Mesotherapy with Dutasteride to Treat Hair Loss

2022 update: Spanish researchers find mesotherapy with dutasteride to be effective in male and female hair loss in real clinical practice. Side effects related to the treatment were mild.

2021 update: A team of scientists (largely from Spain and Brazil) discuss the side effect of frontal edema after dutasteride mesotherapy treatment.

2019 update: A study from Mexico concluded that dutasteride injections via mesotherapy were successful in treating androgenetic alopecia.


The single best currently available medication to treat hair loss is enlarged prostate (BPH) reduction drug Dutasteride. This product is basically Finasteride (Propecia or Proscar) on steroids. I have covered Dutasteride and its brand name Avodart numerous times on this blog in the past. For many lucky people, this drug represents an already available cure for hair loss.

While Dutasteride is not yet approved for treating hair loss in the US or Europe, it is approved for that purpose in Japan and South Korea. Nevertheless, many US doctors are willing to prescribe it for hair growth purposes. To get an idea of how effective this medication can be, you can read the hundreds of mostly positive comments in this blog’s Dutasteride reviews page.

Side Effect Fears from Oral Dutasteride

I tried Dutasteride pills many years ago shortly after they first came out. However, I got paranoid about the potential side effects, and stopped after several months of experimentation. However, based on the above mentioned numerous positive testimonials on this blog, I restarted the drug last year. I take the recommended 0.5 mg per day dosage every second day, rather than daily. Perhaps one day I can use topical Dutasteride. Or more likely, topical finasteride.

As far as my hair loss goes, Dutasteride has been a miracle. Instead of shedding 100 plus hairs after my daily shower, I now shed 10-20. Further progression of my baldness has ceased. As far as regrowth goes, I have definitely seen some in my crown, but not much elsewhere on my scalp.

However, despite this very successful outcome, I still have second thoughts about taking this drug. Its long term side effects are certainly going to be worse than those from Finasteride, for the unlucky who get them. Besides inhibiting a significantly higher portion of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in comparison to Finasteride, Dutasteride inhibits all three isoforms of 5α-reductase (i.e., types I, II, and III). Finasteride only inhibits types II and III.

Hopefully my fears are overblown, and most studies from around the world seem to suggest so. Dutasteride is largely well tolerated per most research findings and very few people get major long-term side effects upon cessation of the drug. However, since the drug was only approved to treat enlarged prostates in 2001, there are very few studies out there that follow people who have taken the drug for 10 plus years.

Topical Dreams

For many years, I have been hoping that a topical gel or cream or liquid version of Dutasteride would be released by a reputable company. Then I could take daily and higher doses with fewer chances of side effects. In general, topical versions of drugs seem to result in fewer side effects than oral versions, although this is not set in stone. In some cases topical products still get into the bloodstream. The chemical ingredient then shows up in various human tissues and organs in similar concentrations to its oral counterpart. Nevertheless, topical is always preferable to oral if both are equally effective in my opinion.

Local compounding pharmacies can often also make topical Finasteride or Dutasteride for you, but prices are very high. Moreover, I would be more comfortable with a well known corporation making the product so that I know that the topical compound and delivery method are reliable and tested throughly.

Mesotherapy with Dutasteride in Treating Androgenetic Alopecia

Last week, I got a great surprise when I was browsing through PubMed for the keyword “Dutasteride”.

It seems like a new way of applying Dutasteride through mesotherapy scalp injections seems to give great results with no side effects. including intradermal injections, known as mesotherapy. Mesotherapy (also called intradermotherapy) is a non-surgical procedure consisting of multiple intradermal injections of pharmacological substances in small doses.

This new potentially groundbreaking study comes from Spain. Moreover, the best part of the story is that:

“Laboratory tests showed no differences between serum hormone levels before and after treatment”.

This means that unlike oral Dutasteride, this treatment method does not alter your hormones beyond localized scalp DHT reduction. The scientists involved treated six patients (five male, one female) and all got good results. They posted one before and after photo:

Mesotherapy and Dutasteride for Hair Loss
Dutasteride and Mesotherapy Injections: Before and After Hair Growth.

The second best part of this story is that the treatment was only done once every three months. In the past, three other groups had tried similar mesotherapy treatments, but all involved far more frequent treatments. It would be expensive and annoying to get injected every couple of weeks, but every three months is very tolerable.

Dr. David Saceda-Corralo

I contacted one of the study’s lead authors, Dr. David Saceda-Corralo. I wanted to see if he had photos of any of the other five patients and to ask whether this treatment is available in the US. Unfortunately, while he has other photos, those patients have not given him permission to share them publicly. He did say that he may share other relevant photos on his Instagram account.

According to Dr. Saceda-Corralo, this treatment is not easy to get in the US. However, it is getting increasingly popular in Spain and the rest of Europe.

131 thoughts on “Mesotherapy with Dutasteride to Treat Hair Loss”

  1. That mesotherapy dut looks really good. Definitely a good option for those who like myself lost effectiveNess of Propecia after long term use. I would never take this orally but mesotherapy way sounds awesome. Who in Miami offers this?

  2. Nice find! Who would have thought that 0.1 mg Dutasteride into your scalp once every three months (!) can achieve this, lol.
    $1000+ for one treatment is an exorbitant price though.

    1. Just checked out this website and the results picture they post is pretty impressive! My Spanish isn’t the greatest, but it looks as if they can inject once every 6 months? If the injections themselves are affordable and there really is no change in serum hormone profiles, I would fly to Spain twice a year for this. (Since I live in NYC I could do this for a $500 flight and a long weekend). I got side effects pretty much immediately from finasteride, so I’m desperate for an alternative. I’m starting to get a noticeable thin spot over my crown and don’t think my hair will hold out long enough for one of the newer treatments due in the next few years. I’m glomg to inquire re: cost and if it’s reasonable I’m going ASAP. I’ll report back.

