Minoxidil is not indicated for post-Covid hair loss; understand

As well as skin lesions and nail changes, hair loss is among the many strange symptoms of Covid-19. Even though they are not directly linked to the disease, most of those infected end up suffering from this development and seek medicines to reverse it, such as Minoxidil. It turns out that this remedy is not the most suitable for this situation, warn dermatologists.

Fabiane Brenner, coordinator of the Hair Department at SBD (Brazilian Society of Dermatology), explains that, in general, its use is not recommended due to the product’s mechanism of action.

In a person without hair loss problems, each strand of hair keeps growing for about six years, until it reaches the stage where it falls out and is replaced by a new one. This happens throughout life.

“In patients with baldness, this cycle is shorter and the new threads are thinning. What Minoxidil does is extend this time”, says Brenner.

However, at the beginning of the drug’s action, if there are any hairs starting to grow, they are pushed by the new threads generated by the drug. Therefore, some people end up having hair loss at the beginning of treatment.

In the case of coronavirus infection, hair loss is usually temporary, and the initial action of Minoxidil may accentuate the problem rather than solve it. “It’s not that it can’t be used, but it depends on the phase of therapy and the fall. Most of the time, we don’t need to use it because the patient will recover alone after Covid”, says the coordinator of the SBD.

Minoxidil is usually used to treat very specific types of hair loss, such as androgenetic alopecia (popularly known as baldness), alopecia areata (circular-shaped hair loss) and frontal fibrosing alopecia. It can be applied topically to the affected site or taken orally in more advanced cases.

In addition to prolonging the hair cycle, the remedy acts by stimulating hair growth. The dermatologist Simone Neri, who works in Osasco (SP), informs that it increases the circulation of the region affected by the fall, which generates a dilation of blood vessels. This process improves the supply of nutrients within the hair follicle, which is the structure responsible for the production and growth of hair strands in the skin.

Although it doesn’t work in cases of Covid-19, Brenner thinks it’s positive that people are paying more attention to hair loss because of the pandemic. However, it reinforces the need to seek help from a professional instead of self-medicating.

“The patient can look for a specialist because of the fall for Covid, which is temporary, but there he discovers that he actually has baldness, for example. Hence the importance of making a differential diagnosis”, says the dermatologist.

Minoxidil should not be consumed by pregnant women, children and people with kidney, heart and liver problems and can cause hypotension and fainting.