I have read a lot of promising studies lately on ketoconazole, that is the stuff in nizoral that is supposedly good for your hair. In particular, the study of S. Inui presented as a letter to the editor in the J. Derm, and the study by Pieard found on pubmed seems promising.
Ketoconazole has proven abilities as an anti- androgen, anti- inflammatory, anti- fungal and hair growing agent. Essentially, it has all the properties of a hair loss remedy we could ever want. Still, it doesn´t really give that great results.
Why is that?
Well, first of all, it could be that even though it has hair growing benefits, it simply isn´t effective enough. It has a proven additive effect with finasteride, but alone it just isn´t that great. And you can´t really get it in a more concentrated form (say 5%...)
Secondly the recommended usage is 3-4 times a week, but it makes sense that any topical, weak, formula should be applied at least once or maybe even twice a day (like spironolactone or revivogen). But washing your hair twice a day with an anti- dandruff shampoo would probably do more harm than good; the soap could irritate the skin, dry out your scalp and dry out your hair, which, even though you have a full head of hair, does not look good (the hair looks weak, thin and "crispy", and the scalp looks red and flaky).
Yet, if the hair- growing, anti- androgen benefits are true (as they probably are, given all the research and data), one would clearly benefit from using ketoconazole on a daily regular basis. So how do you do this without washing your hair all the time?
You buy a cream.
Recently I got a prescription for topical ketoconazole 2% cream. As an experiment, I will try to apply this 2 times a day for the next following months. I will use a mild, non irritating cheap pharmacy shampoo a couple of days a week in addition, and maybe mix it (the cream) with a lotion if it irritates my scalp.
As my current regime only consists of finasteride and nizoral shampoo every other day, this little experiment will hopefully tell if more frequent use of ketoconazole has any greater effect than the regular use.
Ketoconazole has proven abilities as an anti- androgen, anti- inflammatory, anti- fungal and hair growing agent. Essentially, it has all the properties of a hair loss remedy we could ever want. Still, it doesn´t really give that great results.
Why is that?
Well, first of all, it could be that even though it has hair growing benefits, it simply isn´t effective enough. It has a proven additive effect with finasteride, but alone it just isn´t that great. And you can´t really get it in a more concentrated form (say 5%...)
Secondly the recommended usage is 3-4 times a week, but it makes sense that any topical, weak, formula should be applied at least once or maybe even twice a day (like spironolactone or revivogen). But washing your hair twice a day with an anti- dandruff shampoo would probably do more harm than good; the soap could irritate the skin, dry out your scalp and dry out your hair, which, even though you have a full head of hair, does not look good (the hair looks weak, thin and "crispy", and the scalp looks red and flaky).
Yet, if the hair- growing, anti- androgen benefits are true (as they probably are, given all the research and data), one would clearly benefit from using ketoconazole on a daily regular basis. So how do you do this without washing your hair all the time?
You buy a cream.
Recently I got a prescription for topical ketoconazole 2% cream. As an experiment, I will try to apply this 2 times a day for the next following months. I will use a mild, non irritating cheap pharmacy shampoo a couple of days a week in addition, and maybe mix it (the cream) with a lotion if it irritates my scalp.
As my current regime only consists of finasteride and nizoral shampoo every other day, this little experiment will hopefully tell if more frequent use of ketoconazole has any greater effect than the regular use.
