Tuesday 26 July 2011

Mesotherapy to Save the Crowning Glory

Published in City Times


Saving that Crowning Glory
Do you find clumps of hair in the shower and on the washroom floor following a hair wash? Whether you wear it long and silky or short and sassy, do you find your crowning glory is causing you undue embarrassment of late? That your hair loss is becoming more pronounced? Mesotherapy may be the answer to your problem says Dr.Sanjay Parashar, Specialist Plastic Surgeon, UniCare Medical Centre, Dubai.

Hair loss is a looming problem for millions of men and women today. If present trends are any indication, roughly 50% of men and 40% of women are likely to suffer from thinning hair or hair loss by the age of 50. There are a wide range of contributory factors for hair fall which include heredity, hormonal imbalance, stress, nutritional deficiency, poor blood flow in the scalp area, anaemia, excessive dandruff, environmental factors, illness and skin pathology. Heredity-patterned baldness begins with thinning of the hair which progresses to total hair loss in certain areas of the scalp. While this usually begins at the temples and crown in men, in women it tends to be more widespread. Hair fall and gradual thinning of hair is particularly prominent in women as they grow older and reach menopause.

Hair fall due to any of these reasons except that caused by serious illness and skin pathology can be successfully treated with Mesotherapy, says Dr.Parashar. At the same time, it also enables to delay male pattern baldness. Mesotherapy is a technique or treatment that originated in France. It involves injecting small amounts of a customized mixture of medications, several of which are plant extracts, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes into the mesoderm or middle layer of skin. In addition to its use for hair fall, Mesotherapy is used for a broad range of illnesses and pain conditions, pigmentation problems, to increase the collagenation of the skin, for body fat reduction, sculpturing and weight loss and for cellulite and facial rejuvenation.

Mesotherapy for hair growth involves the use of a combination of nutrients such as biotin, hyaluronic acid, silica, vasodilators and androgen blockers being injected into the region of the hair follicles. Multiple shots of very small doses of the medication are injected from tiny micro needles by using a specially designed gun delivery system. The medications thus delivered cause an increase in blood circulation to the scalp and stimulate the hair follicles. Typically, the schedule of treatment is once a week for four weeks, tapered to once a fortnight for one month and then once a month for about four months. Once this course is complete, follow up with maintenance therapy is undertaken every two or three months, explains Dr.Parashar.

The typical mesotherapy microinjection session is condition-dependent and may require over one hundred pricks to cover the area being treated. As a result, though the needle penetrate the scalp at only a small depth, for those with a low threshold for pain, a topical anesthetic skin cream is applied. There are no adverse effects from the treatment. However, because of the needle pricks, clients may experience minimal local pain, a slight burning sensation and soreness with red prick spots. Since several pricks are given on the scalp, some people may experience headache soon after the procedure. Also, some of the medications used may bring on the headache and dizziness. But these are all reactions that can be easily managed with simple painkillers, assures Dr.Parashar. Also, these effects are very temporary in nature lasting a few hours and hence not cause for concern.

The risks identified with the procedure are those associated with any injection including local skin reaction and local infection which is extremely rare in modern medical practice. Similarly, there could be local allergies to the medications used.

No sauna and no hair treatment including application of oil, cream or shampoo should be done for 24 hours following mesotherapy session. Prior to the therapy, individuals’ medical history is considered and if we feel the person may have serious medical problems, we ask them to first consult their physician before undertaking mesotherapy. “Any contra-indication for any type of injection, is a contra-indication for methotherapy. It is therefore not recommended for individuals who have a bleeding tendency and Hemophelics.

In preparation for the treatment, clients are recommended to have a shampoo hair wash. The technique is an outpatient one and takes about 20 to 30 minutes.

Whatever the causative factors, hair destruction is a continuous process. Mesotherapy is neither a cure for hair loss nor can it stop the natural hair fall associated with the process of ageing. However, what it can do is, strengthen the hair follicles that have weakened and help them grow thicker hair. But to benefit from the therapy, complementary measures are of utmost importance; hence it is necessary to partake of nutritious diet, drink plenty of water, avoid stress to the extent possible and nourish the scalp using appropriate agents. Dr.Parashar emphasizes that mesotherapy cannot do anything for completely bald skin or for hairline that has already receded. What it can do is prevent further receding.

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