Yes, but my point is that barely any human on this planet is actually using it.
It is probably good for the skin applied topically.
At higher doses than currently available.
I’d say 17 alpha estradiol would have different properties to fin/dut. It’s not just 5AR inhibition.
But if used at high enough doses orally (or even topically), you get systemic DHT inhibition just like with finasteride and dutasteride. If side effects are related to that, using alfatradiol won’t help. And unlike finasteride I believe alfatradiol inhibits both 5ar type 1 and type 2.
This thread seems to be a bit all over the place but if anyone is still looking for elastin neogenesis in the SKIN the answer is calcium hydroxyapatite — the same ingredient in remineralizing fluoride free toothpaste. It’s a key ingredient in bones and teeth but can also serve as scaffolding for new skin tissue and for revitalization, and has explicitly been shown to generate new elastin. The brand name is Radiesse and the way to optimize elastin generation is using it in hyperdilute form (i.e. cut with saline in a ratio of 1:2) via mesotherapy OR, in my case, dermoelectroporation. I couldn’t be happier with my results so far but at $45 / syringe from my Chinese supplier, I find it a bit pricey for just 3 cc. If there’s no better deal for it it’s still amazing but I will experiment with just buying the powder and mixing it with water myself. Will try to see if that also yields results on belly / arm skin (anywhere but face and neck to try). Still $45 every 4 weeks for 3-4 treatments a year is a piece of cake for most. And I can speak from experience that it’s awesome.
According to this study no systemic hormonal side effects were noted with topical estriol used for reduction of skin aging:
“After treatment for 6 months, elasticity and firmness of the skin had markedly improved and the wrinkle depth and pore sizes had decreased by 61 to 100% in both groups. Furthermore, skin moisture had increased and the measurement of wrinkles using skin profilometry, revealed significant, or even highly significant, decreases of wrinkle depth in the estradiol and the estriol groups, respectively. On immunohistochemistry, significant increases of Type III collagen labeling were combined with increased numbers of collagen fibers at the end of the treatment period. As to hormone levels, only those of PRL had increased significantly and no systemic hormonal side effects were noted.” TREATMENT OF SKIN AGING WITH TOPICAL ESTROGENS