  3. One could theretically imagine oral dut being effective intermittently if tested. Its not too far fetched to think so give the results discussed above.

      1. Perhaps not. Direct injection into adipose (fat) tissue in the scalp may provide a repository of drug because dutasteride is a lipophilic drug. If it isn’t circulating in the blood stream, it is not exposed to the liver for clearance whereas oral drug is immediately exposed to the liver after absorption through the gut.

        1. Not sure what is the case is here, but most shots will leave the body after a few days even if they are liphopilic. In either case that is why i mentioned one week rather than a day assuming the injected drug will remain for a bit.

          The role of drug lipophilicity in release from intra-adipose and intramuscular injection sites.
          Kadir F, et al. Eur J Drug Metab Pharmacokinet. 1991.
          Show full citation

  4. I know this is unrelated, but I decided to check into the people telling me that I misread and that Follica doesn’t plan to start pivotal trial until 2nd half of 2018. Here is what it says not just under the picture, but under “expected milestones”on Puretech’s site:

    “Our regenerative biology program is currently progressing into a pre-pivotal pilot optimization study expected to start in early 2018, with a pivotal trial expected to begin in the first half of 2018”

    Get glasses.

    Get rekt.

  5. Injections with dutasteride and finasteride are common in Europe now. Many cosmetic clinics offer different forms, often combined in packages with a schedule where you alternate PRP and dut injections. Eastern Europe prices are around US$50-$150 for one session, with big discount per session if you buy a larger package. Western Europe prices are maybe double or triple that. Pricing is highly variable between clinics.

    I met with a doctor at the clinic from this study (it’s a big cosmetic clinic with its own building in a leafy neighbourhood of Madrid which has a small hair team focused mainly on transplants). I ended up doing treatment elsewhere in Europe because of price.

    I’ve done both dutasteride and PRP injections this year. I haven’t noticed any benefit. I’ve had massive shedding. It’s hard to say if the shedding is caused by the injections, but they definitely have not stopped the huge shedding.

    For guys who are DIY fans, PRP is possible to do at home, and dutasteride is even easier.

    For dutasteride, the Madrid clinic was just using this:
    http://www.mesotherapyworldwide.com/Medication_MesoAge.htm. You could also just buy standard Avodart and make your own solution from the dutasteride in that (inside the GSK capsules, it’s in liquid form).

    For PRP, you only need a centrifuge. Lots of debate about whether activators are necessary. I’m on the side that greater frequency of PRP injections without activation is better than infrequent injections with some form of activation, but you could also buy a kit if you want. Then you just need to draw your blood, or preferably have someone with a little experience do it for you (self drawing is possible but not fun), spin it, then inject in little microinjections.

    With these microinjections, the small gauge injection needles definitely sting and it’s not pleasant, but it’s bearable. At least in my case, I don’t use any numbing agents.

    Another alternative that’s been tried on some forums is microneedling with dutasteride. It’s a very DIY system where you squirt the liquid from a few Avodart capsules onto your problem areas, then microneedle (dermapen, dermaroller) the scalp. One poster named mytheory calls it “tattooing into the scalp” and claims success with this method (http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=10&threadid=111773&enterthread=y).

    I can’t give any real opinion yet if the injections I’ve done of dutasteride and PRP have ben worth it. Maybe I’ll have some positive results eventually, but so far it hasn’t seemed to help much for me. I like the low-risk nature, but with no signs of success until now, I’m not putting all my hope into it. I’m researching stronger weapons to use.

    1. Great and very useful comment.

      Much cheaper than I thought.

      Not sure if using the Dutasteride liquid from the capsules and delivering it to the scalp is a simple process…wouldn’t some of the medication get spoilt or delivery be incorrect without expert supervision and knowhow?

    2. Indeed, very useful. A difficulty I see with injecting Dut oneself is to hit the right skin layer, but I guess it’s a matter of practice.
      Wish you good luck with your treatment and let us know about your progress!

    3. Thanks for all the info Karl. Out of curiosity how long has it been since your first session of mesotherapy involving dutasteride? And how many sessions have you had and at what interval? Also are you taking oral fin/dut concurrently?

      Thanks bro!

    4. Hi @admin and other posters –

      Here are the details I know.

      As I wrote above, in my case, it hasn’t seemed to help much, and although I can’t say for sure if it actually caused shedding, what I’m certain of is that the injections did not stop shedding, because I’m dropping huge amounts of hairs every day. I’m continuing with the microinjections, but after seeing what happens in my case until now, I realize that it will just be one component of my (kitchen-sink) regimen as I’m looking into bigger weapons for bigger effects. But who knows – maybe I would’ve been much balder by now if I hadn’t done it, maybe I’m growing little new hairs and don’t even know it yet. I’m just n=1, so maybe it would work for you. Many doctors in Europe like the results they’ve seen in some patients and relatively low side effects profile, although they all admit privately that it’s very much a casino wheel about who benefits and they cannot predict in advance who or why some people benefit and others don’t. Spanish and Italian doctors seem to be writing and publishing about it the most (their publications are definitely a marketing tool, but that’s how it is), but many doctors in quite a few countries are offering it.

