Just Started Minoxidil 5% On My Face[question]
- Thread starter eightbald
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Depends on how much of it goes systemic. Considering the fact that the face skin is thin, a small amount will for sure enter the blood stream. It shouldn't cause any problems but people are different and nobody knows exactly how you will react to it, the only way to find out is to try it yourself.
Me for example, when i used it, my body hair started growing thicker, faster and in places where i didn't had before, or at least not that long anyways, the scalp hair had a shed and never came back, that sh*t chemical obliterated my hair, from relatively healthy transforming it into something frizzled and unhealthy looking sh*t that barely recovered after a long period of time. The only problem is that the second time i used it and when i saw the biggest difference in matter of body hair growth, shedding, hearth, fatigue and skin changing sides, i was not waiting 24 hours after the dermarolling session and i applied the minoxidil relatively soon after, and it wasn't a good idea... I wouldn't put that sh*t on my face not in a million years, i mean i wouldn't put it on my head either anymore but you know how it is, everybody is different...
Me for example, when i used it, my body hair started growing thicker, faster and in places where i didn't had before, or at least not that long anyways, the scalp hair had a shed and never came back, that sh*t chemical obliterated my hair, from relatively healthy transforming it into something frizzled and unhealthy looking sh*t that barely recovered after a long period of time. The only problem is that the second time i used it and when i saw the biggest difference in matter of body hair growth, shedding, hearth, fatigue and skin changing sides, i was not waiting 24 hours after the dermarolling session and i applied the minoxidil relatively soon after, and it wasn't a good idea... I wouldn't put that sh*t on my face not in a million years, i mean i wouldn't put it on my head either anymore but you know how it is, everybody is different...
Well, minoxidil only works for 40% of people because the other 60% lack the sulfotransferase enzyme that converts the minoxidil into it's active form, minoxidil sulfate...
"Several studies demonstrated that the activity of sulfotransferase in hair follicles predict minoxidil response in the treatment of hair loss."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minoxidil
So unless you get the test to see the enzyme's activity on the follicle level you can't actually predict if it's gonna work for you or not. It's just a mask anyways, it keep the hair growing while you keep using it. On the beard is a little different from what i heard, because some say, including some doctors also that once the hair shaft has gone terminal it will stay even after the discontinuation of the minoxidil, but only on the beard.
My personal and anecdotal experience, it made my hair grow on the beard, body and places where it wasn't growing before, faster and ticker. On the head it made it worse, i never recovered from the shed and the hair lost it's natural texture that i don't think it will ever recover, but this is only my personal opinion and experience. Once stopping, the head hair took some time to recover but not to were it was and the body and beard hair started growing normally after a couple of months, 1 or 2 something like that. And the sides did go away but i'm pretty sure it caused some skin damage, but i can't prove it and didn't actually keep track of it with pictures or something like that...
Take it with a grain of salt, it's just my experience, you may be one of the lucky ones who will get good growth and without any inconveniences..
"Several studies demonstrated that the activity of sulfotransferase in hair follicles predict minoxidil response in the treatment of hair loss."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minoxidil
So unless you get the test to see the enzyme's activity on the follicle level you can't actually predict if it's gonna work for you or not. It's just a mask anyways, it keep the hair growing while you keep using it. On the beard is a little different from what i heard, because some say, including some doctors also that once the hair shaft has gone terminal it will stay even after the discontinuation of the minoxidil, but only on the beard.
My personal and anecdotal experience, it made my hair grow on the beard, body and places where it wasn't growing before, faster and ticker. On the head it made it worse, i never recovered from the shed and the hair lost it's natural texture that i don't think it will ever recover, but this is only my personal opinion and experience. Once stopping, the head hair took some time to recover but not to were it was and the body and beard hair started growing normally after a couple of months, 1 or 2 something like that. And the sides did go away but i'm pretty sure it caused some skin damage, but i can't prove it and didn't actually keep track of it with pictures or something like that...
Take it with a grain of salt, it's just my experience, you may be one of the lucky ones who will get good growth and without any inconveniences..
I'm willing to give it a month. I'm okay with a shedding phase, but f***, not permanent damage to my head hair.
