Topical Cetirizine

[Spaceman]

Has anyone here tried topical cetirizine as a hair loss treatment? If so, what was your experience?

There was a study published last year that showed topical cetirizine had clinically significant benefit in treating androgenetic alopecia.  Cetirizine is a popular OTC oral antihistamine but this study suggests it has potential as a hair loss treatment when administered topically. 

Thoughts?

Quote

A preliminary study on topical cetirizine in the therapeutic management of androgenetic alopecia.

We found that the main effect of cetirizine was an increase in total hair density, terminal hair density and diameter variation from T0 to T1, while the vellus hair density shows an evident decrease. The use of a molecule as cetirizine, with no notable side effects, makes possible a good compliance by patients.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28604133

https://www.docdroid.net/2FwL4QP/101080-at-0954663420171341610.pdf

Edited November 4, 2018 by Spaceman
Links

[LonelyGraft]

There was a big trial over on hair loss talk forum years back. I also heard people on some German forum tried it too. There was mixed results with some claiming it helps and others saying it doesn’t. I think it would def be worth a try if you suffer from inflammation on the scalp along with hair loss.

[Melvin- Admin]

The issues I see is for one the sample size is really small less than 100 people. The second issue is the exact composition of the cetirizine, the study says galenic lotion, but then lists off what appears the be the vehicle for penetration 96 Celsius ethyl alcohol and 16% cyclo silicone pantamer. I'm not sure if this concoction can be purchased or would this have to be compounded in a pharmacy? and if so what is the cost? I'm not entirely sure it would be worth all the hassle for very little clinical evidence. However, this is a good topic and thanks for posting this on the forum.

[Spaceman]

23 hours ago, jj51702 said:

There was a big trial over on hair loss talk forum years back. I also heard people on some German forum tried it too. There was mixed results with some claiming it helps and others saying it doesn’t. I think it would def be worth a try if you suffer from inflammation on the scalp along with hair loss.

Yes, I've seen some comments on Reddit from around that time too.  Nothing conclusive though.  I may try it, as I've taken cetirizine (as Zyrtec) orally for allergies and I have no side effects to it.

[Spaceman]

20 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

The issues I see is for one the sample size is really small less than 100 people. The second issue is the exact composition of the cetirizine, the study says galenic lotion, but then lists off what appears the be the vehicle for penetration 96 Celsius ethyl alcohol and 16% cyclo silicone pantamer. I'm not sure if this concoction can be purchased or would this have to be compounded in a pharmacy? and if so what is the cost? I'm not entirely sure it would be worth all the hassle for very little clinical evidence. However, this is a good topic and thanks for posting this on the forum.

Yes, it is a small sample of only 85 total subjects, 18 of which were control.  At the same time, two things stood out for me.  First, the density measurements were made in a reasonably objective way, using trichoscan.  Second, the standard deviation of the density increase of the treatment group was relatively small.  Subjects were measured to have a mean density increase of 30.31 with a standard deviation of only 4.21.  That means most subjects saw a density increase between 26 and 34. Unfortunately I don't think any drug company will ever fund a large scale clinical trial as cetirizine is already generic and very cheap.    

[LonelyGraft]

If u do try it I vaguely remember people were mixing up a 1% solution dissolved in water. Apparently cetirizine is more soluble in water rather than alcohol. I’m going all from memory tho so u may want to read up. It did get messy for people if they couldn’t filter the fillers from the pills.

 

i have indoor allergies and used cetirizine in the past. I’m almost 7 weeks post op and I’m wondering if I can start back up again. Did u use it post surgery? I just don’t want to affect healing in any way.

[Spaceman]

Yes, I took Zyrtec occasionally post surgery, and didn’t have any issues. Actually it helped a bit with itching.

Im not sure about mixing up a topical solution myself. I think I’ll ask a compounding pharmacist about it and see if they can do it with a proper base and hopefully using pure cetirizine without fillers. If not, then I’ll probably pass.