Hair Loss Medication For Women

Most physicians are reluctant to prescribed systemic treatments for female patients of baldness as drugs that are usually used for male patients alter the normal androgen level in the female body. Due to this, topical treatments are usually prescribed.

Treatments are best used right after the onset of the hair loss because prolonged delay could cause so many of the hair follicles to become weak, thus unable to support the needs of the hair strands. However, even after prolonged androgenic alopecia, the use of anti-androgens could still prove to be effective by promoting minimal hair growth and further prevention of hair loss but this effect is limited only to those hair follicles that have remained dormant.

Topical treatments for hair loss among women include Minoxidil which works by stimulating the hair follicles to create similar effects as with those occurring among men who are undergoing systemic treatment. But since the amount of topical Minoxidil is very minimal, the side effects that could be derived due to imbalances of the normal androgen level in the female body are too small.

Another method of preventing hair loss among women is by using androgen receptor inhibitors such as Aldactone, Cimetidine, Cyproterone Acetate, hormone replacement therapy, Ketoconazole, oral contraceptives, and even Propecia.

Aldactone is a water pill which works by reducing the amount of fluid in the body without having to reduce its potassium level. It slows down the androgens found in the ovaries and adrenal glands. Cimetidine, on the other hand, is a histamine blocker and Cyproterone Acetate is used to treat hirsuitism among women. All these work by blocking the shrinking of the hair follicles by preventing the DHT from binding its receptor sites found in the human scalp.

It is important to note that while on a hair loss treatment, all instructions and actual prescriptions by the doctors are followed. Misuse, stoppage of use and overuse might only lead to adverse conditions that could sometimes be irreversible.