Should I start taking Minoxidil/Finasteride now or later? 25 years old (Photo)

Question

I have had noticeable hair loss in the past 2 years (receding hairline, noticeable thinning). I have changed a ton of my habits in the past 2 months that got pretty bad over the past 2-3 years (I quit excessive smoking cigarettes/drinking, exercise 5+ times a week, get enough sleep, eat better, lowered stress levels). Should I wait to see if my change in habits improves my hair loss in the next few months, or should I start taking hair loss medication in order to save my hair? Thank you.

Emrah Cinik, MD · Answer

Finasteride and minoxidil combo is very powerful when it comes to hair loss. You can begin with saw palmetto - biotin and multivitamin, those won't show side effects like finasteride

Gary Linkov, MD · Answer

I would say go ahead and start the treatment since it takes about 6 months to see improvement or stabilization. Consider also PRP for a boost.

Marco Barusco, MD · Answer

With hair loss being genetic the sooner you start a treatment plan the sooner you can be protecting your hair from the progression of loss. It will be best for you to seek a hair restoration physician so you can learn about all the options available to treat your hair loss. 
The quicker you can discuss the options the quicker you can protect your hair .
Best Wishes,

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

Hair loss Is genetic and you need to treat now. PRP/acell, topical minoxidil, restorsea spray, viviscal, topical growth factors weekly, and consider early transplant.  oral finesteride is essential.
I suggest a formal consultation as there are a combination of treatments that can be done to improve har loss.  Oral finesteride has very little to no side effects in the majority of people; PRP/platelet-rich plasma + stem cells like A Cell help regrow hair and slow down the thinning process; rogaine and restorsea spray should be used daily; oral viviscal helps keep nutrients high in the follices as well.  Transplantation is a last resort but works early in the aging process as well.  A formal consultation and combination treatment is needed.  Best, Dr. Emer.

Robert Nettles, MD · Answer

Before jumping to treatment - diagnose the cause of your hair loss

The year is 2022 not 1980. New medical technologies enable us now to see what is causing symptoms in our bodies. It is no longer necessary to try multiple treatments one after the other in the hope of treating a symptom.  What I have found is that hair loss is not a disease but a symptom. Anything aimed at treating that symptom is a band-aid at best, and can cause severe problems at worst.

Did you know that back when fuzzy hair growth was a side effect of oral minoxidil treatment during a clinical trial, someone "assumed" that it worked because of its vasodilation properties of increasing blood flow. Now with "science" we "know" that is not true and that minoxidil is in fact a very mild hair follicle agonist (stimulant). It unfortunately also has many problems including its requirement to be mixed with alcohol to activate it and the fact that hair follicles become dependent on it so that if you stop using it, any hair grown falls out. Since then we have also been able to develop more effective hair growth stimulants, but yoiu also need to understand that now matter how powerful the hair growth "fertilizer" unless you find and stop the underlying cause, it will not effectively reverse the problem or even hold it back for long.

Today we have the technology via precision medicine and xray crystallography to see individual molecules within our blood to accurately diagnose the underlying causes of symptoms such as hair fall or lack of hair growth.

It makes sense then that we would not want to guess what is happening rather than find the true real cause and treat that?

My recommendation: find a doctor who can perform a biochemical report card lab tests panel. The BRC will provide a very comprehensive view of your overall health and well being as well as all the biomarkers which lead to hair loss. Once you know what is causing the problem an effective plan can be created to treat and reverse it.

Gaurang Krishna, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

If it is progressing, the best thing you can  do is to start the medical hair loss treatment sooner. Because it takes a couple of months to see the results. So to arrest the progression and stabilize the hairloss it is advised to visit dermatologist n get prescription for medicines.

William Rassman, MD (retired) · Answer

Yes, you can start finasteride and minoxidil at the age of 25. I have seen some wonderful results in less than a year with just these two medications used in combination.

Should I start taking Minoxidil/Finasteride now or later? 25 years old (Photo)

Answers (7)

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