Difference Between Finasteride 1mg and 5mg. In your search for a solution to hair loss, you may have discovered two DHT blockers that are clinically proven, non-surgically, to help stop hair loss: Finasteride and Minoxidil. Doing more research, you may have noticed that Finasteride comes in two doses – 1mg and 5mg.
Going by the principle that more is better, you may naturally think that the 5mg dose is the wiser choice. Your hair will be stronger without falling out and it will stimulate more hair growth than 1mg! With this logic in mind, you may assume you will end up with more hair than before. After all, it’s five times as potent, right?
Well, NO. We’ve spoken to Evolved Clinics Trichologist and Surgical Director, Paul Green, and that’s not what his view is.
“Clinical studies with dose ranges show that 1mg of Finasteride is as good as 5mg of Finasteride, so there’s no reason to prescribe higher doses.”
In other words, 1mg of Finasteride is adequate. Finasteride 5mg will not help you treat male pattern baldness any better than 1 mg.
Now you may wonder, “Then why does Finasteride 5mg still exist?” Because while Finasteride 5mg is not needed to treat androgenetic alopecia, it is very effective in treating another condition in men.
According to Paul, “1mg Finasteride is approved for Male Pattern Baldness and 5mg Finasteride is approved for benign prostatic hyperplasia, an enlarged prostate. In fact, Finasteride was originally developed to treat enlarged prostate and prostate cancer, not hair loss. It wasn’t officially approved to stop hair loss in men until 1997, five years after the FDA approved it for benign prostatic hyperplasia.”
So in conclusion, 5mg of Finasteride was no more effective than 1mg of Finasteride in the treatment of male pattern baldness.
When it comes to stopping hair loss and inducing hair regrowth, 1mg dose is enough.
Of course, if you want to use finasteride or minoxidil for hair loss, talk to your hair loss specialist first. In fact, you can start a free online consultation right now.
