Finasteride for Hair Loss: What the Label Actually Covers

Key Takeaways

• Finasteride can help men with male pattern hair loss keep more of the hair they have.
• In two-year studies of the approved tablet, most men kept the same number of hairs or more in the area counted, and many showed more hair growth in photos.
• It works by lowering DHT, a hormone linked to male pattern hair loss.
• It comes as a daily tablet, and some prescriptions combine it with minoxidil.
• Your provider chooses the form that fits you and checks your progress with you before each refill.

Seeing more scalp at your crown than you used to is common. MedlinePlus Genetics estimates that pattern hair loss affects 50 million men in the United States. More than half of men over 50 have some degree of it. If you want to keep the hair you have, finasteride is one of the treatments your provider may explore with you.

How Can Finasteride Help With Hair Loss?

It can help you keep more of the hair you have by lowering DHT, a hormone tied to male pattern hair loss. Your body makes DHT from testosterone with the help of an enzyme, and balding scalp holds more DHT than scalp where hair is full.

Finasteride blocks that enzyme. The Propecia prescribing information says it lowers DHT in the scalp and the blood, and that this interrupts a key factor in male pattern hair loss for men who are prone to it.

What Results Can Look Like

In the studies behind Propecia, the approved finasteride tablet, men with thinning at the crown who took it daily for two years showed these results:

• More hair in photos: 66% of men showed more hair growth when an independent panel rated their photos.
• Hair count held or grew: 83% of men had the same number of hairs or more, based on counts in one scalp area.

Some prescriptions pair finasteride with minoxidil. In a 12-month study, 94.1% of men using oral finasteride with topical minoxidil showed improvement. In a 24-week study, 88.9% of men using a topical solution of minoxidil and finasteride showed improved hair growth in photos. Hair responds at its own pace, so your provider reviews your progress with you along the way.

Tablet or Topical: What's the Difference?

Finasteride tablet: A pill you take once a day. Propecia is the approved tablet.

Topical finasteride: A liquid you apply to your scalp. It's compounded, meaning a licensed pharmacy mixes it for one patient, based on a valid prescription. It's often combined with other ingredients, such as minoxidil, in one application.

LIV offers finasteride tablets, on their own or alongside a minoxidil dropper, and a compounded scalp formula that combines finasteride with minoxidil and tretinoin. Tretinoin is included to help absorption. Your prescription tells you exactly which medicine you have and how to use it.

Get started with finasteride

How Your Provider Builds Your Plan

It starts with a telehealth visit where you talk about your health history and what you want for your hair. From there, a licensed provider decides whether finasteride is right for you, and in which form.

If it is, your provider chooses your dose and how much medicine to prescribe, and your prescription comes with instructions for use. Before each refill, you tell us how you're doing, and your provider reviews your progress and adjusts your plan if needed. You can reach your care team between refills too.

Check with your provider before you stop, restart or switch between a tablet and a topical, so every change fits your plan.

Side Effects to Know About

The side effects the label lists most often are sexual: lower sex drive, trouble getting an erection and problems with ejaculation. A topical can also irritate the scalp, with redness, dryness, stinging or burning. Tell your provider about any change you notice, and let the clinician ordering a PSA test know you take finasteride.

Questions to Bring to Your Visit

You might ask:

• Would a tablet, a topical or a combination suit me?
• How will we track whether it's working?

When you're ready, finasteride starts with an evaluation, where a licensed provider helps you choose your next step.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is finasteride FDA-approved for hair loss?

Yes, as a tablet. The Propecia label says it's approved to treat male pattern hair loss in men only, and that it isn't for use in women.

There's no FDA-approved topical finasteride, alone or combined with other ingredients. Topical finasteride is compounded, and compounded medicines aren't FDA-approved, which means the FDA hasn't evaluated their safety, effectiveness or quality before they're marketed. A compounded topical doesn't come with FDA-approved labeling of its own, so follow your prescription and the pharmacy's instructions.

Where do the hair results come from?

From the Propecia prescribing information, Clinical Studies. Two studies enrolled 1,553 men ages 18 to 41 with mild to moderate hair loss mostly at the crown, and 1,215 continued into a second year. The 66% figure is an independent panel's rating of standardized photos (7% on placebo), not a 66% increase in hair count.

The 83% figure is the share of men whose hair count didn't go down at two years (100% minus the 17% who had a decrease; 72% on placebo had a decrease). Hairs were counted in a 1-inch circle at the crown, not the whole head. Both results are for the approved 1 mg tablet taken daily, not a topical, and the studied dose isn't a dosing instruction. Results need continued treatment and vary: men who switched to placebo after the first year no longer had their hair-count gain 12 months later.

What did studies of finasteride with minoxidil find?

