For Those Getting Minoxidil Itch/inflammation: Do You Itch Only Where You Apply It?

[WMQ]

I've been using minoxidil (2%, generic liquid) for years with moderate success. Back in the first year I was using it I regrew my whole teenage hairline after 4 months and after that it's effect seemed to have faded but still helped me maintain some miniaturized hairs. Some slight itch and dandruff but nothing to write home about.

In the past several months my scalp has gone completely nut. Loads of sebum and itchy like crazy. Multiple frequent seborrheic dermatitis outbreaks. My scalp has been visibly red and inflamed with pimples/bumps everywhere, and my right temple is massacred. I saw abnormally fast miniaturization on my hairline in the entire NW3 pattern in literally several months and the miniaturization correspond to where I see and feel inflammation (I was a NW1 with slight thinning in NW2 area 1 year ago). The left temple, even though is still receding, is much better and feels less inflamed.

The receding at my left temple feels more like normal male pattern baldness progression since it's more like gradual progressive miniaturization/shedding, whereas the area behind the hairline is not overly miniaturized, if you know what I mean. The right temple, however, just doesn't feel right. It still has hair all over the NW0 zone but the whole NW3 area is thinned out. And the hairs there look as if there're struggling to grow back after sheds but somehow got suppressed by inflammation and became so sparse and thin. I don't think that happens a lot with aggressive male pattern baldness frontal loss, which usually results in a slick forehead with peach fuzz at best.

I tried switching to rogaine foam for several weeks before and it didn't seem to make any difference.

I have inflammation all over my scalp even in some part of my horseshoe area. But it's worse in the NW7 male pattern baldness area and the most severe where I apply minoxidil (temple and crown). I always had a bit of SD but it was never this bad.

At first I thought it was just male pattern baldness accelerating or SD since the inflammation is not symmetrical and is not limited to where I apply it. And why would I suddenly develop this terrible reaction to minoxidil if I've been safely using it for more than 8 years? However, after digging into some threads, I'm beginning to have doubts. Some people report sudden terrible skin reactions after months or even years of usage. And it just doesn't feel right when you're losing hair this fast and have itch even in the donor area.

Since I'm at the crossroad of deciding whether to quit minoxidil or not, I hope some past users can chime in a bit. When you developed the minoxidil itch/inflammation, was it limited to where you apply it, or does it worsen your scalp condition all over your head?

My thinking is that since minoxidil can obviously go systemic and affect your whole facial skin and even body hair, maybe it's possible that it can flare up your whole head as well in some cases.

(Note that I'm not talking about the normal irritation and dandruff coming from it, but actual inflammation that drives you absolutely crazy)

Maybe @Massive and @Dante92 can chime in a bit? I read that you two had some unpleasant experience with minoxidil as well.

Cheers.

 

[buckthorn]

I've been using minoxidil (2%, generic liquid) for years with moderate success. Back in the first year I was using it I regrew my whole teenage hairline after 4 months and after that it's effect seemed to have faded but still helped me maintain some miniaturized hairs. Some slight itch and dandruff but nothing to write home about.

In the past several months my scalp has gone completely nut. Loads of sebum and itchy like crazy. Multiple frequent seborrheic dermatitis outbreaks. My scalp has been visibly red and inflamed with pimples/bumps everywhere, and my right temple is massacred. I saw abnormally fast miniaturization on my hairline in the entire NW3 pattern in literally several months and the miniaturization correspond to where I see and feel inflammation (I was a NW1 with slight thinning in NW2 area 1 year ago). The left temple, even though is still receding, is much better and feels less inflamed.

The receding at my left temple feels more like normal male pattern baldness progression since it's more like gradual progressive miniaturization/shedding, whereas the area behind the hairline is not overly miniaturized, if you know what I mean. The right temple, however, just doesn't feel right. It still has hair all over the NW0 zone but the whole NW3 area is thinned out. And the hairs there look as if there're struggling to grow back after sheds but somehow got suppressed by inflammation and became so sparse and thin. I don't think that happens a lot with aggressive male pattern baldness frontal loss, which usually results in a slick forehead with peach fuzz at best.

I tried switching to rogaine foam for several weeks before and it didn't seem to make any difference.

