If you have heard of Finasteride, then it has either been recommended by your doctor to help with your thinning hair, or you have an enlarged prostate and need a medication to shrink it. Finasteride works in both of these cases usually. It is the active ingredient in drugs that will be prescribed to you in order to treat these problems. Both losing your hair and having an enlarged prostrate stem from men having too much DHT hormone produced in their bodies.
Your doctor will prescribe Finasteride for both these issues. It is probably used more for treating male pattern balding, but it is probably less effective in that regard.
When you want to treat balding, you will probably be given a drug that is called Propecia, and the active ingredient in this drug is Finasteride. Propecia is a popular remedy for men you are balding but it is not a guaranteed solution in the end. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. It is also a medicine that needs to be taken for longer periods of time in order to see any effects as far as hair growth is concerned. If you do see any improvements, you will probably not see them before three months. However, if Finasteride is working for you, then you will see some definite positive changes after a six month period. However, it should be advised that Finasteride will not work for everyone. According to most studies, Propecia only helps about 50 percent of the men who use it. That means that there are many cases in which men take the drug for over a year and do not see any result, unfortunately.
No matter what you want Finasteride for, it is always best to talk to a doctor first. Of course, it is a prescription drug and you will have to get a prescription from a doctor in order to by the real thing. However, there are many generic versions of Finasteride available over the Internet, and many of these sites sell these generic drugs without a prescription. Even though this might seem easier to you and it is also usually cheaper, you really need to think this through. These generic drugs were not put under any clinical testing and they might not be safe. Also, when you speak to a doctor and the doctor prescribes you Finasteride, he or she will tell you what the best dosage is for you to take.
Also, it should be noted that Finasteride can have a negative effect on people who are taking other medications along with it, or people who already have other health problems. That is why it is best to talk to your doctor, because he or she will know what is best for you. In the end, it is a lot more important to be healthy than to have a healthy head of hair. So talk to your doctor and get the real thing instead of settling for untested generic products.