How Effective is Propecia?Posted by doctorwong on June 10th, 2010
How effective is propecia in halting hair loss if taken early in the process? Will it stop working after a certain number of years or does it usually stop all hair loss in the crown and mid scalp areas once the patient has started taking it? If I am on propecia to maintain my mid scalp and crown, but have already lost my temples and frontal regions of hair, is a transplant possible or is there to much of a risk that I will lose hair in the other areas if the propecia losses its potency? — M.
Propecia is very effective in halting hair loss if started early in the process. We have many patients who have been taking it for over a decade with no noticeable decline in effectiveness. We do not expect that one day the medication will all of a sudden stop working. If you are taking Propecia and it has effectively stopped or slowed the hair loss in the mid scalp and crown it should continue to do so indefinitely. To what degree your frontal zone and temples can be restored will also depend on your donor area and final hair loss pattern. In almost all cases if the patient is a surgical candidate, it is safe to restore the front and let the medication work on the mid scalp and crown.
— Jerry Wong, MD
