Medical Treatment of Hair Loss

Medical treatment is only one of the possible ways to treat hair loss. Medication plays an important part both for hair loss prevention and for hair loss treatment, especially in the early hair loss stages. There are several drugs that are used for medical treatment of hair loss, the two most important being Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine (minoxidil). Propecia inhibits DHT and is very effective in the early stages of hair loss. Rogaine can also be used in the early stages for stimulating hair growth in the affected areas. Rogaine is most effective when it is used in conjunction with Propecia.

The best that medical treatment of hair loss can do for you is to thicken your hair in the zones, where it is getting thinner. Generally, medical treatment of hair loss is not very effective in regrowing hair. Besides, even if you manage to regrow your hair, it is not an exception that you will experience it all over your body, rather than only on your head. This is a very unpleasant side effect and that is why it is better to apply medical treatment in the early stages, and then resort to other means, for instance hair transplants.

It is also possible (and recommendable) to combine surgery, i.e. hair transplants, with medication because this way the two complement each other – medication prevents further hair loss, while transplants add new hair to those areas where it is missing from. But before we get to surgery, let's see how Propecia and Roqaine help hair loss prevention and treatment.

Propecia is a drug that suppresses the formation of DHT (dihydrotestosterone) in the body. DHT is the main reason for MPB (male pattern baldness), which is the main type of baldness and it affects both men and women. DHT is formed by the action of the enzyme 5-alpha reductase on testosterone. And here comes Propecia – it blocks this enzyme and stops it from converting the testosterone to DHT. And when the levels of DHT are not that high, hair loss does not occur, or occurs at a much slower tempo.

Propecia is especially effective for treating hair loss on the front of the scalp. If hair loss is caught early, it is even possible that it will stimulate your hair growth. There is research data that after 5 years of using Propecia, 90% of men experience no further hair loss or even hair growth (40-50 percent of men experience hair growth), while only 10% continue to lose hair.

Propecia is not a quick drug. It must be taken once a day for at least a year before any visible changes are possible. In the first six months, you could even experience further hair loss because Propecia is still not in charge of your hair but shortly after that you will start noticing more favorable developments. Part of this initial hair loss is due to the fact that your old thin hair is falling down in order to make place for your new hair. As you see, you need to be patient and not be discouraged easily, if medication does not produce results immediately.

What is more, if you want to start Propecia late – i.e. when your head is bald already, there is no point in doing so. Propecia is completely helpless when you are bald already. If this is the case with you, the only solution is to have a hair transplant first and then strengthen your new hair with Propecia. Propecia is known to have some side effects but they do not pose a danger to your health.

The second drug that is used for medical treatment of hair loss is Rogaine. Unlike Propecia, which is taken orally, Rogaine is a topical solution and is applied directly to the scalp. Rogaine was developed from the oral blood pressure medication minoxidil, which when taken orally is a pretty strong drug with a lot of side-effects. The idea to use minoxil for hair loss treatment occurred when it was noticed that patients who took it for blood pressure, also experienced hair growth but due to its many side-effects, it was decided that the best approach is to apply it externally to the affected area. Pregnant and nursing women should not use Rogaine, even if they don't have any complaints after trying it.

It is still not known how exactly minoxil works to stimulate hair growth. In comparison to Propecia, Rogaine is less effective but when they are used in combination – i.e. Propecia is taken orally once a day and Rogaine is applied topically once or twice a day, the effect is much better. Like Propecia, Rogaine does not work either on a totally bald area but its effects become visible in less time. It is considered that Roqaine use is effective after the fifth month and up to the second year of its application.

There are some other hair loss medications, like the diuretic Aldactone, which is occasionally used for hair loss treatment in women but Propecia and Roqaine are the two most popular and most effective and therefore only the two of them were discussed in this article.