Strut Hair Loss Review – Is it Legit for Topical Fin & Dutasteride Online?

What are Strut’s compound medications?

Source: Strut

Strut’s innovative platform enables licensed telemedicine physicians in the US to treat you remotely and safely via encrypted chat, phone, or video. Depending on your scalp’s condition, your doctors then create a treatment plan specifically for you, often involving a custom compound medication.

A compounded medication is one that is specially combined and manufactured for you based on a doctor’s prescription. Compound drugs are made by combining one or more active components, each in a specific dosage and strength. This ability to personalize drugs allows medications to be tailored to your specific requirements. This offers many advantages, such as making it easier to take or more convenient to use.

Custom compounded drugs, unlike brand or generic medications that pharmaceutical corporations frequently manufacture, are not commercially available. This implies they are not manufactured by a pharmaceutical corporation, but rather in compounding pharmacies by licensed pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the US. This requires them to follow a recipe formula specific to your condition and then tweak it to create an individualized blend.

Now that you’re familiar with compounded medications in general, let’s see exactly how Strut crafts personalized hair loss prevention drugs, just for you.

How to get Strut Health’s hair loss treatments

Source: Strut

Ordering your personalized hair loss treatment formula from Strut is straightforward and comprehensive. After completing their 15-minute online questionnaire, you’ll provide images of your scalp to help Strut’s doctors determine the best course of treatment for you. They will also inquire about your symptoms, any worries, and other details – just as any dermatologist or hair loss specialist would in-person – except you don’t have to get off the couch!

Strut will then connect you to a licensed US doctor, and within 24 hours, their team will analyze your information and assess if prescription hair loss meds are suitable for your condition. You can also chat with a board-certified doctor directly if you have any concerns or questions, and Strut provides free unlimited follow-ups for continued conversations.

Once the doctors have reviewed your questionnaire and photographs, they’ll concoct a custom prescription that they believe is best suited for you. Once approved, your product(s) will be shipped to you for free on a monthly basis (or based on a frequency of your choosing).

That’s it, simple as that!

Is Strut’s topical finasteride legit?

Source: Strut

While you can get inexpensive finasteride online from a growing number of online hair loss providers, Strut offers a unique spin on the FDA-approved, clinically proven drug that we really appreciate. For one, we appreciate the 4-in-1 strength of Strut Finasteride Gel – making it one of the most concentrated topical formulas for hair loss on the market. We also love that, depending on your preferences, you can choose between topical solution or gel, as well as the more-traditional oral tablet form.

While all forms of finasteride pose the risk for unwanted (albeit rare) side effects, the topical solution and gel formats may reduce the risk because they don’t enter your blood through the digestive tract, but rather through the skin directly at the point of need (i.e. your scalp). If you’re worried at all about side effects, especially from taking a stronger compounded formula like Strut’s, we recommend their gel, which we haven’t found from any other providers yet.

The gel contains prescription-grade active ingredients that combat male pattern baldness while being free from any preservatives, propylene glycol, or parabens. That means in addition to driving results for thousands of men, it’s also cruelty-free.

It’s worth re-emphasizing that Strut’s finasteride gel is truly unique. As far as we know, they are one of the very few custom compounding pharmacies to offer finasteride in this convenient, easy to apply, and low-side-effect-risk format.

How does topical finasteride work to stem hair loss?

Regardless of whether you opt for the gel or solution, Strut’s topical finasteride hair loss formula has nonprescription and prescription ingredients that are proven to tackle hair loss, as well as potentially facilitate noticeable regrowth. In addition to finasteride’s 5-alpha reductase inhibitor properties which are clinically-proven to stop hair loss in most men when taken as prescribed, the solution also contains:

• Tretinoin
• Minoxidil
• Biotin

Together these ingredients ensure proper hair growth and thicken the hair follicles. The additional active ingredients are designed to complement the action of finasteride, making it penetrate deeper into the scalp, and improve scalp health from multiple angles to allow for the best chance of follicle growth. Below we’ll dive into the science behind each active ingredient.

What’s inside Strut topical finasteride?

Strut finasteride gel contains the following active ingredients:

• Finasteride: A prescription-strength (FDA-approved) active ingredient that acts by reducing the activity of 5-alpha-reductase, which is an enzyme that converts testosterone into DHT (dihydrotestosterone). Higher DHT levels can cause the hair follicles to shrink, leading to hair loss. Thus, the enzyme inhibition decreases DHT levels in the body, leading to reduced hair loss.
  
  
• Tretinoin: A vitamin A derivative that is most typically used as a medication to treat various levels of acne. When it comes to the efficacy of tretinoin for hair growth, however, research is just getting started. While there is limited proof that tretinoin alone can encourage hair regeneration, there is evidence that it can have promising results when combined with certain other drugs.
  
