Is Topical spironolactone really that safe?

[helpmyhair]

There are alot of claims that topical spironolactone is side-effect free, whereas oral spironolactone can easily cause sexual dysfunction, gyno, etc.

How can we be so sure that topical spironolactone has absolutely no systemic absorption?

Anyone out there that has been using topical spironolactone for a long time? please chime in.

 

[Fundi]

Although I've only used it over a month....no sides what so ever, no matter how much I put on. Not even so much as some scalp irritation.

 

[Bryan]

How can we be so sure that topical spironolactone has absolutely no systemic absorption?

None of the animal studies with topical spironolactone have shown any systemic absorption, and none of the humans ones have, either. In fact, one of the human studies involved covering fully HALF of the total body surface area (!!) with topical spironolactone, and there were no problems with systemic absorption.

 

[treadstone]

How does such a study even make it past the IRB? rofl

 

[Rework24]

Was that study based on minoxidil.com's cream version of 5% spironolactone?

I'm on day 4 of 5% spironolactone. Have taken some base pics and just gonna get my head down for 3 months and forget about my hairline, then review things

 

[decro435]

If you spread spironolactone 5% cream on most of their head(excl. back) at night and in the morning shouldn't you nearly completely stop male pattern baldness and it would be side-effect free?

Since it inhibits the synthesis of DHT, (2) converts testosterone in the scalp to estrogen, and (3) blocks the androgen receptor sites on the hair follicles.

All you need is a thin film of spironolactone which at most would succumb to about €280 a year when applied both at night and in the morning. ( 1 tub per month). The only problem is shaving your head for optimum absorption and easy application. This in my case does not look good at all, but for some can look okay.

Now incorporate .5mg Finasteride into that regimen and you are also blocking DHT. For me using .5mg finasteride prevents me from getting side effects as I do with 1mg.

-spironolactone 5% cream at night/morning.
-.5mg Finasteride daily.
-Nizoral 2% shampoo very 3 days.


Byran, tell me why this would/wouldn't halt male pattern baldness even in the most aggressive sufferers without the side effects.

 

[$tackz]

No because you have to look at the strength of the anti-androgen, in which spironolactone is very...very weak. It's generally well accepted that spironolactone is not effective for hairloss in anyway. Look at the facts! There has not been 1 single success story in which spironolactone was used by itself and the person has gotten good results, yet there are countless "unsuccessful" stories to prove the opposite. People who get good results that use spironolactone cream are always on something else, either finasteride or minoxidil. There is no evidence that spironolactone is effective alone or even if it helps in conjunction with other male pattern baldness treatments.

Lasers are still probably the least effective hairloss treatment on the market today though. :innocent:

 

[decro435]

Stacks , it is hard to find results for spironolactone for the following reaons:

1.It isn't widely used.

2.Because spironolactone does not cause regrowth or shedding , it maintains and therefore people don't see any results. To me maintaining would be a huge result.

3.People who have the will to go and use spironolactone will usually have/are using minoxidil/finasteride and will credit the results with either of those and not with spironolactone because it's least popular

Is spironolactone 5% really a weak anti-androgen? Because I know oral spironolactone is very potent.
Who says it is generally accepted that spironolactone isn't effective for hair loss?

The only way to find out if it works or not is to get someone with aggressive male pattern baldness and have them apply it twice a day. If the hair loss slows down then it works.

 

[treadstone]

From what I've read spironolactone is about half as strong as RU58841... so spironolactone is certainly the best topical antiandrogen out there that is readily available without having to jump through hoops.

 

[Jake_89]

WTF is the point of spironolactone when you have to shave your head to apply it properly so it works. If I wanted to shave my head I wouldn't bother with stupid creams..

 

[treadstone]

Does anyone know what the half-life of topical spironolactone is?

 

[decro435]

Shave your hair down to about 1cm should be enough..