Hair re-growth products often contain the same ingredients. One of the ingredients that is in most hair re-growth products is Minoxidil. Minoxidil has been clinically proven to help re-grow hair. Oddly enough Minoxidil did not begin as a hair loss product. Minoxidil was first consumed as a high blood pressure medication. The side effects associated with Minoxidil were hair growth. This hair growth was not just in large amounts but also included darker and thicker hair growth.
Soon Minoxidil was being tested for its effectiveness in treating baldness and hair thinning. The results spoke for themselves. In a thirty-two-week trial of men, those who used Minoxidil saw nearly seven times the growth that those using a placebo did. After Minoxidil’s patent expired in the mid-1990s, Minoxidil was then marketed for hair restoration.
The year 2007 brought a new form of Minoxidil to the table. This time it arrived in a foam-based solution with five percent Minoxidil. This kind of Minoxidil application has been proven to treat hair thinning more effectively than a fluid-based solution. How Minoxidil works is relatively unknown. The components in Minoxidil include nitric oxide and alcohol. Minoxidil works to open potassium channels in cell membranes for effective hair growth. It has been proven most effective in male consumers between the ages of eighteen and forty.
As a vasodilator Minoxidil also works to dilate blood vessels for better blood flow to hair follicles. Hair follicles are the base where hair loss starts. As men age testosterone is converted into DHT, a hormone that damages the hair follicles. Hair loss and thinning is the result. Even though Minoxidil has been proven to re-grow hair, it lacks the ability to inhibit DHT from damaging hair follicles.
Minoxidil comes in several general name brands, ranging from over-the-counter products to prescription products. The prices for these products vary as Minoxidil products are sold in supplement and topical form. Two products that contain Minoxidil and have been proven to successful re-grow hair are Pronoxidil and Prolexil.