Do women take hair loss pills? 10 common knowledge about female hair loss

Minoxidil, a pill to apply

There are a variety of types of minoxidil, including minoxyl and rogaine, which are known to be more effective in women than men. According to the 2015 European guidelines for the treatment of hair loss, Minoxidil is the most clinically cost-effective option for women.

Minoxidil is an over-the-counter drug, so it has few side effects and can be purchased at pharmacies by anyone without a doctor's prescription. It's usually applied at night before going to bed, and it's important to apply it to your scalp rather than your hair. We recommend putting it in soy sauce paper and applying it evenly to the scalp with a cotton swab. After about 3 months, you will notice a sense of volume.

It's misinformation that 3% goes to women and 5% goes to men. Women can also apply 5% product. However, in this case, be careful not to let it drip down your eyebrows. This is because it can darken your eyebrows or irritate the mucous membranes of your eyes.

Mousse-type minoxidil

Until now, minoxidil has been mainly sprayed with droppers or sprays, and liquid or gel types have been marketed in the country. However, in November 2017, foam-type products were imported from the United States and are also sold in Korea. Unlike conventional liquids or gels, it does not contain a preservative called propylene glycol and alcohol, so it is less irritating to the scalp. Therefore, if you have a sensitive scalp and have symptoms of stinging or itching, it is recommended to switch to the foam type.

The downside is that it's expensive. In the case of the liquid type, it costs 7~8,000 won per month, while the foam is about 30,000 won per month, which is about 3 times more expensive. Since they are both the same ingredients, they have the same efficacy, so if the liquid type is easy to apply and does not irritate the scalp, you don't need to use the expensive foam type.

Eating hair loss medication

Hair loss medications are finasteride. It is known by the trade name Propecia. Until now, it was known that the hair loss pills that you take only help with male hair loss and not for female hair loss, but in fact, the pills you take also help with female hair loss. However, women of childbearing age should refrain from doing so in case of pregnancy.

However, it requires more capacity. For men, 1mg is enough for one pill a day, but for women to be effective, they need to take 2.5mg or 5mg, which is 2~3 times more. The problem is that the drug has not yet been officially approved for marketing in women, so women have to prescribe proscaran as a treatment for enlarged prostate.

Proscar is originally a treatment for enlarged prostate in men, but the ingredient is finasteride, which is the same as Propecia. It has a dose of 5 mg, which is five times more than Propecia. It is prescribed by a doctor on an unpaid basis. It is more troublesome for women to take half a pill of Proscar than to take 2~3 pills of Propecia, but it is much more economical.

In principle, this type of administration is not recommended. However, if you're suffering from female hair loss and the medications you apply aren't effective, you can consult your doctor and consider taking medications.

Side effects of taking pills?

On the Internet, it is said that if a woman touches the medicine she takes with her hands, she may give birth to a deformed baby. However, this is a misconception. Coated pills are harmless to the touch. Even if the powder comes into contact with the skin once or twice, it does not mean that the baby will have a deformity. Repeated exposure is a problem.

However, if you are a woman of childbearing age who wants to become pregnant, you should never take any medications. This is because even a very small probability is that the pills can interfere with the fetus's genitalization and cause birth defects. However, if you're a woman who doesn't want to have a baby, especially if you're middle-aged or older, there's no reason to be afraid of the pills you take for hair loss. Side effects such as infertility and decreased libido have also not been reported in women.

What if a woman wants to have a baby, but her partner takes a pill for hair loss? In conclusion, it's okay. The amount of finasteride delivered to a woman through semen is only a maximum of 7.6 ng (nano = 1 part per billion) at a time. It's not the amount that will affect the fetus.

Shouldn't you pluck white hair?

Sometimes, there are people who say that the hair roots are ruined, so they cut off the white hair with scissors instead of plucking it. However, even if you pluck out the white hair, you will still have good hair. This is because pulling out the hair does not destroy the roots and prevent the hair from growing at all.

It's also important not to wash your hair too often. This is to protect the skin barrier, which is the oil layer of the scalp. If you wash your hair frequently, the oil will drain and the skin barrier will break. When the skin barrier breaks down, inflammation worsens, which can worsen hair loss. Unless you have an oily scalp that is oily enough to make your hair flicker frequently, shampooing once a day is usually sufficient.