Oh and, if side effects occur, when would they occur? After first the first few days? Thinking about the chest pain, rapid heart beat etc
Oh and, if side effects occur, when would they occur? After first the first few days? Thinking about the chest pain, rapid heart beat etc
Nobody can answer that question, i got it after a few hours after the application, at least the fatigue, the other sides maybe later, you have to check it or you might think you are tired of something, check tension, heart beats per minute, but consider also that i dermarolled not long before i applied the minoxidil, so the possibility of getting it into the bloodstream is way bigger than if you would just apply it without any dermaroll or something. But i don't have any experience about what it does to the beard because i never used it on the beard, i only have the general information about it, that is available online and from my own experience...
And the part with the permanent damage is mostly because i think that the hair that fell was supposed to fell anyways, the minoxidil only accentuated and made the process faster, and because i didn't use any DHT blocker, it never came back... It somehow messes with the hair cycles keeping the hair more in the growing faze, making all the hair shed at once, somehow synchronizing the cycles but nobody knows exactly, everybody responding differently to it, unfortunately you would have to try it to see how it works or if it works, for some i heard it does nothing, not to hair, no sides, no nothing...
And 1 month is gonna do nothing much, you must stay on it at least 3 months, that's if you don't see in those 3 months something bad happening, hair, sides, etc... You could shed and grow back after 10 times stronger, but as i said, it's just an illusion, once you stopped, it's gonna fall out. And if let's say you use it for 1 year and after 1 year you ditch it and more hair falls and you end up under the baseline, that means that the hair was supposed to fell anyways and it felt under the minoxidil treatment, it would have fallen anyways, maybe sooner, or maybe later, nobody knows exactly... It's a gamble to put it more simple, like it is with any of these drugs....
And the part with the permanent damage is mostly because i think that the hair that fell was supposed to fell anyways, the minoxidil only accentuated and made the process faster, and because i didn't use any DHT blocker, it never came back... It somehow messes with the hair cycles keeping the hair more in the growing faze, making all the hair shed at once, somehow synchronizing the cycles but nobody knows exactly, everybody responding differently to it, unfortunately you would have to try it to see how it works or if it works, for some i heard it does nothing, not to hair, no sides, no nothing...
And 1 month is gonna do nothing much, you must stay on it at least 3 months, that's if you don't see in those 3 months something bad happening, hair, sides, etc... You could shed and grow back after 10 times stronger, but as i said, it's just an illusion, once you stopped, it's gonna fall out. And if let's say you use it for 1 year and after 1 year you ditch it and more hair falls and you end up under the baseline, that means that the hair was supposed to fell anyways and it felt under the minoxidil treatment, it would have fallen anyways, maybe sooner, or maybe later, nobody knows exactly... It's a gamble to put it more simple, like it is with any of these drugs....
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Wait so you applied it to ur scalp and NOT your beard?
Then it is even stranger that you got permanent loss as you state.
Anyways, gonna try it for 1 month and see what happens. I highly doubt anything permanent will happen, but it is enough time to see changes(good or bad)
Then it is even stranger that you got permanent loss as you state.
Anyways, gonna try it for 1 month and see what happens. I highly doubt anything permanent will happen, but it is enough time to see changes(good or bad)
Yeah, on the scalp, but the whole body and beard hair got affected also, at least while i was on the treatment, it reverted after the discontinuation, except the head one... Yeah try it and see, but my advice, don't ever dermaroll and put minoxidil or any other substance after, at least not for 24 hours minimum...
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You have to put it on your balls for it to work...
My main concern is if it goes systemic and I shed hair, and if I stop Minoxidil, my hair WONT go into the state it was before I started beard treatment.
I read that it is more likely to go systemic if it is absorbed into the bloodstream. Wouldn't applying half the recommended dosage prevent that?
I read that it is more likely to go systemic if it is absorbed into the bloodstream. Wouldn't applying half the recommended dosage prevent that?
This post answers my question:https://amp.reddit.com/r/Minoxbeards/comments/b6q7mw/a_question_about_scalp_hair_shed/
- Reaction score
- 115
In my case minoxidil and dermaroll stopped the hairloss, improve overall density, regrew one Norwood at the temple and regrew my hairline.
All this happened in 4 months. Im not using an androgen blocker so i might lose those result in the next year but my hairloss was slow and begun only 2 years ago. It was becoming obvious and my hairline started looking like nothing so i pulled the trigger. Maybe i can maintain a few years just with minoxidil
First Result came at week 11, i remember that i thought at week 10 that it wasn't working at all.
