How do you fight alopecia today? Are there alternative hair treatments to Micrograft or Hair Graft? Which are the most effective and demanded by patients? What results do they offer? One of the most popular today is the so-called Dutasteride Mesotherapy. What does it consist of and how can it help us to stop our alopecia? We talked about it today with two of the specialists from Clínica Capilárea in Madrid: Soledad Gómez (Trichologist) and Susana Pozo (Patient Care).
What is Dutasteride?
SG: It is a drug that is within the family of antiandrogens (like the popular Finasteride or Finasteride, another drug of similar origin to Dutasteride and with which it is related many times). If we talk about treatments against alopecia, this type of medication is especially recommended in cases of Androgenetic Alopecia (or common baldness), both in men and women.
Its goal is to inhibit the enzyme known as 5-alpha reductase, which transforms testosterone into DHT (dihydrotestosterone). The latter is the one that acts directly and negatively on the hair follicle, damaging it, miniaturizing it, and causing our hair to fall.
Are we talking about a new drug?
SG: No, Dutasteride has been used in medicine for a long time. And not only to treat cases of alopecia but also in other fields such as Oncology and Urology. It is known especially in the treatment of patients with a specific pathology called benign prostatic hyperplasia (acute retention of urine).
What we can say is that now there are new formulas and hair therapies that include this drug and that they are offering very good results, since with them the concentration is able to reach the interior of the scalp, to the follicle. This is the really new thing that is important to highlight.
What is Dutasteride Mesotherapy?
SG: This is a procedure in which we apply this drug (Dutasteride) to the scalp of a patient with alopecia, and we do it through mesotherapy sessions. With this, what we are doing is making sure that the drug actually reaches the root of the hair follicle, facilitating its thickening and making it stronger. By inhibiting the factor that weakens the hair, it slows down hair loss and reverses the miniaturization process, causing densification in the area.
Why is it advisable to combine this treatment with growth factors (PRP)?
SP: Due to the results we are seeing with our patients, the combination of Mesotherapy with Dutasteride with that of Platelet Rich Plasma is really effective, especially in the case of Androgenetic Alopecia. Not only are we going to stop hair loss, but we are going to put the necessary means to facilitate the growth of new hair.
How is this double effect achieved? On the one hand, Dutasteride helps us to inhibit the 5-alpha reductase enzyme and to thicken the hair follicle so that the hair does not fall.
On the other hand, by applying PRP Mesotherapy to the patient, we favor the creation of new blood vessels (known as angiogenesis). We will have greater irrigation on the follicle and a rearrangement of the cells will occur, which will lead to a regeneration of the affected area. All this is aimed at facilitating the growth of new hair.
aspects of hair can be improved with this revolutionary treatment?
S. G: In addition to slowing down the loss and promoting the growth of new hair in the treated areas, the patient notices how their hair regains the density and volume that it had lost. It becomes stronger, improving its quality. Little by little, she recovers her image, and this is essential (especially in the case of women, for whom hair is a key element in their image).
On the other hand, it is a treatment especially indicated also after a Micrograft, since it will help to accelerate the results, favoring the growth of implanted hair.
If the patient already has fairly advanced baldness, is this treatment recommended?
SP: An evaluation of the patient and a detailed analysis of each case is always necessary before determining the most appropriate treatment or capillary solution. If there is a real problem of alopecia, the first thing is to know the diagnosis to know why it has occurred and how to treat the patient, what options are the most recommended in your specific case. We should never venture to opt for treatment without first knowing what it is that has caused that hair loss. It would be a mistake and we would be blindsided in many cases.
Of course, you also have to take into account the phase in which this alopecia is found. If it is really very advanced and the follicle has been lost, we cannot work on it, so possibly the best recommendation would be to opt for surgery, a hair graft (as long as it is viable, it depends on each case).
SG: He is a professional specializing in hair and its diseases and problems. In this way, it treats the problems and pathologies of the scalp and hair follicles. He/she will be the one to carry out the patient’s hair diagnosis in his / her first consultation to determine what is the cause of the alopecia or hair problem in question. He will also be in charge of accompanying the patient throughout the process (of the solution or the treatment). For this reason, it is essential that the hair center or clinic have this specialized figure.
