Can Propecia Cause Acne? | Hair Loss & Hair Transplant Surgery Guide


Some men are worried that being constantly on Propecia medication may cause them to develop acne. As Propecia is a hormone-based medication, and there have been links between hormone medications and bad acne, then many people are worried it will cause an increase in spots. However, this is not the case. In actual fact it was thought that Propecia treatment may actually benefit people with acne and there were actually trials into using Propecia as acne based treatment.

Some men have reported that they have experienced a change in skin from using Propecia such as developing more spots, black heads and redder areas of skin but these are not significant findings and have not been found to have an association with the medication and it is doubtful that a change in the health of your skin is due to using this drug.

Could Propecia benefit people with acne?

There was also a debate about whether Propecia could actually be beneficial for people suffering from acne. At one time, it was thought that Propecia might improve the incidence of acne amongst its users because dihydrotestosterone is one of the major causes of acne. As Propecia works by inhibiting the enzyme that converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone, then it was thought acne could clear up with the use of the drug. However, this was not the case. The enzyme that converts the hormone is called 5-alpha-reductase and is found in two types in your body. The type of enzyme that Propecia inhibits is type two 5-alpha-reductase. However, it is type one 5-alpha-reductase that resides within your oil glands so Propecia has no effect in this area of the body. Therefore, Propecia is restricted to affecting certain parts of your body and cannot be used as a treatment of acne.

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