I have inflammation all over my scalp even in some part of my horseshoe area. But it's worse in the NW7 male pattern baldness area and the most severe where I apply minoxidil (temple and crown). I always had a bit of SD but it was never this bad.

At first I thought it was just male pattern baldness accelerating or SD since the inflammation is not symmetrical and is not limited to where I apply it. And why would I suddenly develop this terrible reaction to minoxidil if I've been safely using it for more than 8 years? However, after digging into some threads, I'm beginning to have doubts. Some people report sudden terrible skin reactions after months or even years of usage. And it just doesn't feel right when you're losing hair this fast and have itch even in the donor area.

Since I'm at the crossroad of deciding whether to quit minoxidil or not, I hope some past users can chime in a bit. When you developed the minoxidil itch/inflammation, was it limited to where you apply it, or does it worsen your scalp condition all over your head?

My thinking is that since minoxidil can obviously go systemic and affect your whole facial skin and even body hair, maybe it's possible that it can flare up your whole head as well in some cases.

(Note that I'm not talking about the normal irritation and dandruff coming from it, but actual inflammation that drives you absolutely crazy)

Maybe @Massive and @Dante92 can chime in a bit? I read that you two had some unpleasant experience with minoxidil as well.

Cheers.

dermaroll the sides and back of your head and only apply it there. The sh*t goes systemic anyways. See if it helps resolve the inflammation on the top. I am going to try this. could be the alcohol that's irritating your scalp.

 

[stachu]

maybe you are alergic to polyethylene glycol ?

@buckthorn after derma-roller it will hurts more lol

 

[cyrusthegreat@hotmail.com]

The scalp itch, inflammation, SD isn't caused by minoxidil in my understanding - it's the alcohol and/or PPG that f*** with your scalp.

 

[WMQ]

dermaroll the sides and back of your head and only apply it there. The sh*t goes systemic anyways. See if it helps resolve the inflammation on the top. I am going to try this. could be the alcohol that's irritating your scalp.

Might as well pop up a minoxidil tablet

 

[WMQ]

The scalp itch, inflammation, SD isn't caused by minoxidil in my understanding - it's the alcohol and/or PPG that f*** with your scalp.

Unfortunately in my case I don't think so. I tried foam with little difference.

 

[whous26]

i have same problem , lot of itch and little dot on my scalp when i applied minoxidil (in foam or with no pg) i think it's alcohol the problem :
i would like try this :
Aquagaine for Men: 5% Minoxidil Enhanced No Alcohol/No PG for hair loss/regrowth
but i can't find any reviews

 

[Massive]

I've been using minoxidil (2%, generic liquid) for years with moderate success. Back in the first year I was using it I regrew my whole teenage hairline after 4 months and after that it's effect seemed to have faded but still helped me maintain some miniaturized hairs. Some slight itch and dandruff but nothing to write home about.

In the past several months my scalp has gone completely nut. Loads of sebum and itchy like crazy. Multiple frequent seborrheic dermatitis outbreaks. My scalp has been visibly red and inflamed with pimples/bumps everywhere, and my right temple is massacred. I saw abnormally fast miniaturization on my hairline in the entire NW3 pattern in literally several months and the miniaturization correspond to where I see and feel inflammation (I was a NW1 with slight thinning in NW2 area 1 year ago). The left temple, even though is still receding, is much better and feels less inflamed.

The receding at my left temple feels more like normal male pattern baldness progression since it's more like gradual progressive miniaturization/shedding, whereas the area behind the hairline is not overly miniaturized, if you know what I mean. The right temple, however, just doesn't feel right. It still has hair all over the NW0 zone but the whole NW3 area is thinned out. And the hairs there look as if there're struggling to grow back after sheds but somehow got suppressed by inflammation and became so sparse and thin. I don't think that happens a lot with aggressive male pattern baldness frontal loss, which usually results in a slick forehead with peach fuzz at best.

I tried switching to rogaine foam for several weeks before and it didn't seem to make any difference.

I have inflammation all over my scalp even in some part of my horseshoe area. But it's worse in the NW7 male pattern baldness area and the most severe where I apply minoxidil (temple and crown). I always had a bit of SD but it was never this bad.

