Editorial

Treatment, explained.

What the medication actually does, what to expect in the first few months, and what your clinician wishes you knew before you started.

Hair loss

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Hair loss 7 min

Finasteride vs minoxidil: which one is actually doing the work?

Both are FDA-approved for androgenetic alopecia, but they attack the problem in completely different ways. Here's how to decide where to start — and why most people end up on both.

Jordan Wells, MDRead

ED

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ED 6 min

Sildenafil vs tadalafil: 4 hours vs 36 hours, and what that actually means

Both PDE5 inhibitors. Both effective. But the half-life difference is the whole story — pick the one that matches how you actually want to live.

Amir Haider, PA-CRead

Skincare

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Skincare 8 min

Tretinoin: how to survive the purge and actually get to the good part

Weeks 2-4 are when most people quit tretinoin. Here's what the purge actually is, why it happens, and what to do about it so you stick around for month 4.

Sarah Chen, MDRead

Weight loss

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Weight loss 9 min

GLP-1 medications: what to expect in your first 8 weeks

Nausea, food noise reduction, fatigue, the "GLP-1 face" — a week-by-week guide to what's normal, what's not, and how to titrate through the rough patches.

Mariana Ortiz, DORead

Mental health

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Mental health 7 min

SSRIs: the first six weeks are the hardest. Here's why.

Nausea, increased anxiety, sleep disruption — the early side effects of SSRIs are real, predictable, and time-limited. Knowing what to expect is half the battle.

Emily Rao, FNP-BCRead

Sleep

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Sleep 5 min

Melatonin: why 0.5mg works better than 5mg

The drugstore 5mg and 10mg tablets are 10-20× the physiological dose. Most patients sleep better, with less morning grogginess, on a fraction of the dose they're taking.

Mariana Ortiz, DORead