Finasteride Has Retained My Hair for Years, But I Want to Use Rogaine Foam for Regrowth

Hi Doctor,

I been on finasteride around 4 to 5 years. I believe it has help me slow down my hair loss. But I would like some regrowth. I still have no bald spots yet. I’m thinking about using Rogaine Foam to see if I can regrow some hair in the frontal and mid front part of the top of my scalp and thicken up the vellus hair at my temples.I have Mostly diffuse thinning but more thinning in the mid front. I know the makers of Rogaine have to say that it only works at the crown however I have read it does work in the frontal area of the top of the scalp, vice versa. I’m confused about it and also scare of speeding up my hair loss and not recover from the shed rogaine causes at first. I heard rogaine is more of a regrowth treatment and that propecia is more for maintenance. If I can just thicken up and have a bit of regrowth in between the hair where I’m thinning I’ll be happy with rogaine foam. Have u had patients or know about other doctors patients that have used rogaine for the frontal part of the scalp with success? Just looking for a professional thought about this and a peace of mind. your answer will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Certainly there is no problem with adding Rogaine Foam to your treatment regimen. Make sure that you do not stop the Propecia, because the mechanism of action is such that if you stop it and replace it with Rogaine, you will have “catch up hair loss”. Stopping the support from the Propecia will be exposing the hair to DHT if it is withdrawn.

With regard to Rogaine shedding, it may not be a very big problem, but if it occurs it should disappear in a couple of months or so.