SMP & topical finasteride questions

I came across a paper of yours with combining SMP and FUE. I think it’s a remarkable idea and it’s something I’m interested in doing. I had an FUE transplant completed with HLC last September (5 months ago). Do you know when is the earliest I could safely do SMP for both the recipient and donor areas? I would like to cover up the FUE scars and also an FUT strip from a much earlier surgery. I saw in one of your posts that you could do SMP 5-7 months following an FUE but I just wanted to confirm this with you. My clinic also told me after 5 months would be OK.

Also, I take oral finasteride, 1mg per day, and have been for a few years. It works well for me, I think, but I suspect I have some minor side effects, though it is hard to tell if it’s just a nocebo effect or from the medication. In Canada, a pharmacist developed a topical solution of 0.1% finasteride, 5% minoxidil. It’s a foam, which is appealing, as it has no PG. I went through some of the research and it seems that topical can be comparable to oral in terms of efficacy. Is the science on topical finasteride sound, in your opinion?

With regard to SMP, when the inflammation of the surgery is gone, then SMP can be done.  The surgeon will make that call but 5-7 months is reasonable.  With regard to topical finasteride, there is a big difference between the liposomal compounded version and what you are talking about.  The liposomal version keeps it in the skin while more leakage occurs with other formulations.