Rogaine, Regaine and Minoxidil - Wonder Drug?

Anyone who knows anyone who is losing their hair or is losing their own hair will be familiar with the name Rogaine. It has become a household word for anyone trying to stop hairloss. It's the product your doctor or trichologist is most likely going to recommend for treating hairloss.

Where did this wonder drug come from? Believe it or not Rogaine was originally called Loniten (the active ingredient was Minoxidil) and it was designed to treat high blood pressure. Yup it was designed to treat guys who suffered from blood pressure problems. During the clinical trials some of the test patients noticed a strange side effect of the treatment - they started to grow hair where they'd been bald for years.

After a bit more research the guys behind Loniten/Minoxidil saw that the product did actually work and decided to create a product which was called Rogaine. While Rogaine was being developed men all over the world were crushing up blood pressure pills, mixing them with alchohol and rubbing them into their head in the hopes of growing hair. It was renamed Regaine for sale in Europe - nobody really knows why though...

When it was first released Minoxidil was a prescription only treatment and it was expensive - my first bottle cost me well over $100; that's just a one month supply. Now you can buy Minoxidil online and have it shipped straight to your door - no doctors required!

Rogaine is available in solution in strengths of either 2% or 5% - the 5% one being far, far stronger and far more effective. A big problem for lots of guys and gals using Rogaine was that a lot of it got absorbed into their hair before it reached their scalpe and then it had to be rubbed in to be effective. Rogaine Foam has just been released to get around that problem and so far the results are promising.

Does Rogaine Work?
So how does Rogaine actually regrow hair? The truth is that nobody really knows for sure. Some say it increases the floow of blood to the scalp which aids hair growth. Nobody knows for sure though. Used on its own Rogaine can slow down or even stop hairloss and regrow some of your lost hair. Some but not all of it. Rogaine is an effective treatment but there's no magic wands here.

Rogaine also takes 90+ days for the results to become apparent - hair takes a long time to fall out so be prepared to spend at least a little time growing it back. Rome wasn't built in a day and all that. One thing to be aware of is that Rogaine can cause extra shedding when you start using it. This simply means that you'll see some extra hair in the comb at first while your hair is growing back. This hair was going to fall out anyways - Rogaine just sped up the shedding process so that new hair can grow in that space instead.

Rogaine is also an ongoing treatment - you have to keep using it to keep that hair growing. If you stop using Rogaine then the new growth will fall out anywhere from 6 months to 2 years later.

Rogaine Side Effects
There are side effects to pretty much ever pill or tablet you take but in case you're really worried about the side effects of Rogaine here's how it breaks down:

• Low blood pressure

• Dizziness

• Chest pains
  

Rogaine can and should form the basis of your hairloss treatment for most men and women. Obviously you still want to get a doctors advice on this just to make sure.