientists suggest this shedding stage can happen 2-8 weeks later the start of treatment (5). Anecdotally, however, some users study information technology as early as a week into treatment.

Psychologically, minoxidil shedding tin exist very unpleasant. When starting a treatment against pattern pilus loss, the last thing ane wants to see is more lost hair.

Without proper education on this phenomenon, users might discontinue treatment early. This has the potential to leave their pilus at an even worse state than earlier. It is therefore very important to empathize the cause and nature of the shedding.

The Hair Growth Wheel

To sympathize minoxidil shedding, we first demand to understand how hair grows, namely the hair growth wheel. In that location are 3 stages of hair growth:

The hair growth cycle - anagen, catagen, telogen.

Anagen

This is the active growth phase, when hair grows and lengthens. It lasts betwixt 2 to six years.

Catagen

The transitional phase when the base of operations of the pilus follicle, known equally the bulb, begins to disassemble from the follicle's blood supply. The detachment begins once the follicle receives a chemic signal to stop growing.

This stage is brief, lasting only a few weeks.

Telogen

This is the resting phase, when the hair shaft no longer grows. The bottom of the hair strand (the seedling) has now detached from the follicle. The hair shaft does non immediately shed from the follicle.

Instead, information technology waits for a newly formed pilus to grow from the follicle and push it out of its place.

Telogen hairs can also shed from everyday activities, such as shampooing or brushing. These are often the hairs y'all will find on hairbrushes, in the shower bleed, or on pillows.

How Male person Pattern Baldness Affects the Hair Growth Cycle

Normally, effectually 90% of hairs are in anagen at any given time. Almost all of the rest are in telogen, and merely around 1% are in catagen.

Male pattern alopecia interferes with regular hair growth in various ways. One of these is past altering the normal hair growth cycle and skewing these percentages (6).

The precise percentages volition vary, but balding men will typically take far fewer than 90% of their hair in anagen. Correspondingly, they will have far more x% in telogen. This happens considering with every bicycle, their anagen phase becomes shorter. Follicles spend progressively more of their fourth dimension in the resting telogen phase.

Somewhen the majority of hair follicles in the balding areas will spend almost of their bike in telogen. Their anagen growth phase becomes and then brief that the hair shaft does non fifty-fifty have time to grow out of the scalp.

This partly explains why balding men have so few hairs. It too explains why many of these hairs never grow also long or thick. The growth phase is just too short to allow for long hair shafts.

What Causes Rogaine Shedding?

A goal of any hair loss treatment, including minoxidil, is to restore a normal hair growth cycle. For this to happen the hairs that are in the extended telogen resting phase need to revert to anagen.

If the treatment is constructive, thousands of hairs that are stuck in a protracted telogen stage and are not growing will fall out every bit they transition to anagen. Nosotros mentioned this can happen through gentle friction confronting your brush or pillow. It can too happen without friction, every bit the new anagen pilus that begins to grow pushes out the old anagen hair shaft.

The upshot is an increased menses of shedding. Scientists telephone call this miracle telogen fetor (vii). This is the scientific name for Rogaine shedding.

A Positive Sign

Rogaine shedding is a sign that the handling is actually working. Inactive follicles that were stuck in telogen will get-go growing once more. In that location is no rewinding the hair growth cycle: the only way for a fallow hair follicle to resume its growth is to shed the former hair.

Rogaine and Propecia – the only two FDA-approved alopecia treatments on the market – both bring hairs from the resting phase to the agile growth stage. They do this in different ways, but the result of both is excess shedding (with Propecia the shedding is less intense).

Rather than despairing, yous should view the shedding as a positive sign – minoxidil is affecting your hair follicles equally intended. If minoxidil were having no effect, at that place would be no alter to your pilus bicycle and no shedding.

If the treatment continues to work as expected, the new hair shafts that start growing will besides remain in anagen longer. The end upshot will exist more hairs that are longer and thicker. Yous tin look to see the final results of minoxidil regrowth around 12 months into treatment.

How Common Is It & How Much to Look?

There is surprisingly little research on Rogaine shedding. There are no reliable figures on the percent of users who experience shedding.

What is certain is that not everyone will experience shedding. This will be especially truthful for non-responders to minoxidil: these are likely to see no change to the hair whatsoever, including no shedding.

Similarly, for how much shedding takes place and how long it lasts – each person is unique. Having said that, the 5% strength is likely to cause more than shedding (and eventually more regrowth).

What we know for certain is that the shedding eventually subsides (eight). If it continues after the eight-week mark, or if it seems to worsen as treatment continues, it is best to speak with a pilus loss specialist.

On a side note, shedding is also likely to occur a few months afterwards you cease using minoxidil. In this case, the associated hair loss will exist permanent: the follicles that minoxidil was artificially keeping in an extended growth phase return to telogen and fall out.

For this reason, Rogaine is a treatment of indefinite duration. As soon every bit you lot stop, you volition lose all new hairs (4).

