Up to half of people experience itchy scalp, often due to skin conditions like seborrheic dermatitis or psoriasis, and treatments vary based on the specific cause.
The conversation discusses hair loss treatments, focusing on iron supplements for low ferritin levels and considering finasteride and minoxidil if thinning persists. There is debate over starting with finasteride versus dutasteride, with some users advocating for dutasteride due to its potency, while others caution about potential side effects.
Scalp biopsies are crucial for diagnosing hair loss conditions like Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia (DUPA) and retrograde hair loss, as treatments like finasteride and dutasteride may not be effective if other conditions are present. Combining PPAR-GAMMA agonists with retinoids could improve treatments for conditions like Lichen Planopilaris.
Dutasteride may cause chronic infertility by reducing semen volume and motility, with concerns about irreversible prostate fibrosis. Users consider switching to finasteride or using treatments like minoxidil and microneedling, weighing hair preservation against fertility.
A user experienced continuous hair shedding for 13 months after starting finasteride, suspecting it might cause chronic telogen effluvium, and considered switching to dutasteride or stopping medication. Other users suggested that finasteride doesn't cause hair loss, recommending dutasteride for more aggressive hair loss, while some advised against stopping medication.
An 18-year-old experiencing hair loss and seborrheic dermatitis has tried finasteride, dutasteride, and various shampoos without success. They are considering anti-androgens like RU58841 and KX-826 for oil control and dandruff reduction.