  
• Minoxidil: Another FDA-approved treatment, promotes hair growth by acting as a vasodilator, opening blood vessels and enhancing circulation to the treated area. This can activate and revitalize dormant hair follicles, resulting in their growth. While other hair loss treatment providers, sell minoxidil separately, Strut bundles it as an ingredient in its Finasteride gel/solution. This does not affect the efficacy, and the dosage can be altered.
  
  

• Biotin: A water-soluble vitamin that helps in the formation of keratin, a protein that makes up your skin, nails, and hair. A biotin deficiency can lead to hair loss, so taking supplements ensures you have sufficient reserves to promote growth.
  
  

Still unsure? We have rounded up the best topical finasteride options and compared them head-to-head to help you find your perfect fit. Spoiler: Strut’s gel is one of our favorites – but your final choice will ultimately depend on your hair condition, budget, preferred application method, and more.

Switching gears, let’s review Strut’s dutasteride solution as well.

Review of Strut’s dutasteride for hair loss

Strut also custom-compounds Dutasteride, available as both a topical (gel or solution) and oral tablet, just like their finasteride. Similarly, these custom formulas are made by physicians and pharmacists using pharmaceutical-grade ingredients that can potentially reduce hair loss and increase hair growth.

Like their finasteride gel, Strut’s topical Dutasteride is also free of preservatives, parabens and propylene glycol.

Since it’s a custom prescription formula, a physician on Strut’s team will prescribe a treatment plan as appropriate. But, first, you’ll have to appear for an online visit, during which the physician will collect your medical information and evaluate pictures of how your hair loss has progressed.

Then, if you qualify for the dutasteride treatment, Strut’s physicians will provide an online diagnosis and recommend a custom treatment plan. All via the same (and equally convenient) process as how they prescribe finasteride.

How does dutasteride work for hair loss?

Dutasteride is a common medication used for treating male pattern baldness. The active ingredient in Strut’s custom formula is 0.1% dutasteride, which is the only topical dutasteride currently available through a telemedicine platform.

Dutasteride has the same mechanism as finasteride, inhibiting the function of 5-alpha reductase, an enzyme that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Again, DHT is the primary hormone that’s responsible for male pattern hair loss.

By inhibiting the function of 5-alpha reductase, dutasteride can help to reduce hair loss and promote hair growth.

Strut dutasteride ingredients: what’s inside?

Like the finasteride gel, the topical dutasteride hair loss solution contains the following active ingredients:

• Dutasteride
• Tretinoin
• Minoxidil

While the oral dutasteride capsules contain dutasteride and biotin. How each of these ingredients works to combat hair loss has been explained in detail above if you need a refresher.

Finasteride vs dutasteride: which should you try for hair loss?

According to studies, finasteride and dutasteride are both efficient at promoting hair growth in males with male pattern baldness.

However, in several comparison trials, dutasteride boosted hair growth in men more than finasteride. In recent studies, the rise in total hair count signifying new growth was much larger in the dutasteride group. In other studies, dutasteride was demonstrated to block more than 90% of DHT, but finasteride only stopped 70% of DHT.

One reason could be that dutasteride’s increased effect on DHT blocking makes it more successful as a medication for male pattern baldness prevention. Dutasteride inhibits both type I and type II 5-alpha-reductase, whereas finasteride exclusively inhibits type II.

Another reason could be because dutasteride has a longer half-life, around 5 weeks, which means it stays in the body longer than finasteride (half life of 5 to 6 hours).

Dutasteride, on the other hand, is a less popular option because it has not been FDA approved particularly to treat hair loss, and hence may have a greater incidence of side effects. Despite the fact that studies demonstrate that both finasteride and dutasteride have a similar side effect profile. While rare, these include sexual dysfunction as the most prevalent (but reversible) side effect.

Thus, while there are many studies comparing dutasteride vs finasteride, the answer to “which is better” remains somewhat inconclusive. We recommend you read up more and seek guidance from a doctor, perhaps via Strut’s simple online interface.

Review of StrutVite vitamins for hair loss

Source: Strut

StrutVite is a non-prescription supplement developed by pharmacists at Strut. StrutVite is intended to supplement a healthy diet and lifestyle by promoting the hair, skin, and nails’ appearance, growth, and overall health. Strut Health recommends using these vitamins into your routine with your prescription meds for a well-rounded approach to health and hair growth.

StrutVite contains a variety of healthy ingredients such as vitamin A, B, and C, biotin, zinc, and Ashwagandha (the active ingredient in Nutrafol’s hair loss supplement).

You can purchase the StrutVite supplements with either finasteride or dutasteride:

Strut Hair Loss Alternatives: How does it compare?

While Strut‘s hair loss offerings are unique and praised by users, it’s important to read other men’s hair loss products reviews before choosing the best one. For instance, Keeps, Hims, and Rogaine are other well-known hair loss brands you’ve probably heard of… how do they compare to Strut? Here’s a comparison table to help you see how Strut stacks up against those alternatives, as well as vs Happy Head and Nutrafol.