Does Finasteride Reduce Beard Growth?

[Gatsby]

Now that I have 'FINALLY' booked in for surgery I think my mind is playing games with me. I would love to hear from the more learned hair scholars from the forum. Can finasteride reduce the 'growth' or 'density' of beard hair? I understand beard hair is dependent on testosterone and 5HT. So I am wondering if anyone has experienced a reduction in their beard when taking finasteride or another 5ari? I'm sure this is all in my mind but looking at my beard today it suddenly looks a lot less dense?

[Curious25]

Logically, then yes it should. Anecdotally, then it appears not so - according to the testimonies of hundreds of finasteride users I have read online. 

I have also seen differences in opinions from doctors on this topic over the years, so it really is quite a hard one to gauge. 

I think its probably dependent on the individual - eg. by how much his DHT levels are lowered, and whether this affects the threshold his body needs between his androgen sensitivity of the beard follicles, and levels of DHT required, for hair to grow. 

Trial and error perhaps? 

I also think that it comes down to the maths, between the ratio of scalp hair vs. body hair you have had transplanted. For instance, if you have had 10,000 grafts transplanted to your recipient, 4,000 of which are from the sweet spot of the scalp donor, and 6,000 of which are BHT - there is much less of an incentive to take any form of DHT blocking medication. On the flip side, if 9,000 of those grafts are from the scalp, some of which have been extracted outside of traditional NW6/7 zones, and 1,000 BHT - taking a DHT blocker, if able to do so, would probably be more advisory. 

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by Curious25

[Gatsby]

Thanks @Curious25. I've spent the day researching this and what you have said seems to hold weight. The consensus 'in a nut shell' seems to be that testosterone and DHT seem to be very important in the development or growth phase of late teens/adolescence in men. After that it appears to come down to DHT sensitivity in older age. This is just my generalization of course and only from what I have gleaned from today. Personally I think my concern over this is a 'placebo' one as today I started to question my beard 'density' now that I am due for surgery and my beard donor availability is so important in my case. The worst I could find is that finasteride can/may slow down my beard growth but not the 'density.' I am happy to be proven wrong and invite other people's experience with this.

[Curious25]

Congrats on now having a surgery date booked in, I will look forward to following your journey. 

[Gatsby]

1 minute ago, Curious25 said:

Congrats on now having a surgery date booked in, I will look forward to following your journey. 

Many thanks @Curious25. I really appreciate your support mate. I'm feeling very positive going forward. I think there's just a few gremlins playing around in the mind from years gone by.

[Zoomster]

No change in my beard growth behaviour from what I can tell mate ..

think you’re fine 

[Yoo]

I’ve been taking 1mg a day for nearly 2 years and noticed no change in speed of beard growth or density, same for all other body hair inc the annoying areas like the top of my arms 😅

Know that everyone is rooting for your gatsby, I can’t wait to follow your progress after the procedure, not many deserve a good result more than you.

[Al - Moderator]

I took finisteride for 11 years from 1998 to 2009. I'm not so sure about beard hair as I've always been clean shaven, so it would have had to be a big difference for me to notice a change there, but it absolutely thinned out my chest hair. My body hair was increasing since I was a kid until I started on finisteride when I was 31. At that point my body hair started thinning out and decreasing. Once I stopped finisteride it started growing in again and 12 years later my body hair all over except for my lower legs has been increasing past what it was before I started finisteride. I'm still gaining more body hair in places I didn't have any before and the hair I have continues to grow longer and thicker all the time.

My opinion is if you are only using a small amount of body hair then you are probably better off continuing finisteride if it was working for you. However at some point if you continue to add more body hair to your scalp then it becomes a waste to continue fin as you will be saving your original scalp hair while killing the body hair that you transplanted especially when you consider that beard hair and to some degree chest hair will grow for the rest of your life without ever doing anything for them.

 

[EvoXOhio]

Finasteride has CONSIDERABLY reduced my body hair, but my beard seems pretty much the same. I think like everything else, it’s going to be different for each person. 

[SLA]

Finasteride has had no effect on my beard or body hair after taking for 17 months. I do also take 2.5mg of oral minoxidil so perhaps, that might counter.

[BDK081522]

I've been on finasteride for 20 years and I haven't noticed any effect on beard hair or body hair for that matter. 

[JDEE0]

Same here, been taking it for over 2 years and have personally noticed no change in beard or body hair.

[Future Hair Doc]

I'm on oral dutasteride and my beard game is strong. I'm also on oral minoxidil