Female Thinning Hair, Propecia for Women?

I am a 57 year old female and lost almost all my hair on the top. I have some hair on the lower back part. Right now I am using Toppik and Couvre to hide my bald spot, but it is very hard. Can I use Propecia? Can women take it? My 25 old daughter, a 4th year medical student, has the same problem. She has seen many doctors (including Cleveland Clinic) but nothing helped. She applies 5% Minoxidil, and takes some Bl. Pr. medicine everyday but still she is losing hair fast. One doctor at IU Med School told her that she is not a good candidate for transplant therapy.

Can you help us?

If you want I can send our pictures to you.

There are many causes for women’s hair loss, such as hypothyroidism, eczema, alopecia, dieting, malnutrition, autoimmune, drugs, infection, genetics, etc. Since your daughter has seen many physicians, I assume that both of you have had numerous blood tests to rule out the many causes. Biopsies may be a next step, but your scalp and the scalp of your daughter should be mapped out for miniaturization. It would be interesting to see if the ‘map’ is similar for miniaturization by distribution, which would suggest genetic causes. Propecia is a very bad idea and not recommended for women. A biopsy of the scalp can evaluate if there is any inflammation process going on. If you would like, you may email your pictures to the address on the Contact page or come in person for a free consult to one of our offices in Los Angeles or San Jose, California.