      Costs of microinjections PRP: (all prices in US dollars)
      I’m very surprised when I see the costs of scalp PRP which are charged in the USA (and in the UK as well, although I’ve found it to be slightly less expensive there than in the USA). It makes no sense. The source material is your own property – it’s your blood, after all – which costs the doctor nothing. The main fixed cost is the centrifuge, which for a big clinic might be $500-$1000; even for a very high end machine and if they’re overpaying their supplier, $2000 would be a lot from what I’ve seen. Many clinics don’t use much more than that, but if they do use some type of kit, that’s maybe $50-400; huge range depending on the kit maker, type, etc. Plus the dut solution, if they’re using that, but that’s not much per person. Other variable costs are very low, i.e. the small gauge needles, alcohol sterilization gloves, etc.

      Regarding placement of the injection, in orthopedics, a doctor (at least a good one) uses some type of real-time ultrasound for precise placement of PRP injections (in hips, for example, where it’s very hard to inject correctly without it). It should be orthopedic surgeon who is trained both in that particular joint and in the simulataneous use of ultrasound to administer it (it’s tricky coordination of hands and eyes, actually, to move the ultrasound, monitor the placement, and inject at the same time). In contrast, for the scalp microinjections I’ve seen of PRP and dut, it’s just lots of little, fast, direct injections into the scalp with no additional visualization tools. You could argue that hair loss injections should be done differently, more precisely somehow, but at least as currently practiced everywhere I’ve heard of, that’s how it is. So in contrast to orthopedics, there are no additional costs for injection placement. (Please let me know if any place has more specialized placement techniques).

      So that’s how and why European clinics charge $50 to $200 without kit, $100-$500 with kit. I’ve seen that many U.S. doctors promote Acell. If anyone has good research, please point it out, but I haven’t seen any solid evidence on the value of Acell vs. basic PRP for hair. I’d particularly be interested in comparing different kits activators injections used once every 3 months vs. basic PRP every 2-3 weeks. Or perhaps microinjections of dut once every few weeks vs. once every 3 months? From the research, I’d imagine that more frequent injections would be better, especially in PRP, but there aren’t any large studies I’ve seen.

      PRP scalp injections is done by hundreds or maybe even thousands of cosmetics clinics in Europe now because they already offer PRP facial injections (“vampire face lifts” is the marketing term). I’ve found dutasteride isn’t as widespread, but it’s offered in many clinics which either are purely hair places (e.g., transplant clinics) or in cosmetic clinics that are larger and have hair-specific teams (like the Madrid clinic from the study which @admin wrote about).

      Pricing is highly variable between clinics and between Western and Eastern countries. Some examples I found: a fancy hair-only clinic in Madrid where Rafael Nadal supposedly had his transplant a year ago charges $600 for 3 PRP sessions, an internationally-famous clinic in a small, rich country in Western Europe (I don’t think it’s fair to say which clinic/country when I’m criticizing them on a public forum) (over-)charges a price of $2200 for 4 sessions alternating PRP and dut, while you can find many clinics in Eastern Europe which are somewhere around $50-100 per session for PRP, a bit more for dut.

      I can understand that if you live in the US, a flight to Europe for PRP would be expensive. But if you’re in the UK or Ireland or Western Europe and want to try PRP, it definitely is worth it to take a low-cost flight to Eastern Europe for a quick session. @Andrew: Personally, I’d say that which clinic isn’t so important, especially if you’re focused on PRP only; just pick whatever city you like and make a 3-day weekend out of it. I know for sure of clinics in Ljubjana, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Krakow, Prague, Brno, Budapest, Vilnius, and Riga which can definitely offer scalp PRP at these prices. There are differences in prices between countries and clinics, but they’re relatively small and if you’re coming from the UK, I’d think that it makes more sense to just pick a city/country you want to visit and then find a clinic with appointment time that works for you. Unlike in Western Europe, they’re very accommodating, so getting appointment isn’t hard.

      Another idea is stem cell injections. For the price of PRP in the US or UK, you could go to Eastern Europe to have a liposuction, get stem cells from your fat, then inject them into your scalp. I’ve seen it on offer at a few clinics in Poland (Warsaw, Krakow [bone marrow also offered], Szczecin), Czech (Prague and Brno), Lithuania (Vilnius), and Hungary (Budapest). Price is around $1,000-$2,000; the biggest variable is the cost of the liposuction [private clinics in Western Europe might be from $3,000 to $10,000+]. Most clinics – in Western and Eastern Europe – use the Italian tool Lipogems to separate out the fat and get the adipose MSCs; it’s a mechanical system so it meets EU requirements that stem cells can only be “minimally manipulated.” There’s a lot of research on stem cells for lots of different diseases and orthopedic issues, but very little about the use of injections of MSCs for hair regrowth. In theory, it should be more powerful than PRP; at the very least, it’s massive anti-inflammatory. I haven’t done it. If anyone has tried it or has any good information on it, please share.

      DIY PRP:
      It’s interesting to do PRP yourself. The main tool you need is the centrifuge. Then just all the tubes, needles, tourniquets, alcohol, etc.

      In answer to @gbh, you can buy online centrifuges from many different suppliers, just as doctors or hair clinics do. If you’re willing to look through the suppliers in China, then Alibaba has lots of centrifuges. I am very worried about buying the drugs from unknown manufacturers in China as I’m scared of oral medicine at anything less than 99.9%; you can read lots of problems by guys on forums who seem to get immediate side effects from impurities (there’s one thread active now on HLT where seti from Kane seems to be not pure, which led to questioning of Kane, then led to questioning of the lab which tested it, then led to questioning of everything again… poor guys, what a mess). With PRP equipment, it’s not such a worry as with drugs. You have to watch out for quality and for scams obviously, but I think most guys who are spending this much time researching hair follicle science are capable for identifying the more legitimate suppliers. Most of the European and American products are made by these same manufacturers in any case, so I found that you’re essentially buying the (wink, wink) “non-branded” version of the more expensive product offered in the West.

