Topical medication
Medicaments of this group have several advantages, which make them the basic means of treating androgenic alopecia:
- They are easy to apply, a characteristic that allows frequent and regular use: this is very important for effective treatment
- They are applied directly on the affected regions, which enables using small doses of the medication
- The low doses decrease the risk of undesirable side effects
- Application is painless, and the patients accept the treatment readily
- They are less costly than other methods of treatment
Topical application requires that the respective medication should have good skin-penetration capacity. This capacity determines what part of the medication will reach the target structures and hence the effectiveness of the substance. In view of this requirement, the range of medicaments suitable for topical application is reduced. They are: Minoxidil, Minoxidil sulfate, Aminexil, Ketoconazole, Spironolactone. The enumerated medicaments have different chemical properties, and in order to be effective, they should be applied in specific forms (as a lotion, shampoo, cream) and in different solvents.
Minoxidil (lotion) Ketoconazole (shampoo) Spironolactone (cream)
