My thoughts on Nizoral Shampoo for hair loss
Nizoral's active ingredient, Ketoconazole is purported to have mild anti-androgenic and hair-growth-stimulating properties (see my Nizoral treatment page).
It has been a staple of my regimen for several years now. Initially when I first started using it I used it virtually every day. I figured, what the heck, if it helps even remotely to stave off the inevitable departure of my beleaguered follicles then its worth the risk of going against the directions and using it on a more frequent basis.
I am now a bit less enthusiastic about using it everyday. I now use it once a week, and mostly for its intended purpose of preventing dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis.
While I wholeheartedly still believe it should be a part of the regimen of anyone with androgenetic alopecia, I think to use it too often is unwise. This is because if you've got a good regimen then you're already using other products to ward off the effects of androgens on your hair follicles -- products like Propecia, or Revivogen for instance. So there's really no need, in my opinion, to use Nizoral daily for the purpose of battling androgens. And it's growth stimulating effects are very minor. You can get a much better effect through the use of Minoxidil or Minoxidil-containing products.
So while I think it's still worth the added benefit, I think you should use it no more than once a week, and mostly for its anti-inflammatory properties and anti-dandruff/seborrheic dermatitis properties. Ironically, it contains sodium lauryl salfate, a commonly used shampoo ingredient that one should stay away from, if at all possible, if preventing irritation and inflammation of the scalp is important to you. I think that in the case of Nizoral, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages, but one should do what one can to minimize the potential disadvantages. (For a detailed description of other shampoo ingredients you may want to avoid, check out the following post that was made in the Morphollica.com forums: Surfactants in Shampoo).
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