At first I thought it was just male pattern baldness accelerating or SD since the inflammation is not symmetrical and is not limited to where I apply it. And why would I suddenly develop this terrible reaction to minoxidil if I've been safely using it for more than 8 years? However, after digging into some threads, I'm beginning to have doubts. Some people report sudden terrible skin reactions after months or even years of usage. And it just doesn't feel right when you're losing hair this fast and have itch even in the donor area.

Since I'm at the crossroad of deciding whether to quit minoxidil or not, I hope some past users can chime in a bit. When you developed the minoxidil itch/inflammation, was it limited to where you apply it, or does it worsen your scalp condition all over your head?

My thinking is that since minoxidil can obviously go systemic and affect your whole facial skin and even body hair, maybe it's possible that it can flare up your whole head as well in some cases.

(Note that I'm not talking about the normal irritation and dandruff coming from it, but actual inflammation that drives you absolutely crazy)

Maybe @Massive and @Dante92 can chime in a bit? I read that you two had some unpleasant experience with minoxidil as well.

Cheers.

I feel your pain man, literally, and I'm not just talking about the pain of hair loss, but the actual itching. Well, I see that you like to make long posts, guess what? Same here! So I'll gladly return you the favor

To put pieces of the puzzle together I'll have to backtrack to first time I ever used minoxidil.
That was over 4 years ago, I was very clueless regarding hair loss and while I would literally slaughter 1000 innocent babies to have the hair I had back then; at the time back then, I thought the days of hair were over and I just did a buzzcut no guard. My mother noticed my frustration and decided to surprise me and bought me generic 5% liquid minoxidil from the local pharmacy. I have to mention that I don't ever recall having any itching or weird crawling sensation before minoxidil usage.
So I once I started I minoxidil I got enthusiastic and used it twice a day and probably used 2-3 times the recommended amount per application. It's also probably important to mention that applied minoxidil all over the top of the head and also a bit on the sides above the ears. After a couple of months my hair was already looking better. Luckily for me I didn't bother reading online about minoxidil and just used it blindly and back then I still had no itching and problems at all, I just hated how long it took to try and how it poured down my face. Later on I started doing some reading online and long behold, I was already worried about "wrinkles" so I started using moisturizing cream twice a day, but I still had no itching. Somewhere around either 6-8 months of minoxidil usage I started getting unbelievable itching, with the itching also came a lot of shedding, it didn't seem like healthy normal shedding at all. I stopped minoxidil usage for a short period of time and did this test a few times to make sure it's really the minoxidil, and every time I went back minoxidil the unstoppable itching came back, and with the itching just plenty of hair would fall out, it felt to me as more of an allergic reaction rather than minoxidil shedding phase.

After I quit minoxidil that time, I barely had any itching but it seemed like I still had phases were mild itching would come and go, something I never had before. I just don't recall ever having any itching like that prior to minoxidil, even though I was already gradually balding for a few years before I started minoxidil.

Then in June 2016 I decided to give minoxidil another shot. I bought Kirkland's liquid minoxidil. This time I also used it all over the entire top scalp as if I was NW7 trying to grow my hair back and also used on the sides above the ears. It took maybe just a week and I started having insane itching all over, instead of brushing my hair I would end up using the comb to "scratch" my scalp. I also shed an insane amount of hair that didn't seem like normal minoxidil shed. After a month I quit minoxidil and the majority of the itching disappeared in a few days and once again I was left with just mild itching like I had before that would come and go.

Then in July 2017 I decided to try no PG minoxidil to see if it holds any merit. Got 6 months supply of Kirkland minoxidil foam. I probably used 3x the normal amount per application and with the foam I actually didn't have much itching and I was doing quite well and used it the foam until December. It terms of itching and crawling feeling and all of that, I was doing okay with the foam, it was tolerable actually.
As of now I'm around 3 months off all hair loss meds and as I'm typing this my hair is itching, even in places where like the back of the head and the upper sides where I never applied minoxidil. It's just really weird it comes and go and at times I just don't understand why my scalp it itchy like that, although it's still tolerable and nothing close to the insane itching that I took while using PG minoxidil.

I don't know if this itching is just part of balding or what. my scalp skin looks fine when I did a buzzcut no guard. I can't be certain if the minoxidil that caused this.
If there's anything you want to know feel free to ask me and I'll gladly share my experience from what I can recall. Good luck.

