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Mesotherapy for Hair Loss...Is this the treatment we should be celebrating?
Lately I've been hearing more and more about mesotherapy for hair loss. If you're not super familiar then don't worry...This post will fix that. Mesotherapy involves injecting medications directly into the skin... I've seen fancy words like "biorejuvenation" and "biorevitalization" used to market this procedure... It has also come up as a topic in a ton of the different hair loss groups I'm part of on reddit....But I didn't really know much about it. So I decided to do some research...
If you're interested in learning about other treatments for hair loss check out my posts linked HERE.
Anytime I hear about a new treatment that's being advertised as "safe and effective" I feel a hint of excitement... Is this the breakthrough we've all been waiting for? If you want to know exactly what treatments I use check out my e-Book HERE.
A quick search on medline shows that mesotherapy has been being used as a treatment for some of the following cosmetic procedures:
Reduce cellulite,
Fade wrinkles and lines
Tighten loosened skin
Recontour the body
Treat alopecia
I mean that all sounds lovely... But let's talk about the data. Here's what I'm serving up in this post:
Background... Who doesn't love a good origin story?
What is mesotherapy for hair loss?
Review of head to head clinical trial data
Safety information
Things you may want to consider before shelling out your hard earned Cas$h
Mesotherapy for Hair Loss: An Origin Story
Where did this treatment come from and who invented it... Let the suspense build...
Are you ready?
The renowned French physician, Dr. Michael Pistor originally developed the technique in 1952 for the management of pain and vascular disorders (1).
So what happened? Turns out Pistor had injected procaine intravenously to treat an asthmatic. Procaine is a local anesthetic drug and commonly used in dental procedures to numb the area around the tooth... But Pistor discovered that although the original condition of his patient did not improve, the patient's impaired hearing did (1).
He wanted to then strengthen the effect, and so Pistor injected small doses of procaine 3 to 5 mm deep around the target area i.e. the ear itself. It was also noted that other associated conditions like eczema of the auditory canal, temporomandibular joint pain, and tinnitus benefited (1).
The term ‘mesotherapy’ first came from Pistor when he first published about the technique, in a local medical journal in 1958. He defined it as treatment of the mesoderm (the primary germ layer that develops into connective tissue (2).
What is mesotherapy for hair loss ? Let's talk procedure...
Mesotherapy doesn't imply a treatment of any condition in particular... What it does do is describe a method of drug delivery (3).
So what does a mesotherapy procedure involve? Multiple intradermal or subcutaneous injections of a mixture of compounds (plant extracts, homeopathic agents, pharmaceuticals, vitamins, and other bioactive substances) in small doses, using very fine gauge needles, to treat medical (mainly local) and cosmetic conditions (1).
But in terms of mesotherapy for hair loss...Why not just apply these drugs to the scalp topically? What is the proposed benefit of injecting drugs directly into the skin?
It has been proposed that the skin may act as a natural time-release system when drugs are injected by mesotherapy (4). Other advantages claimed for mesotherapy include things like: inexpensive equipment, relatively minimal training needed for providers, these drugs can reach the target area quickly, a much reduced dosage may be need of the drugs, quicker accomplishment of benefits, minimal invasiveness (1)...
Talk Data To Me....Mesotherapy for Hair Loss In Androgenic Alopecia
Now that we're familiar with the procedure let's talk about how this has been studied...
Listen... I struggled to find much in terms of clinical data published in medical journals. I know many med spas are advertising this procedure on their websites with before and after photos but....this is what I came up with for us...
At the time of this blog post I was able to find one comparative study: between Mesotherapy and Topical 5% Minoxidil by Dermoscopic Evaluation for Androgenic Alopecia in Male: A Randomized Controlled Trial (5).
You can stalk the study HERE.
Study aim: Compare efficacy and safety between mesotherapy (intralesional injection) and 5% topical minoxidil solution in male androgenic alopecia (AGA) by dermoscopic evaluation.
The study randomized men with clincally diagnosed androgenic alopecia in two groups:
Group A: mesotherapy: 8 sessions of intralesional mesosolution with microneedling procedure (25 males)
Group B: Minoxidil 5% twice daily for 4 months (24 males)
More details about the mesotherapy for hair loss treatment group:
(Patients were enrolled for mesotherapy group after performing intradermal allergy testing with mesosolution. After applying topical anesthesia, intradermal injections of mesosolution were given combined with microneedling. (If you aren't familiar with microneedling check out my post linked HERE. I've also linked the microneedling device I use below).
