Topical Minoxidil: Hair Growth Agent

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Topical Minoxidil: Hair Growth Agent

Topical Minoxidil

Minoxidil is a pharmacological name. The drug is commercially available as a brand-name medicine, generic name drugs and over the counter medicine with various names such as Rogaine, Ri-Up, Hair Regrowth, Kirkland, etc. The active ingredient is minoxidil that has an effect of hair thickening.

The general formulation of a minoxidil solution is 5% w/v in concentration. Other products with higher concentration of 10% and 15% are also commercially available.

Other types of solutions can be selected that contain a topical mixture of minoxidil and tretinoin or finasteride. There are some reports about effectiveness of the combination regimen of these drugs.

Other ingredients such as saw palm, lysine and zinc may be added to a minoxidil solution. There is no clinical evidence to support the advantage of these additional ingredients.

You can use any kind of hair growth medicine in your preference anyway.

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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.