What type of patients usually come to your clinic to undergo this treatment? (sex, age, etc).
SP: The truth is that it is very balanced, we will practically be 45% women and 50% men. As for ages, each time this treatment begins to be applied at a younger age, because the results are excellent, keeping the hair in very good condition and preventing it from falling out. Likewise, from the age of 35 it is applied equally in both men and women, even treating patients over 65 years of age. The advantage of this therapy is that it is very suitable for any age.
Could it be that in this time of more stress due to the current situation that we are experiencing, some people lose their hair more?
SG: Of course. We are living an extraordinary situation that not all of us face the same. For many, the fact of not being able to go out, not being able to have contact with family and loved ones, and the uncertainty of when it will all end is causing stress and anxiety, both of which can be the cause of further hair loss.
Specifically, when we are overly stressed or worried and over a long period of time, our body releases a greater amount of cortisol (a hormone/toxin). And this affects the hair. Large doses of cortisol in our body can cause our blood circulation to slow down, that our scalp does not get all the nutrients it needs (or in the amount it needs) … All this will affect the health of our hair, alter the phases of the hair (which goes from the growth phase directly to the fall phase).
In addition, there are some types of alopecia directly related to periods of continuous stress, such as Nervous or Stress Alopecia (which causes a generalized and homogeneous hair loss) or Alopecia Areata (which causes the appearance of hairless patches (usually shaped as rounded) on the scalp The good news is that, in both cases, the hair grows back after the period of stress or anxiety is over.
How are the sessions carried out in the clinic?
SP: It is a simple procedure. As in most cases, we carry out a combination therapy (Dutasteride and PRP) with patients, a first blood draw is necessary. Afterward, the plasma is centrifuged to multiply the platelet level and isolate the growth factors (proteins that favor the repair and regeneration of the cells of the scalp), which is what will be infiltrated into the patient through mesotherapy sessions (of about 30 minutes duration approximately).
In this way, we combine PRP sessions with Dutasteride sessions. In this case, the procedure is very simple: a customized solution is infiltrated in each case (which includes the antiandrogen Dutasteride or Finasteride depending on the pathology) directly into the patient’s scalp so that it reaches the hair follicle in greater concentration and protects it. , making its thickening possible. These are also mesotherapy sessions (lasting about 30 minutes).
Both each therapy separately, that is, Monotherapy, or as combined therapy or Multitherapy (the two are not applied on the same day) can be used in both men and women.
Is Dutasteride Mesotherapy a painful treatment?
SP: There is a slight discomfort of the puncture, but we apply local cold so that the patient hardly notices the infiltration.
Are there any recommendations to follow before these sessions? And after?
SP: It does not require, neither before nor after, special care. The patient can lead his normal life after each session: he will be able to drive and work without a problem, but we recommend is that he does not practice sports for 4-6 hours after the treatment. In addition, the infiltration does not leave visible marks on the scalp, so no one will notice any change in the image (until the results begin to show).
Approximately how many sessions are usually necessary?
SG: That will depend on each patient, how advanced the alopecia is, the areas to be treated … Each alopecia is different, each patient too. It is not the same to apply this treatment as annual maintenance as a treatment therapy. Therefore, a complete initial evaluation is always very important.
When are the effects going to start to show?
SG: In general, after 2/3 sessions the patient begins to notice results: thicker, more hair volume. But we always insist that each case is different. There are those who notice it a month after the first session.
At home, do you have to take care of your hair in any special way during treatment to enhance its effects?
SG: As we said, special care is not necessary, but it is true that results can be enhanced and accelerated by applying topical treatments from home: DHT inhibitor shampoos and lotions that stimulate hair growth, epidermal regulating lotions that improve the natural balance and irrigation of the scalp, food supplements with minerals and vitamins that help prevent hair loss … At Capilárea we have our own line of hair treatment products (Tricobiology), and we also have online sales.
Can this treatment have any side effects? Can it be done if the patient is taking some type of medication to stop hair loss,
SP: There are no noticeable side effects since it is a local application technique and the drug does not reach the central blood system. The most that the patient can notice after the session is greater sensitivity in the treated area of the scalp, which disappears after a few hours.
In addition, it is possible to combine this local treatment with other oral and topical treatments. In many cases, this will increase efficiency.