Sixteen treatments · one published rule
Every hair-loss treatment, graded on what you can check
Two questions each: what a regulator has said about it for hair loss, and what randomised trials have been pooled. The grade is the worse answer.
Tap a square for the row behind it · grade = the worse of two answers
2
graded A — approved here, and pooled independently
3
graded B — off-label, or cleared rather than approved
6
graded C — trials exist, no approval for hair loss
2
graded D — no independent controlled evidence
The rule, in full
Tier A — Approved for this use, and the randomised trials have been pooled by someone with nothing to sell. (2 of 16)
Tier B — One answer is a step down: prescribed off-label, or cleared rather than approved, or pooled from trials the sellers paid for. (3 of 16)
Tier C — Nobody approved it for hair loss, but real controlled trials exist and have been counted. (6 of 16)
Tier D — Sold for hair loss with no independent controlled evidence behind it. (2 of 16)
Tier X — The FDA has published a safety warning about the category and no approved product exists. (1 of 16)
Off the scale — Not a treatment for the condition — it moves hair or hides its absence. (2 of 16)
Read across for what a regulator has said, down for what the trials add up to. The letter in the square is the worse of the two — that is the whole rule.
| Evidence ↓ · Standing → | Approved for this use | Off-label, or cleared not approved | Neither approved nor cleared | Outside drug approval | Warned about by the FDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pooled, independent | AMxFn | BDu | |||
| Pooled, but thin or seller-funded | BoMLa | CtFPRMnKz | |||
| One or two small trials | CRoMe | ||||
| No independent controlled trial | DSpCk | XEx |
Two things on this site are not on the map at all: Tp and Cm — hair transplant surgery, and micropigmentation, fibres and hair systems. Neither treats the condition, so grading them against trials would measure the wrong thing.
Why a grade, and not a ranking
A ranking answers "which is best", which is a question about you, and this site has never met you. A grade answers something narrower and checkable: how much is actually known about this product for this purpose, and who says so.
So every entry gets the same two questions. What has a regulator said about it for hair loss — approved, cleared, off-label, outside drug approval altogether, or warned about? And what randomised controlled trials of it have been pooled, and were the people who pooled them selling anything? The grade is the worse of the two answers, because a strong answer does not cancel a weak one.
The effect of applying that rule to sixteen treatments is that the top of the index is old, cheap and unglamorous, and the crowded middle is where the money is. That is not an argument this site set out to make. It is what the rule produced.
What this site will not do
It will not tell you how much of anything to take, how often, or in what combination. Those are decisions for a prescriber and for the product's own label, and a website that answers them is doing something it is not qualified to do.
It will not show you before-and-after photographs, invent a percentage, quote a patient who does not exist, or rank a clinic. It will not claim a doctor has reviewed it, because none has.
And it will not move a grade for money. Three companies are linked for money here and each link is marked where it sits; every one of them grades below the two treatments at the top, which pay nothing and have no programme to join.
Explainers
All of themCan Male Pattern Baldness Be Reversed, Cured or Prevented?
No cure exists, reversal is partial and conditional, and prevention is not what the genetics allow. What each of those words can honestly mean.
When to See a Dermatologist About Hair Loss, and What They Check
Six presentations that should move the appointment forward, what the examination involves, which tests follow it, and the timetable nobody warns you about.
Topical Hair Loss Treatments Beyond Minoxidil
One approved drug, a set of compounded prescriptions, an antifungal used off its label and a shelf of cosmetics. Why those four are not interchangeable.
Stress, Illness and Telogen Effluvium: Why Hair Sheds Months Later
The delay between the trigger and the shedding is the most informative thing about it. What telogen effluvium is, how long it lasts, and why it is mistaken for balding.
Alopecia Areata: What It Is, and the Newer Prescription Options
An autoimmune condition, not pattern baldness. Three JAK inhibitors now carry FDA approvals for its severe form — what their trials showed, and what they cost in risk.