Two of the biggest and most frequently asked questions we deal with at this website are: Does Rogaine work and are there any side effects to using it?
The two questions always get asked together and for a good reason as there are many myths and many facts about Rogaine out on the internet and it is hard to be able to tell the difference between what is real and what is not.
Because this product is usually the first thing to come to mind when people start losing hair (both men and women), it’s only right to help you know the facts before you decide to use it…
Let’s explore both of these questions and in doing so we will also have to cover a few more questions like what it is and what it does along with why we would use it so that we get the complete picture on Rogaine. Let’s find out the facts so people can make a safe choice in deciding whether or not to use them.
What is Rogaine?
Rogaine is a trade name that is made up of a chemical called Minoxidil which is used in the successful treatment of male pattern hair loss in men and female pattern hair loss in women.
It comes in the form of a topical over the counter treatment and is also available as a prescription for stronger oral applications and it has a huge success rate in the regrowth of hair with about 40% of its users experiencing regrowth within the first 3 to 6 months of starting treatments.
Continued use is the only way possible to have good results and once treatment is stopped the effects will disappear and hair loss will again appear so once you start the treatments you must be in it for the long haul. So yes it does work, but there is a catch to using Rogaine.
How does it work?
This is an interesting question without a lot of concrete answers, with many doctors simply stating we they are not sure, but it does work!
The best we could find as to why it works is as follows from Wikipedia:
What that means in a simple answer is the theory that because it opens blood vessels and increases blood flow to the scalp and hair follicles this causes weak and unhealthy hair to fall out being replaced by the growth of healthier hair follicles.
Thus, it regenerates and revitalizes hair! By the way, ginger does this too and because it’s totally natural, it is another thing to consider.
This process has a proven track record and seems to work best in individuals who have experienced male or female pattern baldness within a 5-year window form the start of the hair loss and it is less effective on large baldness areas than on smaller more concentrated ones.
Are there any side effects?
You may have already forgotten but part of this article was about addressing is Rogaine has negative side effects. Well let’s answer that now:
As funny as this may sound, the actual results of using this treatment are called a side effect. In other words, “Unexpected hair growth” is said to be most common “side effect”.
On a more serious note, as in using any product, there are side effects to look out for but for the most part, they are easy to adjust and compensate for and most of them are not a serious threat to your health but there are a few that could cause more serious problems.
Things to watch out for when taking topical Minoxidil treatments include:
Not getting it into your eyes. This stuff is made for hair, not your eyes.
Supposedly, one side effect that’s been rumored to exist with this product is a “low libido”, but after reading the research, there doesn’t appear to be any direct evidence to suggest this is true. Basically, all the “studies” conclude that there are other factors (age, other circumstances) that are going on while the person is taking Rogaine that affect the person’s libido. Here is one study from Healthline.com.
That’s about it on the known side effects. If you personally know of any that weren’t mentioned here, do leave a comment below and we’ll update this article to reflect that (but not before doing our own research on the claims).