 

[rclark]

Use FOAM. That's what it was designed for.

No inflammation, and itch free!

Don't know why anybody would use the liquid, especially these days. The foam is approved, and
has been around for a long time.

 

[WMQ]

I feel your pain man, literally, and I'm not just talking about the pain of hair loss, but the actual itching. Well, I see that you like to make long posts, guess what? Same here! So I'll gladly return you the favor

To put pieces of the puzzle together I'll have to backtrack to first time I ever used minoxidil.
That was over 4 years ago, I was very clueless regarding hair loss and while I would literally slaughter 1000 innocent babies to have the hair I had back then; at the time back then, I thought the days of hair were over and I just did a buzzcut no guard. My mother noticed my frustration and decided to surprise me and bought me generic 5% liquid minoxidil from the local pharmacy. I have to mention that I don't ever recall having any itching or weird crawling sensation before minoxidil usage.
So I once I started I minoxidil I got enthusiastic and used it twice a day and probably used 2-3 times the recommended amount per application. It's also probably important to mention that applied minoxidil all over the top of the head and also a bit on the sides above the ears. After a couple of months my hair was already looking better. Luckily for me I didn't bother reading online about minoxidil and just used it blindly and back then I still had no itching and problems at all, I just hated how long it took to try and how it poured down my face. Later on I started doing some reading online and long behold, I was already worried about "wrinkles" so I started using moisturizing cream twice a day, but I still had no itching. Somewhere around either 6-8 months of minoxidil usage I started getting unbelievable itching, with the itching also came a lot of shedding, it didn't seem like healthy normal shedding at all. I stopped minoxidil usage for a short period of time and did this test a few times to make sure it's really the minoxidil, and every time I went back minoxidil the unstoppable itching came back, and with the itching just plenty of hair would fall out, it felt to me as more of an allergic reaction rather than minoxidil shedding phase.

After I quit minoxidil that time, I barely had any itching but it seemed like I still had phases were mild itching would come and go, something I never had before. I just don't recall ever having any itching like that prior to minoxidil, even though I was already gradually balding for a few years before I started minoxidil.

Then in June 2016 I decided to give minoxidil another shot. I bought Kirkland's liquid minoxidil. This time I also used it all over the entire top scalp as if I was NW7 trying to grow my hair back and also used on the sides above the ears. It took maybe just a week and I started having insane itching all over, instead of brushing my hair I would end up using the comb to "scratch" my scalp. I also shed an insane amount of hair that didn't seem like normal minoxidil shed. After a month I quit minoxidil and the majority of the itching disappeared in a few days and once again I was left with just mild itching like I had before that would come and go.

Then in July 2017 I decided to try no PG minoxidil to see if it holds any merit. Got 6 months supply of Kirkland minoxidil foam. I probably used 3x the normal amount per application and with the foam I actually didn't have much itching and I was doing quite well and used it the foam until December. It terms of itching and crawling feeling and all of that, I was doing okay with the foam, it was tolerable actually.
As of now I'm around 3 months off all hair loss meds and as I'm typing this my hair is itching, even in places where like the back of the head and the upper sides where I never applied minoxidil. It's just really weird it comes and go and at times I just don't understand why my scalp it itchy like that, although it's still tolerable and nothing close to the insane itching that I took while using PG minoxidil.

I don't know if this itching is just part of balding or what. my scalp skin looks fine when I did a buzzcut no guard. I can't be certain if the minoxidil that caused this.
If there's anything you want to know feel free to ask me and I'll gladly share my experience from what I can recall. Good luck.

Daayum that sounds so similar to my situation. Especially in terms of having mild unexplained itches even in the safe zone.

So switching to foam actually solved your problem to a large extent. Hmm maybe I should give foam a try again since I didn't use it for long and I switched directly from liquid with no pause. Maybe I should pause it for a week or two and then switch to foam to see if that makes any difference.

I think to say it's an allergic reaction probably isn't the exact truth. If so we would've developed that itch upon first use. Maybe it's more like a tolerability issue and the scalp skin got compromised over time until it can't take it anymore.

I read your stories man. Having hair is great but nothing goes before health (trust me I know how that is since I used finasteride for 7 years and had to quit). Plus your hair isn't bad at all and even with a buzz cut you look great. If I were you I would probably bring back minoxidil after awhile if your body's recovering well. I don't think the danger of minoxidil is even comparable to the other meds we take for hair.