      Depending on your requirements, the price to get started will be US $300 to $900. I’d think the lower end of that range is very possible, but doctors have argued to me that you need certain things that are more expensive, you need certain techniques or methods, etc. In my opinion, it’s all a guess now and there are lots of questions about which techniques are most effective. Plus I’m not running a big clinic or lab. So I don’t see the need for the high-quantity, high-end equipment, but do your own research and make your own decision.

      If you’re interested in DIY PRP, I’d suggest reading through orthopedics research. The hair/scalp research on PRP is pretty small in comparison. There’s a lot of published research on PRP for joints (knees and hips are most common, but also wrists, ankles, elbows, every joint really), some good youtube talks discussing growth factors, and lots of doctor and patient comments on forums. You have to sort out the marketing spin [it’s from US providers mainly; in particular, Regenexx is a leader in private practice, with interesting evidence and reports worth reading, but they dress it all with a big layer of hype]. The field is still in its infancy, and I understand how this can seem to be very bro-sciency, but there’s now a decent body of research showing real results and there are many investigations of different techniques.

      The two big reasons I considered DIY microinjections are cost and frequency. You can save yourself a lot doing it DIY. And obviously related to that is the frequency: with a DIY system, you can easily do more frequent sessions of both PRP and dut, as your marginal cost is negligible. With PRP in particular, despite the marketing hype (particulary in the orthopedic world), real understanding is pretty limited. But one of the more consistent findings from lots of research I’ve read about injecting into other areas non-scalp areas is that more frequent injections of growth factors seems better than infrequent injections, so that’s what motivated me to check into this DIY system. On the other hand, if you have the money, time, and/or ability to go frequently to a clinic which matches your budget, then it might be worth it to you to go to a clinic and avoid the hassle of ordering the supplies and then getting your girlfriend/wife/mother to draw your blood and inject into your scalp.

      One suggestion I’d make to any of the guys here considering DIY method is to try one session at a (not extremely expensive) clinic. Follow the procedure fully: for dut, it’s obvious what they do, but for PRP, they might take your blood away to prepare it in another room, so go with them to observe what they do. You’ll feel much more comfortable when you realize how simple the procedure is, for both PRP and for dut. The science is cutting edge and hopefully new research will lead to even greater improvements, but the actual technique – at least as it’s practiced currently – isn’t so difficult.

      Dutasteride and microneedling:
      @admin… I agree that the technique of squirting dut capsules on your head and then microneedling isn’t very efficient. I actually did try it myself after seeing some guys (like the forum member named mytheory) claim that it’s very helpful. I had the same problem with it which I have with all topical solutions: no matter how careful I try to be, the solution ends up on the hair. I’d estimate that significantly more than half of anything topical I put on my head gets trapped in my hair (even in the shortest hairs). And with dutasteride, squirting just 3 tablets (1.5m) of Avodart on my head seemed like a silly waste when it just gets stuck on hairs.

      I also question the method mentioned by many guys of “rub it on the problem areas”. I’d guess that rubbing makes a lot of it end up on your fingers, in your hair… everywhere except eventually into the scalp where it should be.

      It’s actually a big reason I like the microinjections. At least that way I know that what I’m injecting avoids being trapped in the hairs on top of my head.

      I’ve thought that this might be partly a reason why dermaroller helps minoxidil results. The famous Dr. Dhurat was involved with studies showing positive results when minoxidil is used with microneedling as well as when used with PDO (polydioxanone) threads. Their most recent article speculated that the successful hair growth from both methods perhaps came from “enhanced expression of hair-related genes, release of growth factors like PDGF, and direct activation of stem cells in the hair bulge area.”

      I’ve wondered about minoxidil microinjections for this reason; has anyone seen results on minoxidil microinjections? I’d be curious if it would have a higher success rate than standard topical application, and maybe be particularly useful for people who seem to have low sulfotransferase activity limiting the conversion of the minoxidil to minoxidil sulfate in the hair follicle’s outer root sheath?

      Sincerely,

      Karl

        1. Tim, Sorry that I didn’t see your earlier comment.

          – Dut microinjections: one at a clinic 4 months ago, one at a clinic 2 months ago, one DIY at home 1 month ago, one DIY at home 2 weeks ago.

          – Dut microneedling (the “squirt and dermapen” method): one DIY at home 3 months ago. As I wrote above, it just seemed to get stuck in the hair, so I didn’t do it again.

          – PRP microinjections: one at a clinic 3 months ago, one at a clinic 1.5 months ago, one DIY at home 3 weeks ago, one DIY at home 1 week ago.

          With my home system set up, I’m now following an alternating weekly schedule like this (at home, not at clinic):
          week 1: dermapen 1.5mm + PRP
          week 2: dermapen 1.5mm + dut microinjections
          week 3: same as week 1.
          week 4: same as week 2.
          etc.

          There have been a lot of studies recently (from India, mostly) on the idea of doing microneedling combined with something: minoxidil, PRP, supplements. I’m more or less following that model. Some of the studies aren’t so great and published in slightly shady journals, but the science seems based on fairly good evidence, and it’s one component of Costarelis ideas. In addition to the older Dhurat studies, some of the recent studies if you’re interested:
          https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5514790/
          https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28771982
          https://jemds.com/data_pdf/Kallappa%20(Parag)-.pdf

          For PRP, safety profile seems very good. It’s your own platelets, after all, which is what everyone likes about it.

