I’ve always been a nonconformist.
In the fourth grade, I spent the full school year protesting the arbitrary and draconian nature of bedtimes.
My rebellious streak has continued into adulthood.
At age 36, when I realized I was going bald, I had many decisions to make.
The first choice was easy.
Minoxidil was the first treatment I was going to try–not finasteride.
Why?
Because I’m older, that’s why, and my hair loss didn’t seem to be aggressive.
Also, I try to avoid prescription medications whenever possible.
That said, If I had been in my early 20s with thinning at the crown, I likely would’ve hopped on finasteride–the low-dose variety of the drug.
Next, I had to pick between liquid and foam minoxidil.
Related article: Foam vs. Liquid Minoxidil – Which Is Better?
I went with the liquid for a simple reason: I’m cheap.
Of course, in the days or weeks to come, I’ll do a more detailed post about my product preferences and review my experiences with both liquid and foam minoxidil (I’ve since tried both products).
When I received my minoxidil a few days later, I naturally reviewed the instructions on the box.
They advised me to apply the product twice per day, every day, forever.
Okay, the instructions didn’t use the word forever, but I knew that was part of the deal.
As soon as you stop using minoxidil, you lose any hair you kept or regrew as a result of the product.
That kind of sucks, but so does hair loss and life a lot of the time, right?
But then, what are the alternatives to hair loss (and life)?
Minoxidil, finasteride, and death.
In this case I chose life. And minoxidil.
And at the beginning of my treatment course, I elected to defy the instructions on the label and only apply the product once per day instead of twice per day.
I made this decision for a variety of reasons.
First, minoxidil has a half life of approximately 22 hours.
So, in case you’re a little slow on the uptake, that means if you apply minoxidil one time, the product will work its magic during 22 out of the next 24 hours.
Many dermatologists recommend this treatment course to their patients. Because people are lazy. And applying any product twice per day may be a hassle, but doing it once per day is a more manageable task.
There’s a caveat though.
If you want to ensure the product works well for you, and you’re only using it once per day, you’ll likely want to use double the recommended amount during your daily treatments.
That’s what I did. Of course you should consult with your doctor or dermatologist before beginning any new hair loss treatment course.
Personally, I always do my treatments at night before bed (if you apply it the morning before/after a shower, the effectiveness of minoxidil may decrease).
Okay, let’s do a call to action now.
Do you use minoxidil as instructed?
Or are you a rebel with a cause (laziness), like me?
Feel free to leave me a comment below.
Robert Price is a writer, consumer advocate, and hair loss researcher with thousands of hours of experience in the field. His goal is to keep you out of the hair loss rabbit hole, underworld, or whatever you want to call it. He founded Hair Loss Daily, the unbiased hair loss blog, in 2016. You can learn more about Robert in the my story section of this website.