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    Did you mean Topical Finasteride?
    Glossary Topical Finasteride

    medication applied to the scalp to treat hair loss

    Topical Finasteride is a medication applied directly to the scalp to treat hair loss, particularly androgenetic alopecia (male or female pattern baldness). Unlike oral finasteride, which can have systemic side effects, the topical form aims to reduce these risks by delivering the drug directly to the affected area, thereby minimizing its absorption into the bloodstream.

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      learn Finasteride

      Popular 5-alpha reductase inhibitor that lowers DHT, taken as a pill or used topically
      • Are there really risks with topical finasteride? Reports on topical finasteride describe scalp irritation and dermatitis as the effects specific to it, and blood levels lower than the oral drug; whether the oral drug's systemic side effects (sexual, mood, suicidal-thought, cognitive and breast/semen effects, some reported to persist after stopping) are genuinely rarer on the topical form has not been measured in a trial powered to answer it. Both forms are prescription-only and contraindicated around pregnancy.
      • Does the vehicle change how much topical finasteride is absorbed? Formulation sources describe propylene glycol and microemulsion vehicles as increasing how much topical finasteride crosses the skin, but better penetration has not been shown to mean better hair results, and it also raises systemic exposure. The vehicle and strength are decisions for a prescriber or compounding pharmacist.
      • Is Finasteride unbeatable or are there equally powerful alternatives? Finasteride has the longest record of trial evidence in male androgenetic alopecia; in pooled 24-week trials dutasteride increased hair counts more, and minoxidil, topical finasteride, PRP, LLLT and microneedling have supporting studies. Regulators warn that finasteride can cause sexual side effects, depression and suicidal thoughts that may persist after stopping, its label also lists breast, semen and other physical effects, and dutasteride now carries a precautionary mood warning; both are prescription-only, and dutasteride and oral minoxidil are off-label for hair loss.

      learn Bicalutamide

      • Is topical bicalutamide a safer alternative to finasteride? There is no published human trial of topical bicalutamide for hair loss, and no licensed topical product exists, so it cannot be called safer than finasteride — or shown to work at all. Oral finasteride has decades of trial data with a documented side-effect profile, and topical finasteride has a phase III trial behind it.

      learn Fluridil

      • How is Fluridil different from other DHT blockers like finasteride? Fluridil is a topical androgen-receptor blocker applied to the scalp, while finasteride is an oral 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor that lowers DHT throughout the body. Finasteride is FDA-approved and far better studied; Fluridil rests on one 43-man trial and is not licensed as a hair-loss medicine, so its long-term safety and effect size are unknown.

      learn Clascoterone

      Topical androgen-receptor blocker, approved as an acne cream

      learn Pyrilutamide

      Experimental topical anti-androgen, also known as KX-826

      learn Cyproterone

      a synthetic anti-androgen and weak progestogen that inhibits DHT binding to androgen receptor

      learn Minoxidil

      Vasodilator used on the scalp and, at low doses, as a tablet