Am I too young to start finasteride?

At 20 years old, am I too young to start finasteride?

I’ve selected this question below for this week’s question of the week. It allows us to review some concepts regarding topical and oral finasteride

Question

I am a 20 year old male and have been on topical minoxidil for 1 year with okay results. I would like to add topical finasteride. Am I too young?

Answer

Finasteride is FDA approved for age 18-39 so you fit within the formal age range that the medication has been studied. There are contraindications to finasteride and some patients are never good candidates so you and your doctor will want to work through all those to see if you have reasons that make finasteride a poor choice in your case.

Provided you understand the risks and benefits and all the alternatives that exist and provided you have reviewed your hair loss issues in detail with a physician and had the scalp properly examined … then age 20 may not be too early to start another treatment. As mentioned, oral finasteride is approved for males 18-39. Topical finasteride is not FDA approved but is used off label in many countries around the world.

If you are not sure where to get “topical” finasteride it might be a reflection that you have not spoken with physicians who are knowledgeable about topical finasteride in your country. Topical finasteride appears to have a better safety profile than oral finasteride and may have good efficacy. Of course, good studies of topical finasteride compared to oral finasteride are still pretty rare. But the one good one that has been done (see link above) suggest similar side effects to placebo and reduced side effects compared to oral.

It’s never too early to put a solid treatment plan in place for patients with male pattern hair loss especially when you have staggered treatments like you have done and now have good evidence that the first treatment used was helpful.

I would urge you to sit down with an expert and review all options and whether or not it is appropriate to start off label topical finasteride in your country.