As hair grows to its full length, it starts to transition from active growth to rest. Currently, finasteride is approved by the FDA to treat male pattern baldness, which is the most common type of hair loss in men.
Other types of hair loss that can affect you may include:. Telogen effluvium. Alopecia areata. This is a form of autoimmune hair loss, in which your hair can fall out in small, round patches. Tinea capitis. Also referred to as scalp ringworm, this is a type of fungal infection that can cause patchy hair loss.
Like almost all medications, finasteride can cause side effects. Most of the adverse effects of finasteride are mild, although some may have an impact on your quality of life.
Inability to get or maintain an erection erectile dysfunction. Sexual side effects, such as erectile dysfunction, difficulty ejaculating and a weaker sex drive, can sound alarming.
Even in studies of Proscar, a high-strength 5mg version of finasteride, only a small percentage of men report these side effects. For example, in clinical trials of finasteride for BPH, just over eight percent of men reported an effect on their erections, with 6. Other finasteride side effects, such as breast tenderness and rash, were reported by less than one percent of men who used finasteride in clinical trials. In clinical trials involving the 1mg per day dose used to treat hair loss, sexual dysfunction from finasteride was far less common, with just 1.
As with many other medications, some side effects of finasteride may fade away or become less severe with long-term use.
Although uncommon, a small percentage of men may continue to experience side effects after stopping treatment with finasteride. Our guide to the side effects of finasteride looks at this data in more detail and provides some additional information on what you should expect while using finasteride for hair loss.
Per the FDA label for finasteride , there are no significant drug interactions associated with this medication. Although low, finasteride is associated with an increased risk of getting a more serious form of prostate cancer, called high-grade prostate cancer. In men over 55 years of age, the risk of developing high-grade prostate cancer increases from 1. Finasteride is typically sold in two dosages.
As a treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia BPH , finasteride is used at a dosage of 5mg per day. This dose can be found in most generic versions of finasteride and in the brand name medication Proscar. For most men, finasteride is an effective option for treating and preventing hair loss from male pattern baldness. Other affordable and effective hair loss treatment options include:.
A topical medication, minoxidil helps to improve blood flow to the scalp and stimulate hair growth. These devices come in the form of a wand you point at the scalp or a cap you can wear. They emit a constant red LED light, which is believed to reduce inflammation and increase blood flow to hair follicles. According to a meta-analysis of studies published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, LLLT was found to be superior to placebo in regrowing hair Adil, The researchers concluded that LLLT, finasteride, and minoxidil are all effective for promoting hair regrowth in men with male pattern hair loss.
Could massaging your scalp actually improve baldness? A recent study suggests it might. According to research published in the journal Dermatological Therapies, men with male pattern baldness watched a video on standardized scalp massage and tried it on themselves for a median time of 11 to 20 minutes a day. Some of these shampoos contain minoxidil or ketoconazole the active ingredient in the dandruff shampoo Nizoral.
But, the researchers noted, supplementing your diet with low levels of vitamin D can improve symptoms of androgenetic alopecia—a. We also get it via food like milk and eggs.
But many Americans are vitamin D deficient. If you have thinning hair, you might want to get your vitamin D level checked by a healthcare provider. In studies, taking iron supplementation was also effective for hair loss in individuals who had low iron. Hair loss. Last updated October 3, Written by Michael Martin. Disclaimer If you have any medical questions or concerns, please talk to your healthcare provider.
This time, it was additional hair growth. Because the drug was already approved for a different purpose, Merck decided to repurpose it and create the first hair loss medication in a pill form.
Minoxidil was already on the market. After additional clinical trials to determine dosage in , the FDA approved a 1mg dose to treat male pattern baldness , and Propecia was born. Propecia became the first drug of its kind to treat androgenic alopecia and remains extraordinarily popular today. The good news is, finasteride is very effective in the majority of people who take it to treat their male pattern baldness.
Study after study — totaling thousands of men observed over a period of up to five years — has shown that Propecia not only slows the process of hair loss, but it actually helps regrow some of the hair the person has already lost.
Because of its efficacy in such a large portion of those who take it, finasteride is often the first recommendation doctors give to patients experiencing male pattern baldness who are interested in seeking treatment — even before over-the-counter treatments like minoxidil.
If the patient has lost too much hair, the effects will barely be noticeable. This is important because 5-alpha-reductase is what creates the byproduct of testosterone believed to be the main culprit behind male pattern baldness: dihydrotestosterone DHT. While some hair loss is caused by hormone imbalances, illness or stress, male pattern baldness is caused by hair follicles that are sensitive to DHT.
DHT causes hair follicles to shrink over time, and as they shrink, they produce fewer hairs. While we often think that one hair follicle equals one hair, each follicle can produce anywhere from one to five hairs. But by reducing the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme, Propecia reduces the prevalence of DHT, which means the drug is essentially eliminating the cause of hair loss in the first place again, assuming the hair loss is being caused by DHT and not another health issue.
Because finasteride consistently reduces the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme, it takes some time before the effects start to become noticeable — typically about six months, but it could take up to one year. Stopping the medication will result in increased production of the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme again, which will lead to additional DHT production, and of course, hair loss. Any hair re-grown as a result of finasteride will fall out, and hair loss will resume as it had been occurring prior to the patient taking the medication.
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