Our hair loss medication services provide a personalised, “concierge” experience for every patient. Through a comprehensive medical assessment via our order forms, we ensure that the prescribed medication meets your specific needs, health, and requirements. All hair loss medication requests are reviewed and approved by Dr Edward Ball.

At The Maitland Clinic, Dr Ball can prescribe bespoke strength formulas to achieve the ideal balance between a well-tolerated solution and maximum efficacy, thus reducing the risk of side effects.

To help us achieve bringing premium formulations to our patients, we have partnered with a specialist compounding pharmacy that provides high-quality ingredients and hair loss treatments delivered in our preferred delivery solution: TrichoSol™.

Many topical finasteride products that are available today are delivered through solutions (as drops or sprays) which have very imprecise control over the delivery of the drugs resulting in poor localisation in the hair follicle and excessive absorption into the bloodstream. This can reduce the clinical benefit and also increase the risk of systemic side effects that are associated with the oral form of finasteride.

Some commercially available topical hair loss solutions are cloudy in appearance. This tends to suggest that the active ingredients may not be fully dissolved in the carrier solution and can result in impaired performance of the treatment.

Many commercially available forms of topical finasteride are administered within a solution containing propylene glycol to aid absorption through the skin. Unfortunately, propylene glycol can cause irritation, dry skin and an itchy scalp. Also, low quality products may leave a greasy residue on the hair.

No. Oral finasteride (as a 1mg tablet) is licensed for the treatment of male pattern baldness. However, the topical formulation of finasteride is not licensed. To understand more about unlicensed medication, please read our blog about unlicensed and “off-label” medication. 

Oral finasteride (in the form of a 1mg tablet) is licensed in the UK for the treatment of male pattern hair loss. This means that appropriate research stuidies have been conducted and regulatory pathways completed for approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Although licensed as an oral medication, finasteride is not licensed as a topical solution. This is because the topical product has not been through the MHRA regulatory process.

The General Medical Council (GMC) states that unlicensed medication can be prescribed where, on the basis of an assessment of an individual patient, a prescriber concludes, for medical reasons, that it is necessary to do so to meet the specific needs of the patient. This may be in the event that a patient needs a medicine in a formulation that is not specified in an applicable licence.

Many patients suffering from androgenetic alopecia (male pattern hair loss) are either reluctant to take oral finasteride because they are not comfortable with the risk of side effects or because they have tried and not tolerated finasteride in its oral formulation. It is, therefore, appropriate to prescribe the unlicensed topical formulation of finasteride in such cases. 

To learn more about the use of unlicensed medicine please read our blog: Unlicensed and “Off-label” Medicines.