Hair loss shampoos: what two minutes on the scalp can and cannot do
A shampoo has about two minutes of contact with your scalp before it goes down the drain. Every claim in this category has to survive that fact first.
Topical finasteride: what is actually available in the UK, and what gets absorbed
Marketed as the version without systemic effects. The phase III data show serum DHT falling by about a third, which is not nothing, and the pharmacovigilance data agree.
Dutasteride for hair loss: the licensing position, the evidence and the half-life problem
More potent, better hair counts in short trials, and a half-life measured in weeks rather than hours. That last fact is the one that ought to shape the decision.
Low-dose oral minoxidil: what the evidence shows and why the boxed warning misleads
The scary warning on the box belongs to a dose ten to forty times higher. Getting that distinction right is most of what an honest conversation about this medicine involves.
Topical minoxidil side effects: irritation, shedding and what the solution contains
The commonest problem with minoxidil is usually a reaction to what it is dissolved in, not to the drug. That single fact solves a lot of abandoned treatments.
Finasteride side effects: the trial numbers, the UK warnings and what changed in 2026
Two pictures of the same medicine: a percentage point or so of excess risk in the trials, and a body of persistent-symptom reports serious enough that three regulators have acted. Both are real.
The Norwood scale: what the stages mean and what they don’t tell you
It is a description of a shape, not a diagnosis and not a forecast. Most of the anxiety attached to it comes from expecting it to do things it was never built to do.
Lasting longer: how the stop-start and squeeze techniques actually work
Two techniques that are taught everywhere and tested almost nowhere. Here’s how to do them properly, and the check that should come first.
Alcohol and sexual function: the short night and the long run
Alcohol raises the intent and lowers the capability, which is an unhelpful combination. Over years it does something quieter and harder to reverse.
Cycling and erectile dysfunction: what the evidence actually says
The scare headline doesn’t survive the data. What does survive is a specific problem, in specific riders, with a genuinely fixable cause.