Dexpanthenol for Hair Loss from Hyundai Pharm

Dexpanthenol could be of use in treating hair loss in men and women. At the very least, in can improve the inflammation, itching and scalp discomfort that are often associated with androgenetic alopecia.

Dexpanthenol for Hair Loss
Hyundai Pharm’s new Dexnoxyl tablets contain Dexpanthenol to treat hair loss.

South Korea based Hyundai Pharm just released Dexpanthenol based over-the-counter (OTC) tablets to treat hair loss. The brand name is Dexnoxyl (image on right).

Hyundai Pharm claims that this is the first ever OTC hair loss treatment in South Korea. Each of the 120 tablets contains 100 milligrams of the key active ingredient Dexpanthenol (also called Panthenol).

Does Dexpanthenol work for Hair Loss?

TS Shampoo with Dexpanthenol.
TS Shampoo with Dexpanthenol (aka Panthenol).

Today is the first time that I ever heard of Dexpanthenol. However, it is “the alcohol analog” of pantothenic acid (vitamin B5). And Vitamin B5 is used in some of the best hair loss shampoos. Another South Korean company sells a Dexpanthenol containing shampoo called TS Shampoo. Reviews are not bad at 4.2/5 starts.

And yet another Korean company La’Dor sells a salicylic acid and Dexpanthenol containing product. The key ingredient in these shampoos supposedly helps dissolve excess secretion from the sebaceous glands (aka sebum). The latter is a key reason for problems such as dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis.

Interestingly, in 2020, a Turkish author wrote two papers in favor of Dexpanthenol being able to treat pattern hair loss:

  1. Dexpanthenol may be a novel treatment for male androgenetic alopecia (May 2020).
  2. Systemic Dexpanthenol as a novel treatment for female pattern hair loss (September 2020).

A related clinical trial started in Iran in 2019. Results were found to be positive, although the link seems to have disappeared. One of this blog’s readers pointed out that we need before and after photos before trusting these findings.

I would be very surprised if this new tablet product from Hyundai Pharm can regrow hair in totally bald areas of the scalp. However, I would not be surprised it it really does improve scalp health and reduces inflammation. Thereby possibly preventing more rapid progression in hair loss.

Note that Panthenol is widely used in various cosmetics and personal-care products (sprays, serums and topical lotions). It helps with moisturization and can stimulate collagen regeneration. Panthenol promotes the acetylation of choline to acetylcholine

Eye drops and nasal sprays also often contain Panthenol to combat dryness. Reported side effects are minimal and generally limited to skin irritation and inflammation.

18 thoughts on “Dexpanthenol for Hair Loss from Hyundai Pharm”

  1. My personal fulfillment goes hand in hand with the slow pace of research to cure baldness …
    I know we’re closer, but I’d really like to know how much closer …

  2. I wonder if Dexpanthenol works well with microneedling…

    “Dermatological effects of the topical use of dexpanthenol include increased fibroblast proliferation and accelerated re-epithelialization in wound healing.”

    Note how similar this sounds to Follica…

    “The Follica platform can be used to induce skin reepithelialization, which creates a “window of opportunity” during which the fibroblast growth factor 9 pathway could be modulated to potentiate hair neogenesis.”

    **Reminder on the importance of increased fibroblast expression: overexpressing Fgf9 led to two to three-fold increase in the number of new hair follicles (Cots Study)**

  3. I found the results from the Iran trial comparing Biotin + Dexpanthenol against the control (5% Minoxidil + 1mg Finasteride).

    “Comparison between the three groups mean hair loss and mean hair diameter and percentage of hair growth during the four times in the biotin and biotin + dexpanthenol group were significantly better than the control group (p <0.05).”

    “Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that biotin and dexpanthenol can be helpful along with the routine treatment of androgenic alopecia.”

    No pictures though. All I care about really is pictures.

  4. https://gendai.ismedia.jp/articles/-/82125?imp=0

    “Hair regrowth is highly feasible among next-generation regenerative medicine, and it is expected to be the world’s first and originated in Japan as a pioneer. Under the current Japanese policy, hair regrowth is an aesthetic treatment, so it is a self-financed medical treatment except for rare diseases, so there is not much national support for research and development. Since ventures are small and unstable, it is expected that all of us will aim to realize them by the people and companies. RIKEN is soliciting donations from the general public and companies, and is also seeking a wide range of partner companies.”

  5. Sorry this is a bit off topic, but for those of you who do derma rolling, do you combine it with red light therapy? I’ve read that derma rolling and red light therapy for hairloss can cancel eachother out if done in too tight of a time window since the healing properties of red light can undo the wounding from the derma roller. What do you think of this? Should one be done at night and the other in the morning? Thanks.

  6. I’m confused by the methods cited in the study: Were just [Biotin + Dexpanthenol] compared against control [5% Minox + 1mg Fin], or were [Biotin + Dexpanthenol + 5% Minox + 1mg Fin] aka Biotin + Dexpanthenol + “baseline treatment” compared against control [5% Minox + 1mg fin]?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *