If you are losing your hair, you may be wondering whether to use Propecia or not. Propecia is a drug used to treat hair loss, but it can have some serious side effects, particularly for pregnant women. Propecia will cause birth defects in unborn fetuses and women are told not even to handle the tables so that it does not become absorbed through the skin when they are pregnant. There also appears to be some evidence that it is not effective on post-menopausal women. However, for men it is still a tool in the arsenal against hair loss. The product has been shown to work approximately for half of the men, who use it, but use must be continued long-term or the hair loss comes back.
For Women
So, if you are a woman does it mean you can no longer use drugs for your hair loss? Propecia is not recommended for women, but there are other alternatives that can be used by women, like Minoxidil, which comes in a 2 or 5% solution. It is used to treat the hereditary form of hair loss called alopecia. Only 1 in 4 women will potentially have alopecia and the hair loss is usually throughout the entire scalp and not located in any specific area. This makes it easier to disguise with scarves or headbands.
There are other reasons besides heredity that can cause hair loss in women. A woman experiencing hair loss needs to get a full blood hormonal checkup. If she also experiences hirsutism in other parts of her body, she may have a condition called Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), which needs to be treated.
For Men
Men can also be treated with Minoxidil and Propecia. They are both shown to be very effective treatments for stopping and re-growing hair. Propecia appears to work much better in men than Minoxidil, which is probably why it is still prescribed. Although hair loss is devastating for both sexes, it is more socially acceptable and prevalent in men than in women. For most men it is not an indication of poor health or disease. It’s estimated about 50% of men experience some hereditary hair loss by the time they are 50.
Hair Loss Due To Other Causes
If you are taking other medication and experience hair loss, it might be due to that medication. You should talk to your doctor if the hair loss appears suddenly. Some shampoos can also be harder on the hair than others. Seek to find natural shampoos without sodium laurel sulfate as an ingredient. These shampoos are suspected of causing hair loss in some cases. Make sure that your diet is adequate to support good hair growth with plenty of vitamin B and biotin. Finally, hair loss can be caused by excessive stress. If your hair starts to fall out after a major stress, you can expect it to grow back in after about three month’s time. If the stress does not continue, the hair loss should abate too.