I Wonder If I Should Even Be Taking Finasteride

Hi Dr.
I have enjoyed reading your blog. Throughout my life I have had thin hair but it has never bothered me. If I could keep it at the density that it has been I would be happy. Male Pattern Baldness does run in my family (especially my moms side) and a lot of my cousins have already decided to shave their heads. I have been lucky so far and am at an older age than they were when they started to thin. I thought I had dodged the bullet but I received a shorter than usual haircut this summer and noticed my hair looked a little thinner than usual.

I was into a dermatologist within a week and onto finasteride which helped me mentally more than anything. I still have a full head of hair and the only person to notice it looking thinner so far is me. As time goes on I wonder if it is really appropriate for me to be taking finasteride. Do you have an opinion on this? I have an appointment with a reputable hair restoration surgeon in a month. I made this appointment mostly to have someone tell me if I am really thinning and to make some kind of a “master plan” if I am. Surgery is nowhere in the plans for now.

My main concern is that I could possibly damage my hair by taking finasteride if infact it isn’t necessary. Any information you have on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for your very informative blog.

Taking finasteride will not damage your hair, but you should not be taking finasteride if you do not have androgenic alopecia. There’s no reason to take unnecessary medication, and your doctor will be able to tell you if Propecia is helping. Perhaps your haircut didn’t reveal anything new, but it’d been so long since you’ve had it cut that short that you forgot what your short hair was like? I don’t know…

Really what you need is a good diagnosis, and after you have that, then you can discuss the treatment options and your ‘realistic’ ultimate goal with your doctor to see if Propecia will help.