In the Hu et al. study (2015), 160 Chinese men were assigned to oral finasteride 1 mg daily plus topical 5% minoxidil, and 152 were evaluated at 12 months. 94.1% showed improvement, compared with 80.5% on finasteride alone and 59% on minoxidil alone. That was a two-product regimen, not a test of a compounded topical blend.

In the Sheikh et al. study (2015), a randomized, open-label trial, adult men applied a lipid solution of 5% minoxidil and 0.1% finasteride, 1 mL twice daily, for 24 weeks. By photo assessment, 88.9% had slightly, moderately or greatly increased growth, compared with 60.0% using minoxidil alone. That studied formulation isn't every compounded strength or base, including LIV's, and study doses aren't dosing instructions.

What should I know about topical finasteride?

It contains the same active ingredient as the tablet, and the FDA expects it to be absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream. In April 2025 the FDA shared 32 adverse event reports involving compounded topical finasteride, received between 2019 and 2024. The effects described were similar to those reported with the approved tablets, and most reports said they continued after the product was stopped.

A topical can also cause scalp irritation, redness, dryness, stinging or burning. Because it has no tablet coating, the FDA notes a greater chance of it transferring to other people, especially women. The FDA recommends that providers talk with patients about these risks, so bring any questions to your provider.

Who shouldn't take finasteride?

It's for men only. The label says it isn't for women who are or may become pregnant, because it may cause abnormalities of the genitals of a male fetus, or for anyone allergic to any of its ingredients.

Women who are pregnant or may become pregnant shouldn't handle crushed or broken tablets. Intact tablets are coated, which keeps the medicine off the skin during normal handling. With a topical, take care to keep it from touching other people.

Does finasteride change a PSA test?

Yes. Finasteride lowers PSA, a blood test used to check the prostate, so tell the clinician ordering your test that you take it. The label says any confirmed rise from your lowest PSA while on it should be checked, even within the normal range, and that not taking it consistently can also affect results.

The label also carries a warning about high-grade prostate cancer for 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, the drug class finasteride belongs to. In a seven-year prevention trial of the higher-strength tablet, Proscar, high-grade prostate cancer was found in 1.8% of men 55 and older, compared with 1.1% on placebo.

What side effects does the label list?

The most common are lower sex drive, trouble getting an erection and problems with ejaculation. In the label studies, each was reported by at least 1% of men taking finasteride and more often than with placebo: 1.8%, 1.3% and 1.2% in the first year, compared with 1.3%, 0.7% and 0.7% on placebo.

Don't assume symptoms will stop when treatment ends. Discuss these risks with your provider, and tell them about any change you notice.

Does the tablet work on a receding hairline?

Its effect at the temples hasn't been established. The label covers male pattern hair loss, and its studies counted hair at the crown and the front-middle of the scalp, not the temples or the front hairline.

References

Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). 21 U.S. Code § 353a: Pharmacy compounding. Legal Information Institute. Read August 11, 2026. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21/353a

Hu, R., Xu, F., Sheng, Y., Qi, S., Han, Y., Miao, Y., Rui, W., & Yang, Q. (2015). Combined treatment with oral finasteride and topical minoxidil in male androgenetic alopecia: A randomized and comparative study in Chinese patients. Dermatologic Therapy, 28(5), 303-308. Read October 1, 2026. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26031764/

National Library of Medicine. (n.d.). Androgenetic alopecia. MedlinePlus Genetics. Read October 1, 2026. https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/androgenetic-alopecia/

Organon LLC. (2024). PROPECIA (finasteride) tablets, film coated, for oral use: Prescribing information. DailyMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Label effective October 14, 2024; read October 1, 2026. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=6f904709-65aa-44ce-b144-b4c8a0416e36

Organon LLC. (2026). PROSCAR (finasteride) tablets, film coated, for oral use: Prescribing information. DailyMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Label effective March 18, 2026; read August 11, 2026. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=6f988153-fc74-4ca4-b29a-111f750c4a4b

Sheikh, S., Ahmad, A., Ali, S. M., Ahmad, M. U., Paithankar, M., Saptarshi, D., et al. (2015). A new topical formulation of minoxidil and finasteride improves hair growth in men with androgenetic alopecia. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Dermatology Research, 6(1), 253. doi:10.4172/2155-9554.1000253. Read October 1, 2026. https://hassonandwong.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Sheikh-S-Minox-plus-finasteride-topical.pdf

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2025). FDA alerts health care providers, compounders and consumers of potential risks associated with compounded topical finasteride products. Compounding Risk Alerts. Content current as of April 22, 2025; read October 1, 2026. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/fda-alerts-health-care-providers-compounders-and-consumers-potential-risks-associated-compounded