Review of Hair Growth Products

There are literally dozens of hair growth products on the market today and all of these hair loss treatments can be very confusing. How do you know which ones work and which ones don’t? We’ll look at some of the most common ones for you and give you our verdict.

Rogaine

Everyone’s heard of Rogaine. The active ingredient in Rogaine is minoxidil, which can be found in other hair growth products as well. Minoxidil was the first medication approved by the FDA for use in hair loss treatments. It is used in topical solutions that are applied to the scalp, usually twice a day.

Rogaine makes a formula for men and a formula for women. The reason there are two formulas is because women are more susceptible to side effects from Rogaine than men are. The formula for women has only 2% minoxidil, while the formula for men has 5%.

Rogaine has a success rate of 50 – 60%. It’s not clear why it works for some people and not for others, and it’s impossible to predict if it’s going to work for you or not. You just have to try it and see, and it can take up to eight months before you notice results.

Propecia

Propecia (finasteride) is the other medication approved by the FDA as a hair growth treatment. It is taken orally. It is only approved for use by men, and in fact pregnant or nursing women are advised not even to touch the tablets because the medication can be absorbed through the skin and cause harm to the baby.

Because it is taken orally, Propecia is much easier to use than some other hair loss treatments that involve messy creams or liquids that must be applied to the head. However, it is less effective than Rogaine. It has a success rate of about 40 – 50%. As with Rogaine, there is no way to predict whether it will work for you or not. You just have to try it and see.

You might be interested to know that finasteride was initially developed to treat enlarged prostate glands, and is still used for that purpose. Researchers simply noticed that it also had the effect of stimulating hair growth in some patients, and it was later approved by the FDA for this purpose.

Saw Palmetto

Saw palmetto is an herb that is being investigated for use in hair growth products. It is also being investigated for use in treating enlarged prostate glands, and is believed to work similarly to finasteride. When using any herbal product, you should use caution. Herbs generally have fewer side effects than traditional medications, but they can still have side effects, and we don’t always know how they will interact with other medications. There is no data on how saw palmetto will affect pregnant or nursing women, so they are advised not to use the herb (in fact, pregnant women rarely need hair growth products, because the rise in estrogen that comes with pregnancy usually causes hair to come in thicker than usual).

There are a number of hair loss treatments on the market, and when choosing among the available hair growth products, you’ll want to consider their safety and effectiveness as well as their convenience of use. Research the products carefully before making your choice.

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