Is Spiro Cream Safe?

Many people are wondering about the safety of Spiro cream. That’s for a good reason, it is made of spironolactone pills which are crushed into powder and mixed with cream ingredients (5% concentration). What are spironolactone pills? well, that’s a potent, synthetic drug. Spironolactone (marketed under the trade names Aldactone, Novo-Spiroton, Aldactazide, Spiractin, Spirotone, Verospiron or Berlactone) is a diuretic and is used as an antiandrogen. I took some stuff from wikipedia to summarize what it’s for, you can check the full reference here.

It is used primarily to treat heart failure, ascites in patients with liver disease, low-renin hypertension, hypokalemia, secondary hyperaldosteronism (such as occurs with hepatic cirrhosis), and Conn’s syndrome (primary hyperaldosteronism).  It is a common component in hormone therapy for male-to-female transsexual and transgender people. It is also used for treating hair loss and acne in women, and can be used as a topical medication for treatment of male baldness. It is commonly used to treat symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) such as excess facial hair and acne. It can also cause gynecomastia in males and should never be given with potassium supplementation for fear of the development of hyperkalemia.

Basically what that means is that if you’re a guy and you’ll take spiro pills, most likely your hair loss will be stopped and even reversed. The bad news is that you’ll develop female patterns. There are other side effects for this drug when taken orally, so even you are totally desperate don’t get tempted to use it. For women that’s a different story, but as spironolactone’s is primarily used for specific problems such as heart and liver conditions it’s better to visit a doctor and ask for an advice.

So, if you’re a man keep out of the spironolactone pills, if you’re a women – go see a doctor before you use it. Men can use finasteride and dutasteride, so they really don’t need spironolactone pills. Women can’t use them (except for rare cases), but spironolactone is an option.

Topical spironolactone is a totally different story and can be used by both men and women. It is used for acne, excessive hair on face (for women) and for hair loss. According to Dr. Richard Lee, topical spiro is safe: “Topical spironolactone does not cause shedding. Because it metabolizes totally and rapidly in the skin where it is applied, there are no systemic effects”. Systemic effects means effect on internal tissues. The idea is that its effect is only local and in the skin, just like any other cream or ointment and does not enter the blood stream.

Spironolactone is effective in protecting the follicles from DHT because it (1) inhibits the synthesis of DHT, (2) converts testosterone in the scalp to estrogen, and (3) blocks the androgen receptor sites on the hair follicles, effectively preventing even circulating DHT from attaching to the receptor sites. As a result, the follicles are protected from miniaturizing and have the potential to mature again to their normal size.

Should you try spiro cream? well, spiro cream is said to be safe. Is it 100% safe? this issue is a subject to debates. Some people claim that a small portion does get into the blood stream, and that the fact the Dr. Lee claim that topical spiro is “metabolizes totally and rapidly in the skin” is biased – as he makes money by selling it. Another question asked is – if spiro cream is so safe and effective – why only few commercial companies make it, and why no pharmaceutical company made it an official hair loss treatment, just like Merk did with finasteride. Merk took finasteride, a synthetic drug used to treat enlarged prostate, reduced the quantity from 5mg to 1mg per pill, and called it Propecia.

There is no strict answer. That makes you wonder, maybe spiro cream is not the best cure for baldness, and you know what? it isn’t the best. I haven’t heard about even one person who used it solely and succeeded to stop his hair loss. Still, it’s considered to be something you can add to your hair loss regimen to enhance the overall results.

The bottom line is that, according to user reviews it may have a positive but mild effect when used topically (so for women it may be a good remedy). If you’re looking for a potent DHT blocker you should look for other solutions (Revivogen is the real deal in terms of topical DHT blocker, and you also have the option of Propecia and many other oral and topical solutions).