In male pattern baldness, topically applied minoxidil increases the duration of the anagen phase and normalises the size of follicles but the mechanism by which this occurs is not understood. It can only restore existing hair growth and cannot reactivate dead follicles.
There isn't any evidence to suggest that Minoxidil can revive dead hair follicles, but a 5% topical Minoxidil solution has been found to contribute significantly to hair regrowth.
Minoxidil. One very good medication to reactivate dormant hair follicles is minoxidil. Applied regularly to the scalp, minoxidil can re-grow hair that has completely stopped growing. The only caveat is that once you start taking it, you'll have to keep taking it indefinitely.
While minoxidil doesn't appear to treat damaged hair follicles, it can improve hair growth and give your hair a thicker, denser appearance. Research shows that it's particularly effective at promoting hair growth when it's used with finasteride.
Truly dead hair follicles are almost impossible to reactivate, except with the help of medical/surgical treatment, so it's important that you take action on your dying hair follicles as soon as you're able – the earlier the better.
There are a variety of methods available for the regrowth of hair follicles, from using medication to massaging your scalp to stimulate your hair directly. Currently, the most effective way to reactivate your hair follicles is by using medication, such as finasteride and minoxidil.
Surgical treatment such as laser therapy or a hair transplant can help revive the hair follicles. Further, if the situation is not too worse, a hair specialist can also prescribe you supplements that will fulfil the nutritional requirements of your hair follicles.
Can I fix damaged hair follicles. Unfortunately, once your hair follicles have been deeply damaged, it is permanent. Your best bet is to spend your time, energy, and resources focusing on protecting and caring for the healthy follicles. You can also take steps to support new hair growth.
But even though some of your hair follicles may eventually go dormant and stop producing new hairs altogether, these sleeping follicles are not a lost cause. Regular scalp massages and topical hair products with the right stimulating ingredients can effectively wake them up and trigger hair production again.
Then is the telogen or resting phase. The follicle becomes dormant for around 1 to 4 months. The club hair that has been formed keeps the hair in the follicle for several months, but the hair is no longer in anyway alive or growing.
Some people anecdotally say that it has made their hair loss less dramatic and helped with their male-pattern baldness, but you can't regrow a large section of hair using Minoxidil alone. Results from this treatment can also take a long time to see.
Answer: Hi Shoaib, If the areas of hair loss that you are treating are completely bald then no, the minoxidil you are using will not work. Pharmaceutical hair loss treatment requires there to be active hair follicles in order to be effective and baldness is a sign that the follicles have died.
To promote hair growth, you need to increase your protein intake, especially by consuming food like fish, beans, nuts, and whole grains. Hair follicles are mostly made of protein, and the lack of it promotes hair loss. Proteins 'feed' the hair from the inside.
Hair will usually grow back unless it comes from a follicle that has stopped producing hair. This could be from a condition associated with getting older or a response to a medical condition or treatment.
Destroying a hair follicle is caused by damage at the root where the blood supplies it with oxygen, combined with the absence of the stem cells responsible for hair follicle regeneration. A dead hair follicle can't grow hair.
New research has allowed scientists to generate new hair follicles — those tube-shaped pores that hug the strand and root of a hair — in vitro in a lab. It's a development that experts say can open pathways for better hair loss treatments in the future.
Put simply, yes. Minoxidil works well for hairline regrowth, with many men reporting an increase in hair growth and a thicker, more dense hairline after using it for several months.
So can Rogaine actually make your hair loss worse? Again, the short answer is no. It may seem as though you are losing more hair when you first start the treatment, but as long as you continue with your doctors' plan, then you should begin to see fuller hair growth within a few months.
Rogaine works best in people with hereditary hair loss at the vertex of the scalp (the area at the back of the head, just under the crown) or for women with general thinning of hair on the top of the scalp. However, a 2014 study also showed that it may work for the front of the scalp as well in men.
If the patient has androgenetic alopecia (male balding and female thinning), he or she will need to use minoxidil forever. If minoxidil is stopped, the hair will return to the way it once was and progressively get worse. In fact, all treatments for androgenetic alopecia are the same - use is forever.
Answer: Minoxidil and Hair Growth
Improvements can take a few months with most finding by 6 months they are seeing a degree of an improvement. 12 months would be the optimum time to assess how effective minoxidil has been. With continued use to maintain the results achieved.
Minoxidil (brand name Rogaine) starts working within 4–8 weeks, but you probably won't see the full results right away. It can take up to 4–6 months of continuous usage before you see significant improvement in your hair growth (Badri, 2021; Olsen, 2002).