Balding Blog

hi, i have been using proscar and minoxidil 7% for over 4yrs. while the results have been satisfactory, i have been told that there is no such thing as minoxidol 7%, and i should just use the 5%. I would like to know if i am getting scammed by paying $250 a bottle for 100mls of minoxidil 7%. and should i just go to my pharmacy and buy minoxdil 5% which is so much cheaper? by the way my bottle claims to have retinoic acid 0.01% which is suppose to make a difference. One other thing i was considering having surgery done on the front hairline, as there doesn’t seem to be any other solution. thank you for your insight. i am also 28yrs old male. thank you

I do not know of a minoxidil 7% solution that is commercially sold, but it may be privately labeled. I am more familiar with the standard minoxidil 5% solution. This does not mean the 7% solution does not exist. Moreover, a stronger concentration (such as the 7%) does not necessarily mean you will have more benefit and grow more hair. Higher and higher doses may produce negative side effect such as dizziness, fatigue, and dangerously low blood pressure as your body absorbs more of it into the blood stream. The use of retinoic acid essentially causes irritation to the skin (it is an acid and produces a low burn) which, in theory, is supposed to increase the blood supply to the scalp and hence the absorption of the minoxidil. I am not a proponent of this approach. Producing a burn just does not seem like the right thing to do.

Hello Dr,

I understand that you recommend propecia. Just for the debate i wanted to know does propecia regrow more hair or rogaine in those people these drugs work. I found the below article which shows that minoxidil 5% beats propecia in number of hair regrown hands down. Can you comment on it please.

https://www.haarweb.nl/forum/showthread.php?p=61654
Please scroll down in the thread.

Thank you for the blog

Thanks for the insightful link. I have been swinging to using a combination of minoxidil 5% and Propecia for men. It does appear that both is better than just one. I like Propecia because it ‘hits’ the underlying DHT component for hair loss in men, but one can not deny the building evidence of the value of higher concentrations of minoxidil. Clearly the use of both medications have issues of compliance. Twice a day use of minoxidil is the right approach, but this alone may be a problem for busy men, while Propecia in the morning is easier to use.

In conclusion, I believe that using both is best.