If you have experienced male pattern hair loss you have probably at least heard about Finasteride and looked into what results it may give. You have also likely heard about the potential side effects it may cause. Microdosing topical Finasteride may be a solution.
I have personally been trying Finasteride at various doses and solutions to try and find what works best for me in terms of the best regrowth and hair maintenance with the least impact on other bodily functions.
In this article I will break down my current routine of microdosing topical Finasteride and what works best for me based on my previous results, current personal experience, and the science.
If you have more aggressive hair loss microdosing topically is probably not going to be your most effective option. You are trading off a bit of efficacy for a potential reduction in negative side effects.
Microdosing Topical Finasteride
I’ll go over the explanations and data first and then go over my personal experiences and further thoughts on microdosing topical Finasteride near the end of the article.
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Logic behind Microdosing
Many people just take the standard 1 mg oral Finasteride dose daily. This seems to work for most people.
However: there seem to be enough people who struggle with some form of side effects that it may be worth looking into after reading through some of the data.
Based on two studies on Finasteride dosing I read, .2 mg daily is nearly just as effective in reducing serum DHT as 1 mg daily is. There were only slightly lower reductions with .2 mg.
I gathered the data from both studies and organized it here:
Study 1:
Study 2:
It seems to me that .2 mg consistently reached nearly the same amount of serum DHT suppression as well as scalp DHT suppression.
Again .2 mg may be slightly less effective compared to 1 mg, but the majority of the effect I’m aiming for is still there.
This shows me that .2 mg will likely have close to or basically the same amount of maintenance and regrowth that I would’ve experienced with a higher dose given that the serum and scalp results are similar enough.
Logical behind Topical
To be completely transparent, the main reason I choose topical Finasteride is just because I feel as though it makes way more sense for my situation compared to the alternative. There is still what I feel is good evidence on using it topically in regards to avoiding potential negative side effects, and I’ll get into more of my reasoning in the final section. My main thought is that there could be some positive outcomes associated with using a hair loss solution on the scalp itself instead of just nuking DHT from within.
Derek from MPMD has talked about this in-depth here in a video he made.
Two interesting studies from his video:
There is a study on testosterone cream showing that when applied directly to the scrotum, there is a greater disproportionate increase in DHT due to there being more 5AR enzymes directly at the scrotum. This has also been shown to work similarly with topical estradiol and progesterone around the breasts in this study.
Derek comes to the logical conclusion that if you were to target 5AR enzymes on the scalp by using a topical solution on the scalp, you may receive a greater effect on the scalp. I agree with him, it seems logical enough to me.
Aside from that idea – the other studies he reviewed showed that topical and oral resulted in the same level of serum DHT decrease.
New Interesting Study
I thought after Derek’s video and the studies he reviewed I would mostly be done with this topic but I did find one really interesting study that needs to be covered.
It turns out Derek also made a video on this study, I highly recommend watching it as he goes over the study in great depth and explains a ton.
I have seen this study mentioned before in online communities but it gets dismissed a lot for not showing a large enough difference between topical or oral medications. Once you get into it I think some key details may make you look at topical Finasteride differently.
Quick notes:
- The results showed that topical Finasteride decreased serum DHT by 34.5% while oral Finasteride decreased serum DHT by 55.6%.
- There is a much larger patient population being studied here, 323 men across multiple countries fully completed this study.
- The study compares fairly reasonable dosages between oral and topical medication.
To me, this study carries a lot of weight, more so than the other studies previously touched on concerning serum DHT. This is because there was a larger patient volume here, 323 is a large amount to have fully completed the study. More so than the earlier studies mentioned.
On average the patients used around 1-4 sprays of a .114 mg per spray topical solution. They may have used more sprays if recommended by the study doctor. I feel safe to assume each patient in the topical finasteride group got .114 mg to ~.6 mg daily.
The study compared this with 1 mg oral Finasteride as a baseline for serum DHT reduction in terms of oral use. Some may claim this is unfair. Luckily we have data in this post on what .2 mg orally does to serum DHT. If you look at my first few graphs at the beginning of this post we see that .2 mg orally still reduced serum DHT by 61.2% and 68.6% in completely separate dosing studies.
While the topical solution in this study reduced serum DHT by 34.5%. Not an extremely large difference to be fair but something worth thinking about.
Plasma Finasteride was also so much lower with the topical solution.
Study results and conclusion:
So when you combine all of the information we covered I think it can be confidently stated that you can expect around 20-30% more DHT systemically at best and the same DHT reduction at worst with topical Finasteride as well as potentially much less plasma Finasteride.
All of this with nearly the same amount of hair regrowth or stability.
My Thoughts and Experience
Based on everything discussed so far, I think it is fair to say that microdosing topical Finasteride may provide some sort of benefit in regards to a lower systemic exposure with the majority of the benefits in terms of hair regrowth/stability. As you may know, some people experience side effects with Finasteride. Even in terms of those who don’t consciously experience side effects many things like neurosteroid production are likely being altered.