I use a dermapen 1,5 mm every week, with dots of blood and i use the minoxidil foam right after that, i use double dose morning and evening. (One bottle last 15 days when it should last a month).
Zero sides since the beginning, no shedding, no hair growing on places were you don't want it to grow. I have a lot of body hair, it didn't change or thicken during the treatment.
Everybody is different, try 4-6 months and if you don't see result you shoud stop there.
All this happened in 4 months. Im not using an androgen blocker so i might lose those result in the next year but my hairloss was slow and begun only 2 years ago. It was becoming obvious and my hairline started looking like nothing so i pulled the trigger. Maybe i can maintain a few years just with minoxidil
First Result came at week 11, i remember that i thought at week 10 that it wasn't working at all.
I use a dermapen 1,5 mm every week, with dots of blood and i use the minoxidil foam right after that, i use double dose morning and evening. (One bottle last 15 days when it should last a month).
Zero sides since the beginning, no shedding, no hair growing on places were you don't want it to grow. I have a lot of body hair, it didn't change or thicken during the treatment.
Everybody is different, try 4-6 months and if you don't see result you shoud stop there.
Mind you, i am applying this on my face, not head. I just pray that whatever shed will go back to its normal state whether it works or not
- Reaction score
- 115
it's supposed to work where you apply it.
- Reaction score
- 173
I've actually been looking into this a lot recently and am on day 10 of putting it on my face.
My beard is decent to start with, but my right side has 2 problem areas. I rate my left side as a 9/10 and my right as 7/10.
On reddit there is a section called r/Minoxbeards and since a lot of people post their beards and updated there I utilized that as my main source of real life examples. Based on the examples, very few people shed while using it on their face.
About 10% complained about hair receding, but the vast majority said it returned to normal.
Only 1 case I saw demonstrated facial shedding, and it looked ridiculous.
People who had basically no beards had mostly minor growth; there were very few actual success stories for baby faced people... they just gained what an average 16 year old would have, which isn't enough to grow it out.
People with some facial hair saw moderate growth, typically enough to grow a somewhat decent looking beard.
People with decent beards and just cheek thinness or patchiness had major improvements and basically had perfect beards.
Those with no beards took 6 to 9 months to see any noticeable change.
People with some facial hair took about 3 to 6 months.
People with decent beards saw results within 1 to 3 months.
So the genetics to grow a beard in the first place really plays a role.
I'm on day 10 and I already have 1/8th inch vellus hairs growing in all of my problem areas. Mustache to beard connector areas have hair vellus growth, and that was my main desire. Those areas have never had a single piece of fuzz before and now I see growth activity.
There is a lot of debate on liquid vs foam, I went with foam due to seeing good results and less sided, but liquid is much more popular.
There is also debate between 1x or 2x a day. I went with 2x based on the results I've seen. Both give results but 2x a day seemed 40% faster.
Once the hair goes terminal it is supposed to be permanent. Most people suggest using it for at least a few months after just to solidify gains. They say 1 to 1.5 years is the optimal amount of time, but that is considering the people with 0 beggining facial hair. I've seen people with decent gains get their max results at 6 months and stop by 9.
Edited to fix typos, I post from a tablet.
My beard is decent to start with, but my right side has 2 problem areas. I rate my left side as a 9/10 and my right as 7/10.
On reddit there is a section called r/Minoxbeards and since a lot of people post their beards and updated there I utilized that as my main source of real life examples. Based on the examples, very few people shed while using it on their face.
About 10% complained about hair receding, but the vast majority said it returned to normal.
Only 1 case I saw demonstrated facial shedding, and it looked ridiculous.
People who had basically no beards had mostly minor growth; there were very few actual success stories for baby faced people... they just gained what an average 16 year old would have, which isn't enough to grow it out.
People with some facial hair saw moderate growth, typically enough to grow a somewhat decent looking beard.
People with decent beards and just cheek thinness or patchiness had major improvements and basically had perfect beards.
Those with no beards took 6 to 9 months to see any noticeable change.
People with some facial hair took about 3 to 6 months.
People with decent beards saw results within 1 to 3 months.
