I’ve covered a lot of ground already on this hair loss blog, but I definitely haven’t reviewed every treatment option available. Topical finasteride is one such treatment. Here’s an email exchange I recently had with a reader, Rodney, on that subject. A full blog post should be coming soon, so be on the look out for that. Below is his email:
Hi Robert,
I’m reading your delightful posts about finasteride including the your latest position swift. I also think that blocking DHT is not the right path. Strengthen the hair and make it immune to DHT should be the solution.
Anyway, I wanted to ask what you think about topical finasteride. It’s recommended and sold by Hasson & Wong in Europe and it’s prepared by a pharmacy in Italy. I contacted them and they sent me a recent small in vitro study about it. I can send it to you if
you are interested. Best regards, Rodney
My Response
Hi Rodney,
Good question, and thanks for reminding me that I need to do a post on topical finasteride. I’ll have that up in the near future, so stay tuned. As for my current thoughts on topical finasteride, I think it can definitely help promote hair regrowth/maintenance in men with MPB.
I also believe it’s safe to say that it is considerably less likely to cause significant side effects than the oral medication, given that the topical version is obviously only absorbed locally and not systemically. The research isn’t overwhelming at this point to support its effectiveness as a long-term treatment option, but hopefully larger studies will be done in the near future.
I know a lot of men are looking into RU58841 as a topical alternative to finasteride (need to do a writeup on that too, come to think of it), in addition to topical finasteride. Neither treatment is FDA approved, which is something many doctors want to see in the hair loss treatments they prescribe. Hopefully this was somewhat helpful. And yes, I’d love to see the study Hasson & Wong sent you!
Robert Price is a writer, consumer advocate, and hair loss researcher with thousands of hours of experience in the field. His goal is to keep you out of the hair loss rabbit hole, underworld, or whatever you want to call it. He founded Hair Loss Daily, the unbiased hair loss blog, in 2016. You can learn more about Robert in the my story section of this website.
Definitely a better treatment than Minoxidil alone or even oral finasteride. Good quality study, albeit in rats, showed no local or systemic side effects. I have been taking oral version for years and getting good maintenance result. Started putting 30mg finasteride in 30ml of 5% minoxidil about 6 months ago. Have hair I can comb now and more coming in. Never mind that products not available in U.S. Get Rx for proscar and make your own. One study found better scalp DHT reduction with once a day application.
Sorry, I got here late. There is a pharmacy in the US that compounds a topical finasteride/minoxidil. They can also add additional formulations such as Latanoprost as prescribed by your doctor. As you say, the verdict on the efficacy versus oral finasteride is still out. It does seem very convenient to be able to apply both of these synergistic medications (finasteride and minoxidil) at once. I would definitely wash my hands thoroughly before being around any pregnant women and forbid them to touch my hair, though.