Is Information technology Possible to Avoid Shedding?

Information technology is non possible to avert the shedding of dormant hair. However, it might be possible to shorten the shedding process. Yous do this is by improving the scalp's overall health and hygiene.

How to Shorten the Shedding Menstruation

Here are a few means to promote overall scalp and pilus health.

Improved Nutrition

Similar all actual processes, the pilus growth cycle requires nutrients. Many of these come through our diet. If the body is lacking in key nutrients and minerals, the hair growth procedure might endure.

Eating a balanced diet rich in unprocessed carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, can help to ensure the hair follicles and scalp are receiving the nutrients they need to thrive.

Some vitamins and minerals have been constitute to support hair health and growth. These include atomic number 26, biotin, niacin, and zinc (9).

Less Stress

Unsurprisingly, worrying virtually Rogaine shedding might brand things worse. Enquiry has long suggested that an aggravating factor for telogen effluvium is increased stress.

This stress is typically in the form of a major event like illness, accident, surgery, or pregnancy.

Yet psychological stress can also touch the form of telogen fetor. If you find yourself excessively preoccupied with your Rogaine shedding, the suggestion is simple.

First, empathize why it is happening (which should happen by the time yous are finished reading this). Secondly, cease spending too much on your hair, at least for some fourth dimension. Resolve to spend less time looking at the mirror for the side by side few weeks. Fortunately, the shedding procedure is brief, and then if you don't spend too much habitation on information technology, it will be over before y'all know it.

How to Get Amend Results with Minoxidil

After the shedding stops, you might desire to wait at means of improving your final results. 2 of the most efficient means of achieving this are scalp massages and microneedling

Scalp Massage

I of Rogaine's potential mechanisms of action is increased claret flow to the scalp. It tin be beneficial for users to add together their ain scalp stimulation routine to boost results.

At that place is an easy way to stimulate the scalp manually: scalp massage.

For scalp massage, your hands are all you need. If you lot want, you can besides use carrier oils and a scalp stimulation tool.

Y'all can perform the massage for about v to 10 minutes per twenty-four hour period. Scalp massages on their own can exist enough to halt or partially reverse hair loss, even without minoxidil (ten).

Microneedling

Some other style to boost your minoxidil gains is past adding microneedling sessions.

Microneedling is a skin rejuvenation technique usually to reduce scarring on the confront. It has also been plant beneficial for hair growth. In fact, microneedling performed aslope minoxidil handling improved results significantly, as shown by a 2013 inquiry study (11).

In the graph below yous can come across the before and after average pilus counts for 2 groups of men. The men who used minoxidil only (blood-red line) had a fraction of the regrowth of those who added once weekly microneedling sessions to their treatment (greenish line).

Similar results have now been independently reported past various research teams around the world (12, xiii). The nigh commonly used microneedling device is a dermaroller. This is a handheld tool that can be used regularly to provide similar effects to in-office microneedling sessions. Information technology consists of a rotating barrel fastened to a handle. On its surface, the barrel has dozens of modest needles.

As the user glides the dermaroller over the scalp, information technology produces countless tiny holes in the skin. These are too small to cause permanent scarring. They do, however, prompt the skin to release various growth factors. And, for reasons that are non nevertheless clear, this process likewise promotes hair growth.

(Acquire more nearly how to use the derma roller about finer here.)

Another tool you can use is the derma stamp. This tool has increased precision and information technology is not bad for beginners.

Other Minoxidil Side Furnishings to Consider

When starting Rogaine, information technology is important to consider all potential side effects. While shedding is a well-known side result, it is non the only one.

The well-nigh common Rogaine side effects include local irritation like itching, redness, or rash (14).

One inactive ingredient establish in many minoxidil formulations is propylene glycol. This ingredient has been shown to crusade contact dermatitis. This will business relationship for many of Rogaine's topical side effects (fifteen). Fortunately, the foam version of minoxidil does not comprise propylene glycol. This makes it an excellent culling for Rogaine users who experience topical side effects.

More than rarely, minoxidil can also cause systemic side furnishings like dizziness, irregular heart torso and excess body hair. Frequently these happen when the users is applying too much minoxidil. Some of this then reaches the bloodstream.

Conclusion

Shedding is common in the very beginning stages of Rogaine use. It is often an inevitable part of the process. As hair transitions from the resting to the growth stage information technology "sheds" the erstwhile dormant pilus. This is and so the hair follicle can enlarge and commencement growing new, healthier, longer hair.

Far from being a cause for business concern, this shedding is an indication that the medication is working. As such, information technology should not worry you.

There is nil yous can do to prevent this shedding. It might exist possible to shorten the duration of shedding through some simple steps, like improved diet. Bated from these, understanding the cause of shedding and existence psychologically prepared is very important.

In any case, Rogaine shedding should not final more than eight weeks. If it exceeds this, consider consulting your doctor.