Growth Mindset

When minoxidil alone isn't enough

For the past few months, I’ve been reporting on oral minoxidil, exploring the history of the blood pressure medication, how it works to grow hair, its minor and more serious side effects, plus, who’s taking it and what they have to show for it. In the story, I also give an update on a modified (and potentially more powerful) form of the pill, currently in clinical trials, which I first wrote about here.

In the course of my reporting, two things became clear: 1) Women of all ages, suffering from all kinds of hair loss—shedding caused by chemotherapy, seesawing hormones, autoimmune conditions—are using oral minoxidil successfully. And 2) doctors frequently pair the pill with other medications (like the antiandrogens spironolactone, finasteride, and dutasteride) as well as in-office treatments (PRP injections or energy-assisted drug delivery) to optimize growth. These combinations can be especially effective when addressing female pattern hair loss (or androgenetic alopecia), which many of us see in (peri)menopause.