TRT and Hair Loss

[johnebravo]

I've been on TRT for over a year. While I had some hair loss before starting the therapy, my hair loss has accelerated dramatically.

Can anything be done to stop the increased hair loss?

[MeatHeadinSF]

Are you taking a testosterone gel? This can cause DHT to go up, causing hair loss. Either get on a DHT blocker, or switch to injections. I've also heard that if you rub the gel on non-hair-growing parts, this won't happen. Where are you applying the gel mostly?

[Justin]

Any form of testosterone can cause hair loss. However, it depends on genetic predispositions. If you are genetically predisposed to male pattern baldness, the use of testosterone can speed up the loss of hair. You were going to lose your hair anyway, but it may not be accelerated. If you are not predisposed to male pattern baldness, hair loss is impossible.

They do make drugs classified as 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, Finasteride being the most well known, that block the process that causes hair loss. The process is testosterone is reduced to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) due to it being metabolized by the 5-alpha reductase enzyme. Inhibitors block this process. However, they are also very unfriendly when it comes to side effects, and are not something I often recommend.