Reflecting on Your Progress with Finasteride

How do you know for sure if a medication is working? It sometimes takes a lot of patience, even though we understand the feeling of wanting to see results overnight.

Monitoring your progress as you take the medication is a good measure of how well your treatment is working, so let’s take a look at what you can expect to see before and after commencing Finasteride treatment.

Before Taking Finasteride

The chances are that if you’ve got in touch with Sons, you have worries about the state of your hair. Maybe you’ve noticed your hairline has receded significantly or perhaps you’ve seen more hairs on your pillow or shower floor than usual. 

It might be because your hair has significantly thinned and you can see a lot more of your scalp than you remember when under a bright light or have a close-up photo of your scalp taken.

It can sometimes be hard to ascertain whether your hair is, in fact, being lost; but have you noticed your scalp feels hotter than before under the sun? Maybe your crown isn’t as thick as it used to be, or you could’ve sworn your hairline wasn’t as far back up your temples as it is now.?

Whatever the case is, you can should take some ‘before’ pictures before you start your Finasteride treatment, so you have a point of reference for the starting point. You can refer back to this photo every month or so of your hair loss journey, to see how well you are responding to the treatment, and the progress you have made. You should take this photo in good lighting, or even better, ask a friend or family member to help you.

After Taking Finasteride

The first signs of progress can be visible after 3-6 months of consistent use, which means you might notice your hair is looking slightly thicker than before, and you’re noticing less shedding than before you started. After 6-12 months of using the medication daily, the results should be more evident, and you should have a good idea how the treatment is working for you. By the 12-month mark, you should ideally have the same amount of hair on your head, if not more, as when you started the treatment. This is why it is important to start the treatment as soon as possible once you notice early signs of thinning, as Finasteride is effective in 90% of men at preventing further loss or even improving hair density, so beginning early will help you preserve as much hair as possible. Remember, Finasteride must be taken daily long-term to maintain the progress you have seen – discontinuing use will mean the hair loss will kick in again.

We recommend taking progress photos each month of your journey, so you have an objective reference for how the treatment is working for you.

Take our free consultation for hair loss treatment recommendations.

All of our blog articles are reviewed for medical accuracy by our Medical Director before publication.

Posted in: All, Finasteride, Hair loss