HAIR GROWTH ELIXIR

Almost every woman Dr Ophelia treats for hair thinning has already been told to use minoxidil, and many have tried it and stopped. They stop for one reason: minoxidil pushes follicles out of their resting phase ahead of schedule, and as new hair comes up, it displaces the old. For the first two months you shed more than before, and you are asked to accept that as progress. For a woman already frightened by what she sees in the shower drain, that is an enormous thing to ask. Then there is the vehicle. A conventional 5% scalp solution is roughly half propylene glycol and a bit over a quarter alcohol, and its own label lists dry skin and changes in hair texture and colour among recognised effects. So five years ago Dr Ophelia began compounding something else. Not a gentler minoxidil, but a formula that works through different biology, in an alcohol-free base, with neither a shedding phase nor a drying vehicle built into how it functions. It is made fresh for each patient after assessment.