Even though minoxidil has received Food and Drug Administration approval and is considered to be one of the most effective and also safest hair loss treatments currently on the market, there are some consumers for whom the drug is simply not working. The results they see – if any – are so negligible that the continued expense of purchasing minoxidil containing substances is cost prohibitive and borderline wasteful. This will lead some to contemplate other options which have also shown some good results but which are also implicated as being somewhat risky.
Take for example Propecia, which is widely marketed for hair loss treatment in men. Its primary active ingredient is finasteride, a chemical compound that was originally tested for its effectiveness in the treatment for prostate cancer. Thus it is not surprising to find this ingredient in a plethora of prostate affecting drugs, such as Finax, Gefina, Prosteride, and Proscar. When it became known that one of the experienced side effects men reported who were taking this drug dealt with hair growth and in some cases re-growth, it was only a matter of time until the substance would be marketed for the use as a hair loss treatment
Should you consider treating hair loss with potentially dangerous substances even if this might mean that you could avoid hair transplantation and end your odyssey for a useful hair loss alternative that might have already cost you a good bit of money? While only you and your doctor can answer that question for sure, it is noteworthy that anyone who has substantial hair loss or is already bald will not find that finasteride is the panacea they might have hoped for. Thus far, it appears to work best in men who are experiencing moderate hair loss.
Yet even if you fall into the category of consumers who appear to be target audience, keep in mind that some of the side effects are so severe as to have men hesitating. Interestingly, these side effects do not necessarily affect the men taking the pills but the women of childbearing age living in their homes with them. You see, Propecia is known to cause severe birth defects, even if the pills are only touched by a woman currently pregnant. The speed with which the substance is absorbed by the skin is surprising and the far reaching consequences that having such a potentially ticking time bomb in the home may have is too much responsibility for some men to shoulder, and even though they are promised a re-growth of hair around the crown of the head and a halting of the receding hairline, they will opt to not ask for the prescription.
Of course, other side effects commonly associated with prostate cancer drugs – namely erectile dysfunction – are also causing some pause to men who thus far might have been ambivalent about the use of finasteride or other similar chemicals. Treating hair loss with such a dangerous substance has been a decision that many a man has declined to make and instead some have taken to embrace their approaching baldness while others are shopping the Internet for other hair loss remedies and hair treatment systems.
