A Brief Guide to Hair Loss Treatment:
There are two main effective drugs for preventing hair loss, finasteride and minoxidil.
Finasteride
Description:This suppresses the hormone responsible for causing hair loss, and is the more effective of the two.
Recommended Dosage: 1 mg/day.
Pill: Finasteride comes in two dosages, 1 mg and 5 mg. The 1 mg version is known as Propecia, and is used to prevent male hair loss. The 5 mg version is known as Proscar, and is used to treat enlargement of the prostate gland. However, besides the different amounts of finasteride, there is no difference between them.
Cost: ~$70 a month for Propecia, and $2 a month using generic Proscar. Proscar is much cheaper because it is generic, and because the pills are traditionally cut up into quarters, with four quarters taken every five days. This works because the hormone suppressant effect of finasteride lasts a few days, so skipping a day doesn't hurt.
Target charges $9 for 30 generic Proscar 5mg pills, thus $9 for 5 months = ~$2/month.
Side Effects: 1% of men in their 20s experience a loss of libido. It may be as high as 2-3% of men in their 30s. Side effects may increase when taking the quarter, 1.25mg pills, but the difference is probably very small, and the pill quartering practice is very common.
Minoxidil
Description:This is a topical that promotes retention of the hair.
Recommended Dosage: Topical application twice a day to spots experiencing hair loss.
Vendor: Minoxidil comes in two forms, liquid and foam. The foam is supposed to be easier to apply without itchy side effects, but is still under a Rogaine patent, so it costs more.
Cost: ~$15 a month for
Rogaine foam minoxidil, and $5 a month for
liquid minoxidil.
Side Effects: Itchy scalp for the liquid version.
This is by no means exhaustive; there are probably other side effects as well, but this is what I came up with off the top of my head. I saw a dermatologist recently, and he recommended taking both if I wanted the maximum effect, though he said I could apply minoxidil just once a day. If I did that plus the proscar, I would spend a grand total of ~$10 a month.
You may not respond to minoxidil, finasteride or both. Finasteride tends to be more successful. The use of both are frequently recommended.
These treatments are much better at preserving your hair than regrowing it. A lot of guys I see interested in it have lost so much hair that I would probably shave it if I were them. As always, decide what's best for you.
Personally, I think it's perfectly fine for a man to attend to his appearance, so long as it's rooted in reality - that is, it actually makes a difference, and not doing the male equivalent of a manicure, something that doesn't enhance his attractiveness. We're told that only women need to care about their appearance, which is bullshit, of course. If you had a really big nose, and
know that your appearance would benefit significantly from rhinoplasty, don't let people shame you into thinking you're gay or unmanly for considering it. Either way, avoid obsessing over yourself or letting it bother you.
