Doctor Suggested Rogaine, But Should I Ask for Propecia?

I’m an 18 year old male and was recently told by my dermatologist that I am starting to bald. My dermatologist told me that I should just take Rogaine, since I was able to catch the balding early. However, the thinning is happening in spots just behind the hairline, and I know that Rogaine has not been proven to work in that spot. Should I go back and ask for Propecia?

If your only concern is hair loss at the hairline and the immediate area behind it, you should be aware that most of the studies, which documented positive effects of Propecia, were done on crown and vertex area. This is also true about Rogaine. With that said, Propecia is the best medical treatment for genetic balding, but you need a diagnosis by mapping out your scalp for miniaturization to determine if this is indeed genetic balding or just the maturation of your frontal hairline. One reason I usually recommend finasteride (Propecia) to my male patients, because of its ease of use (one pill a day rather than applying Rogaine solution to the bald area twice a day).

In the office yesterday, I saw a young man who was started on Propecia a year ago. He responded well in the frontal area, reducing the miniaturization from 70% to 30% and he had more hair in the frontal area from picture comparisons we had of him and his own assessment. What this means is that just because the official line is that Propecia may not work in the frontal area, clearly we all respond differently. He was smiling (certainly not complaining) about all of that new hair in the frontal area.