For a 48 weeks treatment, these are the results I think it reports:
- Starting hair count (average): 151 hairs per cm^2
- Ending hair count (average): 168 hairs per cm^2 (+18 new hairs)
So all it gets you is 18 new hairs per cm^2? Isn't this a ridiculous number?
If your head was a bathtub, this would be like turning up the tap.
However, male pattern baldness (androgenic alopecia) is usually caused by the hormone DHT, which is a byproduct of testosterone. DHT can shrink hair follicles causing hair loss, and that’s primarily what you’re fighting against.
You can help prevent testosterone from being converted to DHT by inhibiting the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase. The typical prescription for this is 1.25mg of finasteride, taken orally.
Back to the bathtub analogy, this would be like putting in the plug.
When taken together, this treatment is fairly effective for most people, although side effects can be somewhat common with finasteride (eg low libido) so do more research if you go down this route.
I find this increase ridiculous, not sure why it is so extended the idea that it is effective.
If your pool had a hole in it and you saw the water level slightly go up, you would conclude that the water flowing in must have been slightly faster than the water leaking out. Now imagine if you patched the hole.
I would recommend comparing with a study with both minoxidil and a 5a-reductase inhibitor.
I don't think we need to understand the details of how it works to conclude the ROI is ridiculous.
You can't just compare the before hair count to after, because presumably if you didn't use it you would have lost even more hair in that time. Unfortunately you can't know how much that would have been - but just say you would otherwise have been down to 140 h/cm^2 in that time, then the effect is 28 h/cm^2 instead of 18.
Even if the amount of hair stayed the same, if it prevented more balding it would be helping. Whether it's worth it or not is up to you.
Returning to metrics, another could be the diameter of each hair, which impacts the aesthetic quality. 151 hairs per cm^2 doesn't visually present the same for all individuals with that exact density (due to thinness/thickness of each follicle). Other treatments can be paired with it simultaneously, which may further improve results.
In any event, +18/cm2 is actually a good amount in terms of cosmedic effect.
I have taken both topical and oral minoxidil for years. I have also researched many anecdotal cases of minoxidil use. Some people have a tremendous response to it. The side effects are generally negligible.
If you are going to bring new (and extraordinary) numbers please bring (extraordinary) references.