Hello Dr Rassman,
I have been a long time reader of your site, and find your advice highly useful.
My question is: I am a 24 year old male. I am not suffering from any noticable hair loss (I think), but my younger brother is. I also have alot of body hair, esp on the shoulders and the back. Would propecia be useful as a proventitive measure, and slow down the growth of unwanted body hair as it is linked to DHT.
Regards
Propecia (finasteride 1mg) is not documented as a way to slow down body hair growth. This is your genetics working in its full glory. With that said, a couple of patients have reported to me a decrease in body hair with the drug.
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The problem with propecia is since you take it orally, there is now way of knowing which follilces will be affected. You may lose body hair, or you may lose scalp hair.You could do this, remove from the follicles or shave real close all the hair you wish to remove. The apply an anti-androgen such as saw palmetto.I am presently using a mixture of Tagamet and alcohol. I put the pills in a 16 oz bottle and shake well.I have also used Spiro, but it is much more expensive.The reason I do it is,the more body and face hair I stop from growing, the more my scalp hair regrows. Ernie