 

[Massive]

Daayum that sounds so similar to my situation. Especially in terms of having mild unexplained itches even in the safe zone.

So switching to foam actually solved your problem to a large extent. Hmm maybe I should give foam a try again since I didn't use it for long and I switched directly from liquid with no pause. Maybe I should pause it for a week or two and then switch to foam to see if that makes any difference.

I think to say it's an allergic reaction probably isn't the exact truth. If so we would've developed that itch upon first use. Maybe it's more like a tolerability issue and the scalp skin got compromised over time until it can't take it anymore.

I read your stories man. Having hair is great but nothing goes before health (trust me I know how that is since I used finasteride for 7 years and had to quit). Plus your hair isn't bad at all and even with a buzz cut you look great. If I were you I would probably bring back minoxidil after awhile if your body's recovering well. I don't think the danger of minoxidil is even comparable to the other meds we take for hair.

Yeah it's weird I just don't ever remember my hair scalp being so itchy all the damn, even for first few years when I was evidently balding but didn't care too much and didn't do much about it except. All the itching madness started after minoxidil use, and it took about 6 months for the itching to start, previous to that I don't recall any kind of itching that really drew my attention. It also seems like that once I've developed the 'tolerability issue' then it stays like that. On my first round on minoxidil once the itching started, then even after I tried to quit and come back a few itching, the itching would come and go with usage. Then on my second round on minoxidil, which was probably over 2 years later, it didn't take more than a week to notice the insane itching again. I guess that for my case the PG in the minoxidil is the main culprit, rather than other stuff like ethanol or even the minoxidil itself, if it's even possible to develop an 'allergic reaction/tolerability issue' to minoxidil.
In terms of itching the non PG foam is absolutely fine. Take a week or two off minoxidil completely then give the foam a try, I think you said you have Rogaine brand foam ? You should be fine in terms cuz it doesn't have PG, altho I personally have not tried it, only had experienced with Kirkland foam.

You used finasteride for 7 years? That's quite some time. Do you have a thread or a post somewhere sharing your finasteride story? Would love to read it some time. I've decided that despite everything I'll try to at least use minoxidil foam (kirkland), as I'm a good minoxidil responder, so I started using it again a few days ago, but it's weird, it seems like my head pressures get much worse after I apply minoxidil, I just don't know if this is anxiety f*****g with me or there's something wrong with my minoxidil batch. I was actually even thinking about trying to buy Rogaine foam to see if I feel different with it.
Thanks for taking the time read my stories haha. I really don't know what's wrong with me, all started in December 2016. As I'm typing this I'm having a bad head pressure right in my forehead, feels like a freaking vacuum or something like that. I literally have head pressures and headaches all day long and a lot of the time I just feel fatigued / dizzzy / nauseas / spaced out / mild shaking and I hate living like this. All these symptoms together can sometimes lead to a panic attack but I try not go to down that road and avoid it as much as I can. I've done lots of test and all came back fine, I still need to do an MRI and MRA for my head in May and while I'm hoping that it will turn out fine, on the other hand I'm hoping that they will find something 'wrong' that will be easily curable.

And thanks for the compliments. I now ask my barber for a buzz cut and he does it slightly better than what I do at home with a bit of fading and it gives an illusion of having slightly better hair rather than just buzzing it all on the same guard at home (I obviously lacking the skils to fade myself). The down side is that it only looks for up to a week and then the sides start to look much more prominent and the balding becomes much more noticeable. And the other downside is obviously no matter how bad you think your hair looks, it will most likely get worse without treatments over time. But I noticed that if I make sure to go out with nice clothes, hair trimmed, then I can do much better with women, it just feels like I need to put more effort to the other aspects of appearance when you don't have hair. I also tried the buzzcut and a months+ bread to go with it and I felt invisible to women, altho for many baldies that buzz cut/beard look works, for it I felt that light stubble or even venturing to heavy stubble is much better. I might also try and get just a bit of tan as I've never ever tanned in my life, just to see what it looks like.
Does your current routine consist of anything other than foam at the moment? Keep us updated with your minoxidil usage. I hope you'll do fine on the foam.