This runs a great deal of risk as one technician moves to help another and if one patient had HIV or hepatitis, then the disease is spread. You wouldn’t want to be that second or third patient. In most countries, this is illegal.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30226287/
Low-dose daily aspirin reduces topical minoxidil efficacy in androgenetic alopecia patients
Affiliations
- PMID: 30226287
- DOI: 10.1111/dth.12741
Abstract
Topical minoxidil is the only US FDA approved OTC drug for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia (AGA). Minoxidil is a pro-drug converted into its active form, minoxidil sulfate, by the sulfotransferase enzymes in the outer root sheath of hair follicles. Previously, we demonstrated that sulfotransferase activity in hair follicles predicts response to topical minoxidil in the treatment of AGA. In the human liver, sulfotransferase activity is significantly inhibited by salicylic acid. Low-dose OTC aspirin (75-81 mg), a derivative of salicylic acid, is used by millions of people daily for the prevention of coronary heart disease and cancer. It is not known whether oral aspirin inhibits sulfotransferase activity in hair follicles, potentially affecting minoxidil response in AGA patients. In the present study, we determined the follicular sulfotransferase enzymatic activity following 14 days of oral aspirin administration. In our cohort of 24 subjects, 50% were initially predicted to be responders to minoxidil. However, following 14 days of aspirin administration, only 27% of the subjects were predicted to respond to topical minoxidil. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report the effect of low-dose daily aspirin use on the efficacy of topical minoxidil.
Keywords: alopecia; aspirin; minoxidil.
I often tell my patients that it takes 1-2 years to maximize the drug finasteride even with the addition of minoxidil. This man had the patients to hold the course.
A recent article here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/article-abstract/2772818 suggests that men under 45 who take finasteride, have a higher risk of suicide than control groups.
We have known that there are some complaints of Central Nervous System problems in a few young me who take finasteride. We need a lot more information than is supplied in this article but I have no doubt that if a man is suicidal, then should stop taking finasteride if they are on the drug. It is interesting to note that suicide is the second most common cause of death in men under 45 and that does not include finasteride. How does this information alter the finding in this paper?
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/robbie-williams-cover-balding-head-22996154.amp
This shows that even celebrities can’t always get it right!
Can a hairline mature unevenly? My hairline hasn’t been totally straight since I was about 14. Every man in my family is sort of Norwood 1.5 or 2, my dad is 60 with Norwood 2 but he is thinning a bit. Nobody except my maternal grandfather has ever gone bald. I’ve really freaked out about my hairline since I noticed it at the beginning of this year. It’s changed very slightly since I was about 14, however it has remained unchanged for about a year. It’s about a norwood 1.5. My forelock is still where it’s always been, which makes my temples look far more receded than they are. One temple seems to be a bit higher than the other, just slightly. Is it possible that the front of my hairline will mature too, making it look less dramatic? Or will this stay the same? I don’t really think it’s MPB, but I’ve had a lot of grief over it. I’d love not to worry about it anymore. I’m 18 by the way!
Yes, hairline maturation can be asymmetrical but eventually it evens out if you give it time.
Minoxidil may be the best approach to the thinning neck hair
I only really have hair loss on my hairline. I was debating whether I should start out with applying minoxidil to my hairline to see if I respond to it and then maybe add in fin after 4-6 months. That way, I have a gauge on whether I should keep using minoxidil or not rather than start both at the same time and never truly know if minoxidil is doing anything for me.
The only possible exception that might make this idea invalid is maybe minoxidil won’t regrow anything but perhaps it will help slow the recession on the hairline especially if you are under 25.
What do you all think of this?
Finasteride is better for early hair line loss
I don’t know as everyone is different. Many people who drop the dose do just as well at half of the dose. With that said, I just saw a man who dropped the dose from 1mg to a half mg and saw hair loss from the drop. The studies that were done in the 1990s indicated that half the dose was 80% as effective on average as the full dose.
I’ve been on finasteride for 3.5 years. Without it l would be fully bald by now (25) and it’s allowed me to keep a good amount of hair. Generally doesn’t look like l am suffering from hair loss. A bit thinner on the top but decent overall thickness.
I’ve had enough of taking the drug. I have come off it several times during those 3.5 years and l feel remarkably better off it. I feel more significantly more virile and energetic. When l take Fin my libido drops, brain is foggier and l just don’t feel as good. My face is rounder and less defined as well.
Are there alternatives to Fin that work?
One of the options is to shave your head and get Scalpmicropigmentation (see: https://scalpmicropigmentation.com) which can take on the appearance of a full head of shaved hair and this can be used as a back-stop in the case the other treatments fail to maintain the full look. Oral minoxidil may work in your situation but you will have to be managed by a good doctor. A hair transplant doesn’t require medications, so there are a few choices available to you. With your reported side effects from finasteride, if I were your doctor, I would advise you to get off of the medication.
Regarding the HAIRCHECK test. It says that you take the permanent area as the base to compare. What if the top of an individual has always been thinner compared to the permanent areas? Then how reliable could you call the test?
I believe that people with fine hair often seem to be thinner on top, but it can be an illusion. I have measured many people with the HAIRCHECK instrument and those that are not balding always have the same readings on the instrument showing no balding present
When I was RAPIDLY balding, I was losing up to 100 hairs a day, mostly in the shower. After finasteride I lose ZERO hair in the shower, and none that is noticable during the day.
Do not use that statistic to think shedding 50-100 hairs in the shower is somehow normal. It is not, and I do not care what this random statistic that is quoted everyday says. If you have this much loss then you need to start treatment ASAP if you want to keep your hair.
Try an experiment, dye one of your long hairs and see if it lasts 3 years. I’l bet you won’t see it in 3 years, or less. All body hairs cycle from a growth stage to a sleep stage and fall out during the sleep phase. We lose about 50-100 hairs a day and replace that number with new hairs each and every day.
Taking finasteride seems to have little effect on recurrence in patients with alopecia who have undergone surgical treatment of gynecomastia. Surgeons may recommend continuous finasteride therapy in patients with alopecia who wish to take finasteride after the surgical treatment of gynecomastia.
I’ve been on fin for about 10 months now, something I’ve noticed is that I’ve literally just been shedding CONSTANTLY the whole time on the drug, like can pull out like 50 or so hairs per day from my top, sides, back if i really bother to, I’ve not really noticed a difference in my hair, maybe the crown has slightly thickened but other than that nothing.
You may be progressing with your balding process and not controlled by finasteride. See a good doctor who knows about this problem.
I’ve noticed my crown has been looking quite thin lately. My hair, otherwise, is very thick – I haven’t noticed any temple recession or hairline receding, it’s just around the crown area. Am I able to apply minoxidil to treat just this one area? Or must I put on entire scalp?
Many people with the genes for balding start off seeing thinning in the crown. Topical minoxidil is the best first line treatment for this. Apply it nightly after a hot shower so your pores open up and only put it where the thinning is in the crown.