I want to limit the systemic exposure as much as I can while getting the majority of the hair benefits. I also don’t mind applying a topical solution as I can just apply it once in the evening and let it absorb overnight, washing it off in the morning. My main logic is that given that these dosages and topical methods of delivery are at least similar in terms of efficacy. I’m still getting the benefits but I’m potentially and likely getting a fair amount less of systemic exposure.
This is perfect for my situation as I can recover a lot of hair due to the nature of my diffuse thinning. I’m also not trying to do the impossible – I can see some scalp in direct sunlight and notice thin volume but I’m not trying a complete reversal from slick bald requiring heavy medication.
I did try a branded 2.5 mg topical Finasteride previously and while I experienced insane regrowth I also experienced some side effects. Unfortunately, I thought topical would be enough to prevent effects but 2.5 mg is a huge dose no matter the method of delivery. I am now using .25 mg topically and am feeling amazing. I do notice extremely slight breast tissue swelling when I use it but nothing like what I experienced with 2.5 mg. It’s night and day in terms of penile sensation, erectile quality, and mental function.
This was all with baseline levels (before any use) of a slightly high to average testosterone level, high DHT, and exactly middle reference range estrogen-related levels. I’ll probably get my blood retested in a few months to see where exactly all my levels fall personally, including neurosteroids. Just to see how I’m doing internally with this protocol.
I’ll likely make a separate piece of content about my journey and results at the 6-month mark. I have baby hairs coming back in already but I don’t have enough time using it to make a definitive post showing my results. If it goes well I may even consider upping dosages. I could also add in topical minoxidil to get my old density and thickness back (I’m considering minoxidil for the pure thickness and density it’ll give me but I don’t minoxidil for a few reasons).
Sourcing Topical Finasteride
Finding high-quality microdosed topical finasteride from a legal and trusted source is pretty annoying so I thought I would write about what I do to get it as well.
Corporations Selling Topical Finasteride
I think a lot of companies try to portray that topical Finasteride will result in fewer side effects as a selling point. As we saw this very well may be the case but they are then giving you practically a mega dose at 2.5 mg (.25%) daily. It defeats the purpose of selling a product with this in mind and then not at least giving dosing options.
I think they want to advertise lower side effects while giving a large enough dose topically to ensure a positive outcome in terms of hair growth for the majority of customers. I don’t think these goals align personally.
They are also adding Minoxidil to their solutions which makes it harder to dilute your dose and customize it if you don’t want Minoxidil. You also obviously can’t easily dilute a gel solution if that is what you are choosing.
What I do Instead
I found that just getting a liquid finasteride solution and then doing the math to dilute it myself using an ethanol and propylene glycol solution was the easiest method. I can choose the exact dose I want and then apply it topically. If I want to increase the dose a bit I can use the product more in terms of days used, increase the dose as precisely as I need, etc.
The main issue I’ve personally come across is sourcing topical Finasteride. No legitimate, verifiable, trusted, places sell .025% topical Finasteride as far as I can tell. It’s also hard to find Finasteride in a solution by itself. Many telehealth companies and compounding pharmacies combine it with Minoxidil, offer it in a gel format so you cannot dilute it, etc.
There are a few sellers who offer pure topical Finasteride but given they aren’t licensed companies offering telehealth services it’s hard to verify the quality and therefore safety of any products they provide. The only solution I have found is to purchase a high-quality topical Finasteride solution at a higher strength (.25%) from a telemedicine company and then dilute it down myself as I mentioned. This ensures I have at least a legitimate source of Finasteride and I’m not just relying on pure chance that I’m getting what I need.
I take 3 ml from a 30 ml .25% solution (1 ml is 2.5 mg) add 27 ml of my carrier solution (alcohol/pg solution), and create my mix of a high-quality trusted topical finasteride solution offering .25 mg per 1 ml. The Calculator I Use For Diluting My Topical Solution
You can also make your own topical Finasteride solution by crushing the actual Finasteride tablets. However, this means you get leftover nonessential ingredients from the tablets mixed into your solution. I’m not a chemist but I don’t think crushing pills is optimal if you can just dilute down a topical solution.
Just be sure to check your math very carefully if you pursue either of these steps.
Final Thoughts
Overall I think microdosing topical Finasteride could be a great thing to try if you are like me and are a bit sensitive to a larger dose of Finasteride or are hesitant to take it orally. Psychologically it also may just feel much better to be using something topically.
I think given the evidence it’s hard to dispute that there may be some benefits for those who want the majority of the positive impacts in terms of hair with a lower systemic load on the body.
As always no matter what you choose to do, good luck!
Sources:
Dosage Study #1, Dosage Study #2
Progesterone via Skin, Scrotal Skin Pharmacokinetics
Review of Topical Finasteride, Final Study (My favorite)