Would Minoxidil Help Regrow My Crown if Finasteride Hasn’t Worked There That Well?

Dr. Rassman,

I appreciate your blog. I’m a 24-year-old male who started experiencing thinning and hair loss on my crown shortly before my 20th birthday. I started taking finasteride after my 22nd birthday and experienced fantastic results. However, I still have a somewhat large area on my crown that is much thinner than the surrounding areas.

I am considering using minoxidil on my crown, as minoxidil is supposed to be very effective in that area. I am wondering if, after being on finasteride for two years, there is any chance that minoxidil would be effective? I understand that the two drugs target different hairs (i.e. hair regrown using finasteride doesn’t preserve hair regrown using minoxidil, and vice-versa), but after four years of thinning, would minoxidil show any decent statistical chance of working for someone in my situation?

Finasteride plus minoxidil works better in the crown than finasteride alone in some people. My advice has always been to to start on the finasteride first (with a doctor’s prescription) and if after a reasonable time there is a poor response in the crown, then add minoxidil treatment to see if there’s an added boost to your hair growth plans.

For financial and time reasons, it makes sense to just start with one medication in case that accomplishes what you want it to, rather than committing to multiple lifetime medications from the start.