          WIth dutasteride, I’d suggest you think about systemic effects if you’re considering microinjections. For me, I’m interested in hair regrowth now and I’m doing dut microinjections for their – hopefully – positive effect on that. Of course I don’t want short or long-term side effects, but I’m maybe more willing than most men here to accept them if necessary. On the other hand, if you’re interested in dut microinjections specifically because you don’t want to take dut pills because of sides, then I’d just be a little skeptical about the claim regarding their lack of systemic effects. I’ve met with the clinic doctors from this Madrid study, they are serious and professional, but based on what I saw, I’d really suggest to at least do your own blood tests before and after to see how your hormones react.

          Finally, please don’t give too much importance to my results. I read all the hair forums in English language plus in my two European languages. It’s useful for ideas, but I hate using one guy on a forum, including me, as an example of anything, for a lot of reasons. Every study, including ones with good success on average for the patients, has a really wide range of results. So evaluating based on a n=1 guy on the forums is difficult. The next problem is that you don’t have tightly standardized methodology with how guys on forums are applying any treatment, so it’s very hard to compare cases. And in my situation, like a lot of the people on forums, I’m doing lots of different treatments simultaneously. In period described above, I’ve also been using a lots of other treatments like minoxidil, nizoral, stemoxydine, valproic acid, cetirizine. It’s obviously horrible as controlled science experiment, but like all of us, I’d prefer to have more hair and not know which of my 6 treatments to thank, rather than to have less hair knowing for sure that it’s the failure of 1 treatment and having wasted 3-6 months.

          I hope this is helpful for you. Let me know if I can help you at all with anything. And please definitely post your experiences, I would love to hear how it is for you. Good luck to you!

          1. Hi Karl,

            Are you on hairlosstalk? Or other sites?

            You are very informed and I’m interested in your full regimen, story, and successes.

            If so whats your username?

            1. Updating with my personal experience:

              I stopped dutasteride injections after a bit. I take dutasteride orally, and I’m injecting PRP as well as doing dermapen wounding, so I decided to cut the dutasteride injections from the regimen.

              I’ve had good results recently, but it’s impossible to say what specifically is the cause because:

              a) I use many treatments simultaneously
              b) I’m a study of n=1, just me.

              But as I wrote above 3 months ago, it’s a good situation to be in that I have great results without knowing which treatments to thank. It’s a much better problem to have than the horrible state of my hair months earlier.

              @Pephair, I recently posted my full regimen and results on HLT: https://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/threads/loss-and-regrowth-progress-pictures-treatment-timeline-and-details-shedding-health-effects.110986/

      1. Thanks Karl! You are already among the five most helpful posters ever on here despite just having 5 comments to date:-)

        1. Thanks for the detailed response Karl. Some very useful information! I wish you luck with your regimen.

          I think the central question for most of us with Dut injections will be the potential for systemic absorption. I couldn’t tolerate oral so I’m very curious to hear from anyone in the same position who found success with Mesotherapy.

          Thanks again and keep us posted

  6. Polarityte Announces Fda Registration Of Lead Product – SkinTE

    “The FDA registration of SkinTE™ is an important regulatory step that sets the stage for commercialization and a staged market entry of this revolutionary technology into clinical application,” said Denver M. Lough, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of PolarityTE™. “This achievement enables us to deliver an entirely new and pragmatic solution for skin regeneration as well as the ability to change the face and practice of regenerative medicine toward patient-tailored tissue constructs.”

    In pre-clinical studies, SkinTE™ demonstrated full-thickness regenerative healing, nascent hair follicle formation, cutaneous appendage development, immediate and complete wound coverage, and the progressive regeneration of all skin layers including epidermis, dermis and hypodermal layers. 

  7. I guess if the treatment (mesotherapy) is stopped, the results from the previous sessions will be eventually lost?

  8. What if we just dermaroll once a week and put liquid dut on the microneedled area for abdorbsion? Would that work ? I’m sure someone tried it…opened a dut pill, squeezed the liquid out and applyed to scalp where dermarolled.

  9. Pics look good however I think US residents such as myself will never see this treatment. Being Dut was never approved for hairloss here it would have to go thru the fda, which we know is a long process. And honestly I’m very surprised that injected Dut doesn’t go systemic considering topical fin has shown to go systemic.

  10. than HT , other available options don’t offer much results for me. I’m really excited have an appointment with Dr. Arthur Katona in a few days. My main concerns is what options they will provide for maintenance of the existing hairs that are currently healthy. Is Propecia pretty much the default drug to maintain existing hair ?

      1. Thanks sir, good news , just left the appointment with Dr Kotana very impressive results. bad news, I was quoted 16K for ~ 2000 grafts to fill my frontal area, 8 dollar a graft !!!!!!. They justify the high cost because of the patients that performed the procedure at this facility. Urlacher, Sandberg, bunch of guys from Chicago Blackhawks, etc.. Unfortunately this is out of my price range, Income wise no where near an athletes salary . Also, they pitch Propecia post procedure to maintain existing hairs. Looks like I’m going to look into FUE procedure in Turkey, most packages are all inclusive as well and much cheaper. Dr. Erdogan was 3.5 per graft so even that would be a much cheaper option. Just worried about having the procedure performed out of the states.So i’ll make sure to do my homework.

    1. One piece of advice i wish someone had told me. Do not have hair tranplant untill you are on fin or dut for a full year. Otherwise you might see quite a lot of shock loss.

