Can minoxidil make healthy hair dependent??

[Luther007]

Hey guys, quick question...

I've been using minoxidil for about 6 months now. At first, I used it ONLY on my right temple, which I KNEW (from my Doctor) to be thinning from male pattern baldness. Recently (about 3 months ago) I started using it on my left temple, which was NOT noticeably thinning... in the hopes that I may PREVENT it from thinning.

Well, my right temple has since improved (hurray!) and it looks actually pretty good.. BUT, now my LEFT temple, which was NOT thinning up to 4 months ago is thinning out like mad!! And receding!! Could it be possible that my left temple, which was not thinning, could've somehow been "triggered" into male pattern baldness when the minoxidil was applied, and is now shedding as if minoxidil dependent, when it wasn't before?? Is this a possibility? If so, should I stop using the minoxidil on my left temple and keep just using it on my right one??

Any information much appreciated!!

-Luther

 

[Andrew]

all your hair will be dependent once u use minoxidil...

 

[Yardbird]

Could it be possible that my left temple, which was not thinning, could've somehow been "triggered" into male pattern baldness when the minoxidil was applied, and is now shedding as if minoxidil dependent, when it wasn't before?? Is this a possibility? If so, should I stop using the minoxidil on my left temple and keep just using it on my right one??

First of all, I've never heard of anyone having male pattern baldness on just one temple and not the other. There's always a level of symmatry to male pattern baldness, so there's no way you have one temple affected by male pattern baldness with the other temple consisting of DHT-resistant hair. If one side thins, the other side is sure to follow. If your right temple is thinning, your left temple is thinning as we speak.
I would guess that the thinning you described on your left temple is due to the short amount of time you have used minoxidil on that area. Give it time, as this treatment seems to cause sheds for the first few months and then noticeable thickening later.
As for minoxidil dependence, I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you asking if all your hair will fall out if you stop using minoxidil? Do you think you induced male pattern baldness by using minoxidil. Of course you didn't. What makes you think that minoxidil induces male pattern baldness? If it did, it wouldn't make sense for anyone to use it. Even if you apply a topical only to areas affected by male pattern baldness, the medication tends to spread out under the initial layers of skin, meaning that areas of DHT resistant hair are also exposed to the medication. Yet, that doesn't cause minoxidil users to lose all their hair.
Does this help?
Clarify your question if you want a better answer.
Yardy

 

[Bismarck]

Could it be possible that my left temple, which was not thinning, could've somehow been "triggered" into male pattern baldness when the minoxidil was applied, and is now shedding as if minoxidil dependent, when it wasn't before?? Is this a possibility? If so, should I stop using the minoxidil on my left temple and keep just using it on my right one??

First of all, I've never heard of anyone having male pattern baldness on just one temple and not the other. There's always a level of symmatery to male pattern baldness, so there's no way you have one temple affected by male pattern baldness with the other temple consisting of DHT-resistant hair. If one side thins, the other side is sure to follow. If your right temple is thinning, your left temple is thinning as we speak.
I would guess that the thinning you described on your left temple is due to the short amount of time you have used minoxidil on that area. Give it time, as this treatment seems to cause sheds for the first few months and then noticeable thickening later.
As for minoxidil dependence, I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you asking if all your hair will fall out if you stop using minoxidil? Do you think you induced male pattern baldness by using minoxidil. Of course you didn't. What makes you think that minoxidil induces male pattern baldness? If it did, it wouldn't make sense for anyone to use it. Even if you apply a topical only to areas affected by male pattern baldness, the medication tends to spread out under the initial layers of skin, meaning that areas of DHT resistant hair are also exposed to the medication. Yet, that doesn't cause minoxidil users to lose all their hair.
Does this help?
Clarify your question if you want a better answer.
Yardy

Yardbird speaks the truth. I think it was a shedding since the temple you thought it is not yet affected by male pattern baldness was in fact and the hairs were in telogen phase. minoxidil just made them shed. That's how shedding is defined

 

[Luther007]

Okay, I'm not asking if Minoxidil causes male pattern baldness, but if it could possibly speed up the (inevitable) process if used on areas of the scalp that are not currently thinning out.

I realise that male pattern baldness will always eventually be symmetrical, but it is also not uncommon to affect one side worse than the other (at the start.) If I had NOT used the minoxidil, perhaps my left temple would have held out a little longer, no? However, when it DOES shed, that must mean that it is NOW also suffering from male pattern baldness? Or can minoxidil make currently unaffected areas shed?

 

[Bismarck]

Okay, I'm not asking if Minoxidil causes male pattern baldness, but if it could possibly speed up the (inevitable) process if used on areas of the scalp that are not currently thinning out.

I realise that male pattern baldness will always eventually be symmetrical, but it is also not uncommon to affect one side worse than the other (at the start.) If I had NOT used the minoxidil, perhaps my left temple would have held out a little longer, no? However, when it DOES shed, that must mean that it is NOW also suffering from male pattern baldness? Or can minoxidil make currently unaffected areas shed?

I don't think so. If it was really a shedding this temple would have thinned in the next couple of months even without minoxidil treatment.

 

[Yardbird]

However, when it DOES shed, that must mean that it is NOW also suffering from male pattern baldness?

It means that now the male pattern baldness symptoms are starting show, though the left temple was probably already suffering from male pattern baldness. I've read that hairloss becomes visable to the naked eye after losing 50% density in an affected area. I would guess that DHT was already working it's little miracle on those follicles long before you started minoxidil. The area is only now becoming visably bald.

Or can minoxidil make currently unaffected areas shed?

I'm not sure about this, but I think that minoxidil could make some of your unaffected areas shed. I've read people on this board talking about stuff like shedding from places like eyebrows or even the side of their hair. The main thing to remember is that if the area is truly unaffected, the shedding will be temporary.
In the case of your left temple, I think it was alread affected by male pattern baldness, but you didn't see the effects with your naked eye. minoxidil just made what was already happening a lot more obvious.
Hope that helps.