So the genetics to grow a beard in the first place really plays a role.
I'm on day 10 and I already have 1/8th inch vellus hairs growing in all of my problem areas. Mustache to beard connector areas have hair vellus growth, and that was my main desire. Those areas have never had a single piece of fuzz before and now I see growth activity.
There is a lot of debate on liquid vs foam, I went with foam due to seeing good results and less sided, but liquid is much more popular.
There is also debate between 1x or 2x a day. I went with 2x based on the results I've seen. Both give results but 2x a day seemed 40% faster.
Once the hair goes terminal it is supposed to be permanent. Most people suggest using it for at least a few months after just to solidify gains. They say 1 to 1.5 years is the optimal amount of time, but that is considering the people with 0 beggining facial hair. I've seen people with decent gains get their max results at 6 months and stop by 9.
Edited to fix typos, I post from a tablet.
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Very interesting, Lurker85.
I had the impression that where you have vellus hair you will grow hair? I have sideburns and beard under my chin, so I apply it to my cheeks, which have vellus hairs all over.
Yeah I'll stick to 1ml a day since its liquid.
I had the impression that where you have vellus hair you will grow hair? I have sideburns and beard under my chin, so I apply it to my cheeks, which have vellus hairs all over.
Yeah I'll stick to 1ml a day since its liquid.
Yeah, from what i read lately i came to the same conclusion, it's all about the number of follicles assigned in your mothers womb and how they were distributed on the body. Keep in mind that not all of the 5 million follicles that a body can have, not all hairs go terminal, so that is a factor that should be taken into consideration.
And that's what i saw also in mostly everybody's responses to minoxidil, beard or head. The ones that don't have the follicles on the face won't grow it, it's that simple, only weird patch looking things, the vellus hairs being probably forced into terminal by the minoxidil, they wouldn't have grown without it and on the head i saw the greatest responses with diffuse thinners especially but also with people that didn't lost that much and that used the treatment relatively at the early stages of balding, especially the ones that are not using a DHT blocker. What i find interesting but i didn't find any study about it, is that a lot of people report that the hair that gets terminal on the face, remains like that even after the discontinuation of the treatment, but i take it with a grain of salt until i see an actual study on it.
I think that besides the lack of the enzyme that is needed for converting the minoxidil, enzyme that 60% of minoxidil users don't have in abundance, the lack of success of some people is that when DHT does enough damage, minoxidil is not enough to grow it back terminal, being so miniaturized by the DHT, not to mention the disturbance in the hair cycle that comes with the balding process, everybody's hair texture and so many other factors that could contribute to this process.
But you are not saying that minoxidil does damage to the hair? Can't interpret it from what you write here.
Will minoxidil do damage to hair if you are a non responder?
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Right but people on that minoxidil beard subreddit say they get random hairs on their forehead. Some people who use minoxidil on their hairline sometimes report small beard growth.
Well, in some cases, when the hair is almost gone and you put minoxidil on some hair that is doomed to fall soon anyways, it could accentuate and fasten the process and maybe the hair does not come back because it's very affected by the DHT and who knows what other factors that are involved in the hair miniaturization. Nobody knows exactly and i'm not stating anything, it's just my opinion gathered and based on my experience, the information i gathered these years about hair loss and of others experiences, including doctors, dermatologists, random people, more knowledgeable ones and so on...
If you have a full and strong head of hair on your head and the hair shaft is thick and the miniaturization process is at start and slow, i don't think it could cause damage, but if the hair is hanging there for it's life, i really think it can't make it go again terminal without a DHT blocker or something, and as i said, it's fake, if you drop the minoxidil the hair is dead, it's like an illusion, it's vellus hair transformed into a weak terminal hair that feeds with the minoxidil, you drop it's food source, it dies..
And there is another factor involved that people don't actually take in consideration. That factor is the hair cycles that are disturbed in the balding scalp anyways and minoxidil tries to regulate them and puts more hair, especially the one affected by it, in longer periods of growing with the others fazes changed also. That's why a lot of people report a lot of sheds, some very frequently and that's why maybe some even like myself included, report damage. On the balding scalp, the hair cycles go faster and faster until the hair is miniaturized so bad that it can't penetrate the skin anymore, and if minoxidil fastens those cycles even more, than you solved the problem and found out why it could cause damage...
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