  11. Great post. I am very interested in this now since they show 4 studies all pointing at good results with few or no side effects. Maybe Admin can contact the other 3 study authors too?

  12. Hi. I’m having satisfying results with minoxidil 5% topical with some dutasteride in the lotion + dutasteride orally every 3 days 2 pills (0,5mg) + microneedeling 1.0mm every week
    Sometimes I stop completely for 2-3 weeks and then I start again. Don’t want the receptors to get lazy…

    1. How long have you been on dut and minox. Do you have a dermastamp or roller? Do you squeeze out the dut and mix with Rogaine ?

      1. Ive been on dutasteride for 1 year,
        Now on minox + dutasteride topical and oral for 5 months.
        Yes you just squeeze the dutasteride in the rogaine. I personally do start with 4 pills for every rogaine bottle.then add some more in the following months/year
        Usually lipophile Hormons go very well through the cell membrane so you don’t need much dutasteride. Even more with skin disruption.

  13. @Admin i am 32 i have been using finasteride 1 mg since 2011 and i am still using it but i used to stop it for a few weeks and few months, but it slowed the baldness progress and maintained my hair. I am thinking of using to dut to have greater results. i want your advice for the dose of dut that i should start .

    1. Fadi you have to ask your doctor and consider all the potential side effects with him/her! I can’t help in that area:-)

    2. My dr said whatever you do dont take dut when i asked about it. He was extremely concerned on long-term side-effects from it. He mentioned no long-term studies exist.

    3. I started fin back in the late 90’s and worked with dr Bauman in the early 2000”s he prescribe avodart back then and we started cycling from duta to fin because they seemed to lose effectiveness for me every 6 months or so but mind you this was after already being on Fin for years…stayed on fin/dut till about 2015 then my hormones were so screwed up and I was have having such horrible sides I had to finally come off.
      Off for a few years now and definitely lost a lot of ground but feel like a normal human being.
      Sucks bad guys! Hairloss sucks. Just so hard to see so many potential treatments since the late 90’s continue to fail. Pray and hope something will come along very fast!

    1. This was shared a number of times in the comments before.

      Anyway, it’s a cool article, but provides no new information.

      I also think it’s a bit premature for the author to refer to it as a true regenerative treatment for pattern baldness and say that “baldness may soon become a thing of the past”.

      There is nothing from their trials thus far to confidently say that the product will restore a full head of hair. It does stop the loss and give some regrowth, but who knows how much regrowth is actually possible and if it depends on cell “migration” to create totally new hair, how would it even be possible to create a natural hairline with such an unpredictable dispersal?

      I’m stoked for this company, their work is the real deal, but I remain on the fence about its potential to save NW7s.

      1. Stock price is not necessarily indicative of what is happening but the stock price of Replicel is at it’s lowest point since February of 2010. Typically, word gets out if something is brewing but their stock price has been on a steady downward slope since the announcement of their trail results in April 2012.

        1. There was an article thst replicel is starting to fall out with sheiseido….it was from about a year ago. It indicated replicel not delivering on clinical 2 studies.

  14. For anyone who is interested the R&D/ investor conference Aclaris gave today is up on their website. Follow the links in the press release section. Very detailed report on their AA studies. Not much in the way of news for AGA. One interesting tidbit regarding the AA topical is that testing revealed it did not show any signs of going systemic. Would be great news if it holds any hope for us. Also that it looks as though they are able to achieve and control the desired penetration of the topical. If anything might be time to buy some stock in the company.. looks to have a few winners on their hands.

    1. J van, during that investor conference did they mention anything about the recent soft jak acquisition as playing a role in the success of the AA topical?

      1. I believe they AA studies were done only with their prior compounds. They newly acquired soft jaks are geared towards upcoming AGA studies and other skin disorders.

        1. Good deal, i hope thats correct. I was afraid they might have blown their soft Jaks wad on the AA treatment alone. ;)

    1. There is no definitive answer to that, although several studies do show that smoking and obesity are correlated with accelerated, and more severe AGA.

    1. Seems the authors knew what they were doing. Ive pieced together a similar approach over the years except without the minoxidil.

      Study:
      Ketoconazole shampoo
      Zinc phyridone shampoo
      Vit D, Calcium, Mag, vitamins/minerals
      Omega 3
      High protein (supplementing essencial amino acids)
      2% minox

      1. I use minoxidil with a topical dutaster. The first 6 months before January 2017, I was well overgrown, and then everything started falling out and falling out until now. It is a pity that they did not conduct a one-year study

  15. This treatment plan shows that certain supplements were taken on certain days to avoid then interferring w each other. I wish they said the exact type/brand of supplements used.

  16. A lot of things.
    Mon & thurs- Antioxidant, magnesium, vitamin D3, calcium

    Tues & fri – Iron, folic acid, vit C, Omega 3

    Wed & Sat – B complex, essential amino acid, biotin

    But they are also using minox 2 times a day, so for all we know the regrowth is coming from that alone

    1. Would have been better if they left minox out to test the other stuff better. Results seem quite a bit better than what is normally seen from minox alone though.

  17. Looks like scientists are close to being able expand dermal papilla cells without them losing their hair growth potential. This is big.

    Biology Bulletin
    July 2017, Volume 44, Issue 4, pp 363–371 | Cite as
    Preservation of a specialized phenotype of dermal papilla cells of a human hair follicle under cultivation conditions
    Authors
    Authors and affiliations
    E. P. KalabushevaEmail authorE. S. ChermnykhV. V. TerskikhE. A. Vorotelyak

  18. Hello all, so I ate some Chinese food last night and they loaded it up with some kind of sauce that I’m positive has wheat and other bs in it. Soon after eating it my scalp became inflamed and itchy and has kept me up half the damn night! I know some of you deal with the same bs. Has anyone found a remedy for this? It is ridiculous! This must be the immune component of mpb.

