What are the current best topical DHT blockers?

[hydrocynus]

Hello all, I am 50 yo and I have a Norwood 2-3 with temples starting to thin out and the hair in the front thinning out too. I have long hair with a pony tail. No crown showing yet. No need of concealers because of my hair style, but if it rains or if I sweat, my hair thinning does show.

I am on minoxidil 5% foam (Costco brand) for about 12 years. 12 years ago, I did start using finasteride and I stopped because of side effects.

I tried S5 cream for a year with not much improvements. I also was on tricomin for a year and stopped because the price got jacked up, it did not seem to help much. I use a laser helmet for about three years (seems to work for me) and I use a dermapen 1.5- 2mm lately (6 months) which seems to have regrown some of my hair (temples notably). I also make my own lobamine cysteine which regrows and thickens hair.

It seems that most of the threads on S5 and S5 plus cream are old (and the link to buy some is not working on this website), I read about RU58841 topical, Kourosh cream and 0.05 dutasteride and finast creams.

What is currently working and economical?

Some of the sites to get that stuff seem really shady and some of the stuff sold on those sites are definitely snake oil. I do not mind going to the dermatologist and get a prescription for a topical DHT blockers. No hormones orally for me anymore! live in Florida USA and I do have health insurance.
Regarding my age though, I read that most DHT blockers would not work well for me. Is it true?

Honestly, because of my family history (bro was bold at 20, sister has some hair thinning, dad was bold young, and all my uncles and some of my aunt's have hairloss issues, 1/2 of my cousins with hairloss issues) I am pretty happy I could keep as much hair until now. So, goal is reached but would love to stretch this out longer. Wife does not care, but I do.

Thanks for your help!

 

[jazz1]

I been using Topical Finasteride from USA I live in the United Kingdom, check my thread.

I add these:

15% Minoxidil
0.1% Finasteride
5% Azelaic Acid
0.25% Progesterone
0.025% Tretinoin
0.1% Hydocortisone

https://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/threads/topical-minoxidil-finasteride-mixture-check-here.126633/

 

[hydrocynus]

Thanks. Is there an off the shelf option?

 

[Norwoody]

If minoxidil is working well, you could either try a higher concentration of it, use it more frequently, or even go to the oral version if you are willing to deal with cardiac side effects.

If you only have loss at the hairline, I doubt that something like topical finasteride or dutasteride will really help much there. Potentially, they could make things worse in that area. I say that because although they block DHT, they increase T, and the hairline seems very sensitive to T as well. Therefore, you could try something like RU or CB which also address T. Another option is topical estrogen.