Comparative Study of the Online Over-The-Counter Hair Loss Products

Background: There are tremendous amount of the overthe-counter (OTC) hair loss products available online and widely purchase all over the world by many consumers. We conducted this study to evaluate some popular and widely used OTC hair loss products that are introduced by famous online retailer websites. Methods: We identified the top selling hair loss products using data introduced by some online retailers such as Amazon, Etsy, Bonanza and Overstock. All products data were obtained from the retailers’ websites and were compared for their type and active ingredients. Results: Most of hair loss products are natural products, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and proteins. The products found in the top sellers are different between the online retailers regarding their type, side, dosage forms and prices. Minoxidil, the only FDA approved OTC hair loss drug, is found only in the list of top seller of Amazon.com. Conclusions: Many of the OTC hair loss treatments were natural products with very few evidences about their efficacy. The OTC hair loss products nearly costs the same as the FDA approved drug, minoxidil.