Spironolactone may be a better acne treatment for adult women than antibiotics.
January 1994 in “Journal of Dermatological Treatment” Spironolactone helped reduce excessive facial hair in a woman with porphyria cutanea tarda.
September 2018 in “Dermatologic Therapy” Finasteride at 2.5mg/day may help postmenopausal women with hair loss.
76 citations
,
December 1997 in “Fertility and Sterility” Finasteride reduces hair growth better, but spironolactone has more side effects.
October 2015 in “Elsevier eBooks” Spironolactone can cause side effects like high potassium levels and breast enlargement, and patients need careful monitoring.
80 citations
,
January 1988 in “The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism/Journal of clinical endocrinology & metabolism” Spironolactone can cause side effects like irregular bleeding, but lower doses may reduce these effects and still improve hirsutism.
52 citations
,
January 1995 in “The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism” Finasteride and spironolactone both reduce hirsutism, but finasteride lowers androgen levels more.
50 citations
,
March 2011 in “European Journal of Endocrinology” Spironolactone improved blood vessel function and cholesterol levels in non-obese women with PCOS.
50 citations
,
August 1985 in “Journal of steroid biochemistry/Journal of Steroid Biochemistry” Spironolactone reduces the enzyme activity that converts testosterone to DHT, helping treat excessive hair growth in women.
48 citations
,
July 2018 in “Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology” Spironolactone helps reduce pain and lesions in hidradenitis suppurativa patients, and lower doses are also effective.
40 citations
,
January 1994 in “Skin Pharmacology and Physiology” Male hormones affect oil-producing skin cells differently based on their body location, and the drug spironolactone can reduce these effects.
26 citations
,
September 2015 in “Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology” Spironolactone may effectively treat female hair loss, especially with hyperandrogenism signs.
26 citations
,
April 2009 in “Australasian Journal of Dermatology” Spironolactone successfully treated hair loss in a 9-year-old girl.
25 citations
,
December 2017 in “The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism” Birth control pills combined with bicalutamide are more effective at reducing excessive hair growth in women with PCOS than birth control pills alone.
25 citations
,
July 2013 in “Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry” Spironolactone harms fish reproduction and is more potent in fish than invertebrates, needing environmental monitoring.
18 citations
,
May 2020 in “Biomolecules” Spironolactone, a heart and liver drug, has new uses including cancer treatment, viral infection prevention, and skin condition improvement.
17 citations
,
April 1997 in “Archives of dermatology” The document describes a treatment for excessive hair growth in a teenage girl using medication and birth control, but does not report the results.
39 citations
,
February 2021 in “Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology” Low-dose oral minoxidil safely treats hair loss, with hypertrichosis as main side effect.
14 citations
,
August 2020 in “Dermatologic Therapy” Low-dose oral minoxidil is a safe treatment for hair loss, with the main side effect being excessive hair growth. Other side effects like foot swelling, low blood pressure when standing, and heart rate changes are rare.
12 citations
,
January 2020 in “Skin appendage disorders” Low-dose oral minoxidil effectively treats female hair loss with good safety.
8 citations
,
December 2020 in “Skin appendage disorders” Low-dose oral minoxidil helped regrow eyebrows in women with Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia.
7 citations
,
September 2020 in “Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology” Low-dose oral minoxidil for hair loss can cause mild excessive hair growth, usually appearing within the first 3 months, but it can be managed by adjusting the dose or removing the unwanted hair, with most people not needing to stop the treatment.
September 2025 in “International Journal of Innovative Technologies in Social Science” Low-dose oral minoxidil is effective and safe for hair loss, but more research is needed.
34 citations
,
February 1992 in “The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism” Finasteride and minoxidil together promote hair growth better than either alone.
25 citations
,
October 2019 in “Journal of Endocrinological Investigation” Both types of oral contraceptives improved symptoms and hormone levels in women with PCOS.
13 citations
,
February 2018 in “Dermatologic Therapy” Finasteride 2.5 mg/day can effectively treat female hair loss.
9 citations
,
October 2020 in “Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology” Low-dose oral minoxidil is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for hair growth in alopecia patients.
22 citations
,
October 2020 in “Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia” The Brazilian Society of Dermatology agrees that oral isotretinoin is effective for acne and other skin conditions, and it's safe when monitored, but more research is needed on dosing and duration.
1 citations
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May 2025 in “Scientific Reports” Sex hormones do not cause oral lichen planus.
83 citations
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April 1992 in “Clinical Endocrinology” Having enough iron improves the effectiveness of a specific hair loss treatment in women.