    1. Yeah…it’s called a psychologist. Unless you have celiac disease, which is extremely rare, there is nothing wrong with wheat.

      1. You sir are quite mistaken. Educate yourself before calling someone crazy for simply communicating their experience. There is such a thing as inflammation from gluten even if you do not have celiac disease. “Recent studies and experimental data strongly indicate that NCWS exists in a substantial proportion of the population, that it is an innate immune reaction to wheat and that patients often present with extraintestinal symptoms, such as worsening of an underlying inflammatory disease”.

        Non-celiac wheat sensitivity: differential diagnosis, triggers and implications.
        Review article
        Schuppan D, et al. Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol. 2015.

        1. Cool, don’t eat grains then. Or better yet, breathe the air which also oxidizes your cells. Or eat any calories which causes you to age. Educate yourself on what THAT does to you. This may be a surprise, but lots of ppl eat wheat and are…not bald. Shocking. If you are prone to inflammation, maybe wheat makes it slightly worse. I’m sure the sun does too.

    2. Hey Tom, funny you mention it about the Chinese food. I avoid eating Chinese food like Kung Pao, honey chicken etc because they load it with msg and sauces that are just horrible for us. It does indeed cause inflammation. I ate at PF Changs and 1 hour later my scalp was burning and sore for hours. I only get this when I eat very fried and greasy foods or pf changs type of saucy high sodium foods. You are not crazy for thinking this at all. I’m glad you brought it up. The funny thing I used to eat fried, spicy and pf changs all the time when Propecia was super effective on me, but once it wore off its effectiveness I noticed the scalp burning after eating those same foods. Definitely a mpb related immune issue. Jaks should be an effective treatment since inflammation is a big part of the problem.

  19. @Guest99 u r a moron. Just because u don’t get the symptom doesn’t mean others dont. Everyone’s body chemistry is different. You must be very young, ignorant, or uneducated. Hairplz and mjones thanks for backing me up….@mjones back when I was on fin I didn’t get the inflammation either. Sorry it’s fading on you. Definitely an immune component here.

    1. When I was kid, teen and before I was balding I never had those systems of burning scalp from eating any type of foids. I ate pizza, Popeyes, milk shakes etc all that crap when I was young. Even when I was balding early on around 19, 20 I didn’t have a problem. I got on Propecia and never has further loss but throughout the years I would get sharp pain on certain areas of the scalp. It only got worse when I noticed my hair thinking again a few years ago. I would eat at restaurants and would get burning scalp after. I have been eating very healthy since my mid 20s. But whenever I go out to eat at popular chain restaurants where they use average quality ingredients my scalp will flare up. So definitely a inlammatory issue. My question is why does it happen the past few years and not before I was on Propecia when I was early stage thinning? Mpb is a pain in the ass! Can’t even eat foods I want to eat because I will shed more.

  20. Mjones I’m right there with you. I think our follicles are just super sensitive. So for u the slightest change in environment from bad foods will cause a reaction. And it’s not just bad foods that do it for me either. Dairy, probiotics, certain vitamins, and for some weird reason when ever I take vitamin d my scalp gets inflamed and I shed massive amounts of hair the next day in the shower. I think the vitamin d boosts the immune system which tells the dht ridden follicles to scram.

    1. Finally someone that gets similar symptoms except for me i get it at random times in the day whereby my scalp just feels numb/burning and just very uncomfortable. The only other theory i’ve read is that as blood vessels become closed up as follicles die..this causes a burning sensation as blood no longer reaches these areas. Whatever it is, it is very annoying and slightly depressing when paired with the excessive hair loss.

  21. Admin, you mentioned you spoke to one of the studies lead authors Dr. David Saceda-Corralo. In the study it is stated that “Laboratory tests showed no differences between serum hormone levels before and after treatment”. Is there anyway you could contact him again to seek clarification on what is meant by before and after treatment?

    It seems that the injections were done at the start, after 3 months and after 6 months. If serum hormone levels were checked after 9 months it would be normal to expect no significant changes. They may have monitored serum hormone levels closer to the time of the injections but it is unclear. I think it would be extremely helpful to find out more for those of us who can’t tolerate oral Dut.

    I tried to contact but no response as of yet. If you could find anything out it would be greatly appreciated.

    Many Thanks

      1. Hi yes maybe you can contact him first and let us know? Easy to find his contact info online (I prefer not posting emails here unless absolutely necessary).

        If you are unsuccessful, I will try.

        1. I emailed him on Sunday morning and am awaiting a reply so I will see how it goes this week and post back with an update.

          Thanks for taking the time to reply.

    1. Hello Tim and rest of you all,

      We checked serum hormone levels in every medical visit. That means: first visit (before treatment), second visit (3 months after first injections), third visit (6 months after two visits for injections) and fourth visit (in the medical control visit, after the three injections, 3 months after the last treatment sesion).

      We did not find differences between serum hormone levels. In other studies they found changes in some patients and no changes in others, but they used a monthly or even weekly treatment schedule for 1-3 months.

      The most important issue in our study, from my point of view, is that we got very good results with a simple scheme treatment (a mesotherapy sesion every 3 month).

      I am happy to see your comments. I will try to answer the direct questions you write here as long as I could. Next weekend I attend the Spanish Tricology Meeting and I am pretty busy.

