can women with hair loss benefit from finasteride?
i’m often asked in my office as well as
the comments section of my youtube
channel and other social media channels
whether women can be prescribed
finasteride to help with female pattern
hair loss
so finasteride is a dht blocker and dht
stands for
dihydrotestosterone which has been well
established as a significant factor
contributing to the progression of male
pattern hair loss
What is Finasteride
finasteride is a 5-alpha reductase
inhibitor
5-alpha reductase is the enzyme
responsible for the conversion of
testosterone to
or dht
a large percentage of men with male
pattern hair loss
benefit by taking finasteride every day
now finasteride has been approved for
male pattern hair loss since 1997
at this time however the fda has not
approved the use of finasteride for
women who have female pattern hair loss
Who is Dr Amiyaprasada
now some doctors are still
prescribing finasteride for women which
i understand since
there’s frustration with the limited
options to help women who are
experiencing hair loss
i’ll discuss my approach to how i help
women who suffer from female pattern
hair loss
in my practice and why i don’t prescribe
finasteride for women
i’m dr amiya prasada i’m a
board-certified cosmetic surgeon and
fellowship-trained oculofacial
plastic and reconstructive surgeon
i’ve been in practice for over 25 years
in new york city and long island
What is Trichostem Hair Regeneration
i’ve been performing hair restoration
throughout my career starting with hair
transplant surgery
then assisting that with prescription of
finasteride since fda approval in 1997.
since 2011 i’ve been helping men and
women with hair loss
with the trichostem hair regeneration
system a non-surgical treatment i
developed using extracellular matrix by
acell
combined with platelet-rich plasma or
prp
trichostem hair regeneration has been so
successful that i built a freestanding
center specifically for this treatment
in vienna virginia and we treat patients
from all over the world in our three
locations
Why is Finasteride not prescribed for female pattern hair loss
speaking from the perspective of a
testosterone level and hair loss
the relationship of testosterone
dihydrotestosterone or dht and the
benefits of finasteride for men
it’s pretty clear
women
have much less testosterone in their
bodies compared to men and consequently
have much less
dihydrotestosterone in their system
while the exact cause of female pattern
hair loss has not been determined
the relatively small amount of
testosterone in women and consequently
dht
makes it
for me difficult to justify using
finasteride in women
now there are some women who have pcos
or polycystic ovarian syndrome who may
have elevated testosterone levels
i’ve observed that their medical doctors
will often put them on testosterone
blocking drugs such as spironolactone
and put them on oral contraceptives to
regulate their estrogen and progesterone
levels
Treatment for female pattern hair loss
important to also note that finasteride
ingestion by women who are of
childbearing age
can potentially result in defects in the
development of male sex organs during
pregnancy gestation
we routinely treat female pattern hair
loss successfully
with our trichostem hair regeneration
treatment
without testosterone blockers like
spironolactone or a dht blocker like
finasteride
i do recommend that my patients with
female pattern hair loss
have their hormonal status monitored by
their medical doctors
with our injection based treatment alone
our female pattern hair loss patients
have benefited
from the reactivation of hair follicles
which are in a prolonged resting phase
as well as the thickening
of their thinning hair strands
trichostem hair regeneration involves
typically one to two treatment sessions
with the second session or booster
at or about 18 months after the first
typically we’ve observed additional
thickening of significant percentages of
hair after the second treatment
resulting in
more effective coverage
we’ve seen this benefit even for younger
women who have androgenetic alopecia as
well as women over 50 with hair loss
often associated with decreasing
estrogen levels
without the need for testosterone
blocking or dht blockers
in my opinion studies using finasteride
for women have limitations and
just don’t show enough evidence for me
to feel comfortable to
prescribe this drug for women who have
female pattern hair loss
i would be even more concerned about
using finasteride in premenopausal women
due to the risks to a male fetus should
a woman become pregnant while taking
finasteride
we’ve consistently and successfully
treated female pattern hair loss with
the trichostem hair regeneration
treatment
with benefits typically lasting three to
five years and even longer
as i mentioned earlier hormonal status
is factored into our treatment plans
Conclusion
patient safety and effectiveness of
treatment
guide my approach to helping my patients
in every aspect of my practice
since 2011 we’ve treated female pattern
hair loss safely conveniently and with
consistently successful outcomes
our patients again typically receive
only one or two treatment sessions
without any additional medications and
see the benefits for a period of time
that can go over five years
i hope this information from my
experience helped you if you’re
interested in recommendations for your
individual situation
you may contact us through our websites
or call our offices to schedule a
consultation
thank you