A medication, known as minoxidil, has provided the first really promising topical solution for the treatment of hair loss. Minoxidil is a drug given in tablet form to treat high blood pressure and has the side effect of hair growth on various parts of the body Researchers applied the drug to the skin to determine whether it would have the same effect on hair growth when used externally as it does when taken internally The results were positive.

Although minoxidil increases blood circulation to the hair follicles experts are not convinced that this is how the drug really works. There has been some suggestion that minoxidil may work by prolonging the growth phase of the hair root and preventing its shrinkage over time.

Rogaine, Apogaine, and Minoxigaine are the only products currently available that contain minoxidil to encourage hair growth on the scalp. Prior to the availability of Rogaine and its successors, some forward thinking dermatologists were having pharmacists grind minoxidil pills into a base for application to the scalp. The advantage of pharmaceutical mixtures over this method is that it is a standardized formula which has the same amount of all the ingredients in each prescription.

Recent studies suggest that using tretinoin (Retin A, Stieva A, Vitamin A Acid, Renova, Retisol A, Rejuva A) in combination with minoxidil may speed up the process of regrowth by encouraging better penetration by the minoxidil, but more research is necessary to substantiate these findings.