      Thanks.

      1. Hi David,

        From what you wrote it seems that serum hormone levels were checked only 3 months after a set of injections (measured before the injections in the 2nd and 3rd visit).

        If this is the case, following the literature, it seems normal to expect no significant differences.

        To explore the possibility of serum hormone levels being affected and potentially causing sides, would you not have to monitor serum hormone levels closer to the time of injections?

        Any response would be much appreciated.

        Thanks for your time

        1. Is is an interesting observation. There are no studies focused on what serum hormone levels and for how long they must remain to induce side effects. In any case, we did not detect any changes in those blood tests and our patients had no side effects. Next studies could investigate if serum hormone levels change hours, days or weeks after the mesotherapy with dutasteride, and (what it is more important) if it is relevant.

      2. Hello there. dutasteride 10ml mesotherapy.
        It does not have eliquid dutasteride here in Turkey.
        as a pill.
        injection of dutasteride pills happens?
        pill 0.5mg 20 pills 10mg mesotherapy

  22. So I did some digging and that dut before and after pic of the guy getting dut meso injections were photos from the original dut pill hair loss trial results from 2002. So this guy is just using the result pics from another study.

    1. Hard to believe that they used obvious fake photos in a journal article. Please provide more evidence or avoid such allegations.

      1. Admin..I will try and go back to find the link to it. For some reason it wouldn’t let me post with the link on your site. I wouldnt pull that claim out of my ass lol. I am very interested in dut mesotherapy.

  23. @Tim: great points!
    @mjones: way to get your dig on. Now dig up some more info about your Greek buddies latest progress! :) lol

  24. Hi Admin, thought to share this post as you’ve mentioned few times in your blog about Dr. Rodney Sinclair an Australian dermatologist. He did a podcast with a local channels station about hairloss. Nothing ground breaking but he did mentioned about oral Minoxidil and said its much effective than the lotion one. He also mentioned he’s doing clinical trial on light therapy.

    http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/hmong/en/audiotrack/professor-rodney-sinclair-hair-loss-costs-us-economically-physically-and-emotionally#

  25. Does not want to get your hopes down, but the “no changes in serum dht” seems to be worthless as they did not measure during the trial, which means they did measure before the treatment and 3 months after the last injection, which leads to the same result as the oral dutasteride trial – no changes before and after treatment in serum dht.

    Still willing to try this though, any clinics/doctors in german speaking europe ?

    1. We checked serum hormone levels in every medical visit. That means: first visit (before treatment), second visit (3 months after first injections), third visit (6 months after two visits for injections) and fourth visit (in the medical control visit, after the three injections, 3 months after the last treatment sesion).

  26. PROMOX SPRAY – 60 ML
    5% Minoxidil @$58.00ea
    10% Minoxidil @$68.00ea
    To add latanoprost to any spray: add $12.00
    Contains: Azelaic Acid, Finasteride, Progesterone, Tretinoin, Hydrocortisone
    Admin
    What do you think of using this product in the treatment of baldnessAdmin
    What do you think of using this product in the treatment of baldness

  27. Hey Hairplz, how effective would you say LLT works? Can you please describe your gains or experience with it?
    Thanks a lot

    1. My first experience with it was in 2013 or so. I used a cheaper helmet, the theradome 2 times a week and used that one for about 9 months with not much change many years ago so I stopped using it. In hindsight no change if a good thing with hairloss! then I went without any lllt for years. in 2014 or so I went on finasteride and saw regrowth in my hairline mostly and less shedding over a year or so. It wanst until 2016 when my dr told me to buy one. I have been using it 3 times a week for 20 min. I use the lasercap pro which cost me two grand. It has definitely helped in reducing shedding which over time has led to more density. Studies show it extends the anagen phase and increases VEGF which helps explain why i would have seen less shedding. It is my firm belief that to see visually significant increases of density with it you probably need to be on fin or dutasteride since otherwise the speed of loss may be faster than the speed of gain. I am on fin AND ketoconazole.one thing I have to say is that in the same period ive been on the laser cap i also took 200 mg of pure epicatechin daily for a 9 month stretch with the goal to spike my follistatin levels. In that period i would say my hair without exagerating that about doubled in density/appearance which i know its hard to believe. The other thing that happened is that i started getting injuries accross many of my tendons such as my wrist that continue with quiate a lot of pain to this day. Thats is my experience so as you can see i cant be 100% certain its due to llt only. I have stopped epi for many months and my joints are still toast. I have continued the laser cap and the days after i use it i do see less hair in my shampoo than the days after i dont use it especially if i go without it more than 2 or 3 days so I do believe it helps.

      1. I will say during 2016 to today i have basically restored my hair completely ecxept for an inch or so spot on the vertex/crown and a line-ish half inch wide few inches long line in my left front side. As a warning, it is bittersweet for me since i would not do it again. A life in pain its too high a price for hair.

  28. Is it possible to get a persciption for avodart in the states? Cant seem to get a clear answer on this. 22 and propecia doesnt work.

    1. Have you tried stacking ketoconazole on propecia? Theres studies that they are synergistic and the combination is better than either by itself. The both help reduce DHT

      1. I tried nizoral 2% for about a month but it seemed to just cause intense itching and sheds. Was using minox with good results for about 6 months then it suddenly just lost efficacy and i shedded everything i gained back.

  29. I have been taking Dutasteride 0.5mg for 15 years now since I was 24yo, I’m 39 now. Never had any side-effects and I got my woman pregnant on my first try at the age of 38. Mind you, I’m VERY active, healthy and in great shape.

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