Why does minoxidil have various side effects?

Minoxidil is an FDA-approved topical product that can be used for hair growth, and is currently commonly used in 2% minoxidil solution and 5% minoxidil solution. Minoxidil works primarily by dilating blood vessels and improving blood flow to the scalp, which can stimulate hair growth. However, minoxidil also lead to a variety of side effects.

Reasons of some common side effects of minoxidil

Common side effects

1. Scalp irritation: Mainly because minoxidil solutions usually contain alcohol and propylene glycol, both of which can easily cause dry scalp, irritation or allergic reactions.

Although there is an alternative to using PEG as a solvent, you should be aware that PEG is a very viscous oily liquid and is not very refreshing to use on the scalp surface.

2. It can easily cause unwanted facial hair growth: Minoxidil stimulates the growth of all hair follicles on the scalp, not just the scalp, so if you accidentally stain minoxidil liquid on your face or hands during use, it may lead to unwanted hair growth on your face or other body parts.
3. First hair loss, which is what we call a wild prolapse. The main causes of wild prolapse are minoxidil stimulation of hair follicles from the resting period to the growth phase, follicle renewal and sensitivity to minoxidil and other reasons, which will lead to wild prolapse after use.

If it is because of minoxidil stimulation that the hair follicle accelerates into the growth phase, it is not a side effect and can only be a normal treatment process.

Reasons of some less common side effects of minoxidil

Of course, in addition to these common side effects, there are some less common side effects that are very worthy of attention

We use minoxidil  as an antihypertensive drug for therapeutic purposes at the beginning of the study, so minoxidil itself has the effect of lowering blood pressure and dilating blood vessels, and under normal circumstances, the chance of this side effect is very small. However, some individual users are sensitive to minoxidil, and some people start with high levels of 7%, 15% minoxidil solution resulting in excessive doses, which may cause side effects such as dizziness, chest pain, and rapid heartbeat. The effect of dilating blood vessels can cause changes in blood flow and blood pressure, which can affect the heart, causing chest pain, and may also cause the heart to beat too fast. So encounter these side effects do not ignore, it is best to immediately stop using the drug, find a professional doctor to check.

In addition, because minoxidil causes fluid retention in the body, it can cause weight gain, and the body can not get rid of sodium and water can cause swelling of the limbs, which can cause shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

A few people will have anaphylactic reaction, mainly because the solvents used in the minoxidil formula are different, and some manufacturers will use alcohol, which is easy to cause allergies, so try to avoid their own allergens when choosing.

Very few people will have headaches, which are mainly caused by changes in blood vessel dynamics and pressure.

How to reduce Minoxidil side effects?

No matter we use what kind of compound , it will have a variety of side effects, the correct dosage and strictly follow the doctor’s advice is to minimize the harm to yourself as much as possible, ensure that you can take full advantage of minoxidil hair growth effect, avoid harmful side effects.

We often have a blind spot that the higher the dose, the better the effect, so when the original 5% minoxidil effect is not satisfactory, we want to be able to increase the dose to achieve better results. This theory is actually unscientific. As an FDA-approved hair growth drug, if 7 percent or even 15 percent of minoxidil is more effective, then I think you should be able to see enough trial data to support that conclusion. But it is true that all the trial data show that the hair growth effect of minoxidil does not get better with the increase of dose, but the higher the dose, the more obvious the side effects.