Top 3 Myths About Topical Finasteride

With over 70% of male population all over the world being impacted by balding, there ought to be lots of research and innovation going on in order to find a solution to it. The group affected by baldness is always looking for the most effective treatment that will help regain their mane, confidence and happiness in future.

Male pattern loss or Androgenic Alopecia is caused by a combination of genetic predisposition and male hormone Dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is a hormone that plays a very important role in the early years of development in men, including growth of facial & body hair but in the later years it is supposed to be the main culprit in hair loss. Some men inherit hyper sensitivity to DHT and its high level negatively impacts their follicles.

DHT blocks all nourishment like proteins, vitamins, etc. of the hair follicles and thus shortens its growth phase. Finally, the follicles result in miniaturization & lead to baldness.

To counter the impact of high level of DHT, medicines like Finasteride and Minoxidil are available in the market for a long time. Although these medicines have proven to keep the DHT levels low but their side-effects have kept them from becoming popular. As these pills are related to decreased libido, therefore, men do not want to consume these medicines as hair loss treatment.

Topical Finasteride has come into the market somewhere around 2012 and is touted to be very effective in arresting hair loss. It was formulated to minimize the side-effects of Finasteride pills as it is to be used externally. It is getting lots of publicity and being promoted as a safe alternative to the oral drugs. But is it actually ‘the magic potion’ that it is made out to be?

Busting top 3 myths about Topical Finasteride:

Myth #1. No Side Effects- Many pharmacies, doctors, clinics and even websites have been claiming that Topical Finasteride has no side effects, hence, safe to use. They claim that it is applied on the scalp externally, therefore, does not harm like its oral counterpart.

This is completely false as many people have reported side effects of varying degrees of severity. Topical Finasteride does tend to penetrate the skin and goes into the system and once this happens there will be some side effects of it. The side effect range is different than the oral Finasteride pills yet it has not been declared safe for use.

Myth #2. Standard Formulations- None of the Topical Finasteride are approved by the agencies, therefore there is no standardized formulations. This simply means that there can be many Topical Finasteride available but the combination of ingredients will vary in each one of them. Varied percentage of Minoxidil will be used in all and even the active ingredient will vary.

This is another reason that it is not safe to use as the user may not know the exact dosage of all the variants.

Myth #3. Limited Pharmacies And Doctors Offer It- An impression is created that very limited pharmacies or clinics offer Topical Finasteride; but in reality it is easily available everywhere and it can even be formulated on demand.

Conclusion:

As is clear from the above statements, Topical Finasteride may be safer than its oral counterpart but it is still not the best solution to arrest hair loss. Maybe in the future more research & study will lead to a safer Topical Finasteride which would get approval from agencies too. Till then it is better to try and utilise the proven options of hair loss & restoration performed across the hair loss clinics at Advanced Hair Studio.