Randomized Clinical Trial of Low-Dose Oral Minoxidil for the Treatment of Female Pattern Hair Loss: 0.25 mg Versus 1 mg

January 2022 in “ Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology ”

Marcella Nascimento e Silva, Paulo Müller Ramos, Marcio Roberto Silva, Rafaella Nascimento e Silva, Nádia Rezende Barbosa Raposo

low-dose oral minoxidil female pattern hair loss LDOM hair count hair-shedding scores facial hypertrichosis minoxidil FPHL

TLDR 1 mg/day of low-dose oral minoxidil is effective and safe for treating female hair loss.

A 24-week randomized double-blind clinical trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of low-dose oral minoxidil (LDOM) at 0.25 mg/day versus 1 mg/day for treating female pattern hair loss (FPHL) in 30 women. The study found that the 1 mg/day dose significantly increased hair count (P < .001) compared to the 0.25 mg/day dose, which did not show significant improvement (P = .20). Both doses improved hair-shedding scores and quality of life, but no significant differences were observed between the groups in these measures. Mild facial hypertrichosis was noted in two patients on the 1 mg/day dose. The study concluded that LDOM 1 mg/day is effective and well-tolerated for FPHL, with superior efficacy to the 0.25 mg/day dose. Limitations included the small sample size and lack of a placebo group.

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