Oral Minoxidil; Safe Dose

Column

Oral Minoxidil; Safe Dose

How to Reduce the Dose of Minoxidil Tablet

The author recommends to reduce the dose of minoxidil tablet gradually. First, 5-10mg minoxidil tablet should be reduced to a half dose for a few months.
Then, the dose should be reduced further to 1/4 dose for the following a few months. In this way, does of minoxidil tablets should be reduced to 1.25-2.5 mg per day.

For example, 10mg daily minoxidil can be reduced to 5mg per day in a few months. Dose reduction from 10mg to 5mg is usually easy, which will not cause hair thinning.

Then 5mg daily minoxidil should be reduced to 2.5mg in the next a few months. Usually, dose reduction from 5mg to 2.5mg will not be very difficult without any major problems.

Then, 2.5mg minoxidil can be reduced to 1.25mg daily minoxidil, or 1.25/2.5mg alternatively every other day. After several months, the patient should try to reduce further to 1.25mg per day.

This phase is usually a difficult time for patients. Many patients do not want to reduce the dose of oral minoxidil from 2.5mg daily further to 1.25mg daily because of hair thinning.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37

Kuniyoshi YAGYU, MD

General Manager, Ginza HS Clinic (current position) | Director, Ginza HS Clinic (current position) | Graduated from the University of Tokyo, Medical School.
Doctor of Medicine.

The 24th President of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), a Board of Governors of the Asian Association of Hair Restoration Surgeons (AAHRS), a Fellow of the ISHRS, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS).

He has received many awards for his outstanding achievements in hair transplantation, including “Research Award” and “Special Achievement Award” from the ISHRS, “Mediterranean Award”, “Tiberio Award” and “Caesar Award” from the Italian Society for Hair Science and Restoration, and “Hirayama Award” from the Japan Society of Clinical Hair Restoration.

He is a certified registered physician of the Japan Surgical Society, an Honorary Fellow of cardiovascular surgery of the Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery, a Fellow of the Japanese Circulation Society, and a Fellow of the Japanese Respiratory Society.

He served as a director of cardiovascular surgery at the Japanese Red Cross Medical Center, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo, Medical School. He studied at the Hannover Medical School in the Federal Republic of Germany on a scholarship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Kuniyoshi Yagyu, MD, FISHRS. He served as the President of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery from 2015 to 2016. He is a board member of the Asian Association of Hair Restoration Surgeons. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery and a Winner of the ISHRS Research Award in 2010, and ISHRS Poster Award in 2014. He has authored more than 53 research and clinical publications in books and journals. He had been specialized in cardiac surgery for 22 years. He has been practicing hair transplantation for about 20 years in Tokyo, Japan.