How I Beat Hair Loss and Baldness Spending 12.5 € per Month
This article is part of a series titled “1% Better”, where I share little changes I made in my professional and personal life that make it a bit better every day.
(Disclaimer: I am NOT a medical doctor nor does this article represent medical advice. It is merely an account of my personal experience. If you intend doing any of the things mentioned here, you should do it under the advice and supervision of an MD.)
By the time I was 25, I was well on my way to being bald.
It was to be expected, as most men in my father’s family had the same issue. They all started relatively young, with the same pattern of receding hairline that inevitably results in baldness.
Not that it was something that bothered me a lot per se, I liked seeing myself with the clean-shaven haircut I wore and it even was quite practical. But it bothered me a little, especially because I like changing the way I look often and had worn some variation of long hair most of my young adult life.
So I decided to do what I have done my entire life. Research. Learn. Solve. Implement.
The Problem
It is called Androgenetic Alopecia or Male Pattern Hair-loss.
Fundamentally, it’s a genetic sensitivity of the hair follicles to androgens, hormones that, well, make us males. Men with androgenic alopecia typically have higher 5-alpha-reductase, higher total testosterone, higher unbound/free testosterone, and higher free androgens, including dihydrotestosterone (DHT). This last one, DHT, seems to have a particular influence in the activity of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) at the dermal papillae. Which results in the hair-follicles going dormant.
And that means no new hair.
This problem affects 30% of white men under 30, increasing to around 80% of men over 70, occurring less in black and later in life for Asian men. So I was hardly an exception.
The Research
Researching solutions for hair loss is like walking a mine-field. With only one eye open.
For each reliable, peer-reviewed scientific source there are at least 50 articles, magazine features or sales sites promising to solve hair-loss with some ages-old ointment used by the Incas that can be yours for 29,99 only if you buy now. So a lot of facts and sources checking is required to attain any trustworthy information.
The result of my research was that there are two credible tools available in the hair loss toolbox at the moment: Finasteride and Minoxidil.
Finasteride is a molecule initially developed for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), a prostate enlargement that affects mostly men over 40. They have found that it had a regulatory effect on DHT and that, alas, it stops the hormonal hair loss process on its tracks, requiring a lower dosage than what is used for BPH (1mg vs 5mg per day). It is taken orally, as a small pill, and although it has some side-effects, such as reduced libido, these usually fade away with continued use.
Minoxidil, on the other hand, does not affect the hormonal hair loss process and the mechanism by which it works is not fully understood. It is a potassium channel opener, which theoretically works by widening blood vessels and opening potassium channels, allowing more oxygen, blood, and nutrients to flow to the hair follicles. But it works, especially in cases where hair loss has been a problem for less than 5 years. It is sold as a solution (5%) which is applied directly on the scalp.
My Experience
After I had read enough, I reached out to a dermatologist specialised in hair loss and established with him a protocol that would be sensible.
I now take 1.25mg of Finasteride every other day. It has been proven that given the long metabolism of Finasteride, that guarantees most of the effect while reducing side-effects. The reason why I take exactly 1.25mg is that for cost reasons I purchase pills for BPH, which come in 5mg doses, which I cut in 4. This allows me to use a single 90-pill box, which costs around 12€, for around 2 years of continued use, which amounts to 0.5€ per month.
I apply Minoxidil, at 5% dilution, once per day. Exactly 7 drops spread around the top of my scalp. For the first 6 months, I applied it twice per day until I regained hair density, but now I use it just to keep what I have. This costs around 7.5€ per month for the 60ml of solution I use.
Finally, as there is little point in having a nutrient highway for your follicles provided by Minoxidil if you don’t have any nutrients to carry in the first place, I supplement daily with a multivitamin, that I take every other month, which on average costs around 4.5€ per month.
The Results
The results don’t come overnight. I started using Finasteride first, which took around 3 months of continued use to stop my hair loss and about one year to show any improvement, and the new hair was rather thin and fickle.
When I started also using Minoxidil plus vitamins, I saw a very noticeable difference after 6 weeks of use. My hair looked stronger and I could see new hair growth in areas where I hadn’t seen any for years.
As to the side effects, I did feel a reduction in libido for a couple of weeks when I started taking Finasteride, but now it is not noticeable. Minoxidil can sometimes dry on your scalp in the form of a layer that may resemble dandruff, which I solve by applying it at night before going to sleep and then washing my head in the morning.
The result is that now I have long, healthy and strong hair. Anyone that hasn’t known me long enough would never say I was once almost bald.
All it takes from me now is taking two pills and applying 7 drops on my scalp before going to bed. Literally, 10 seconds per day and 12.5€ per month.
Well worth it!