The mesotherapy solution ingredients contained the following: 56 ingredients including 24 amino acids, 13 vitamins, 4 coenzymes, 4 nucleic acids, 5 minerals, and 2 reducing agents. The active ingredient was decapeptide 4, acetyl decapeptide, and copper tripeptide.
Now that we got that covered....Let's move to results...
Results were evaluated at baseline and then monthly for 4 months with clinical photographs, dermoscopy, trichoscan, 7-point standard assessment tool, and patient-self assessment scores.
Results showed: There was a significant increase in the variation of hair shaft diameter between pre- and post-treatment in Group A (mesotherapy) compared to B (minoxidil). Other dermoscopic, trichoscan, and subjective measurement tool failed to show significant difference between two groups.
The authors concluded based on their observations: That there is no significant improvement of mesotherapy in male androgenic alopecia over minoxidil.
Any safety considerations with mesotherapy for hair loss?
In the above study we reviewed...Males undergoing mesotherapy commonly complained of erythema (88%) postprocedure which persisted for 1–2 h. The authors discuss how this may be due to multiple micro-injury's following microneedling and injecting mesosolution (5).
Also...few studies have reported the development of noncicatricial alopecia after mesotherapy on the scalp (6).
There was another paper (article 7 in the refrence list below), which reports multifocal scalp abscesses with subcutaneous fat necrosis as a direct result of mesotherapy; therefore, requiring extensive surgical repair (7).
Things you may want to consider before shelling out that cash...
Doing research for this blog post on mesotherapy for hair loss was really tough... I was shocked by how little data I could find about the treatment... There doesn't appear to be a standardized protocol/ or treatment regimen in the literature that has been established for treating hair loss... There's also a lack of info on critical details such as mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics...
If you're interested in the therapies I've used to help regrow my hair then check out my e-Book linked HERE.
The above study we reviewed was one study in men... I liked that they did allergy testing for the mesotherapy solution prior to going forward with the treatment... You have to wonder about what's really in these "cocktails"... natural plant extracts, and homoeopathic agents really don't have established efficacy in treating androgenic alopecia... I think each med spa probably has their own blends they use...Have these been forumlated specifically for subcutaneous injection?
Often times these cocktails will include something like finasteride and/or minoxidil which do have safety and efficacy data around treating hair loss... But mechanism of action and safety and efficacy of these "vitamin blends" are not established.
I also think mesotherapy for hair loss is kind of scary when you look at some of the adverse effects being discussed in some of the papers I've cited.
Based on my review.... Mesotherapy for hair loss is a no for me... But I hope in the future we do come up with a standardized protocol that could be assessed in future clinical trials to better understand safety and efficacy.
Thank you for reading! Don't forget to subscribe to make sure you never miss a post!
XOXO
-Riley
References:
1. Sivagnanam, G. “Mesotherapy - The french connection.” Journal of pharmacology & pharmacotherapeutics vol. 1,1 (2010): 4-8. doi:10.4103/0976-500X.64529
2. Pistor M. 3rd ed. Paris, France: Malonie; 1979. Un defi therapeutique.la mesotherapie. [Google Scholar]
3. Rotunda A, Kolodney MS. Mesotherapy and phosphatidylcholine injections: Historical clarification and review. Dermatol Surg. 2006;32:465–80. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
4. Kaplan, Raincourt Devenir d’un produit marque injecte par quatre voies differentes. Bulletin SFM (la Societe Francaise de Mesotherapie) A product brand injected in four different ways. 1985;62 Bulletin SFM (The French Society of Mesotherapy) [Google Scholar] [Ref list]
5. Gajjar, Prachi Chetankumar et al. “Comparative Study between Mesotherapy and Topical 5% Minoxidil by Dermoscopic Evaluation for Androgenic Alopecia in Male: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” International journal of trichology vol. 11,2 (2019): 58-67. doi:10.4103/ijt.ijt_89_18
6. Alopecia secondary to mesotherapy.Duque-Estrada B, Vincenzi C, Misciali C, Tosti A J Am Acad Dermatol. 2009 Oct; 61(4):707-9.
7. Kadry R, Hamadah I, Al-Issa A, Field L, Alrabiah F. Multifocal scalp abscess with subcutaneous fat necrosis and scarring alopecia as a complication of scalp mesotherapy. J Drugs Dermatol. 2008 Jan;7(1):72-3. PMID: 18246702.