Dr. John Cole’s Interesting New Study on PRP

US (Atlanta, Georgia) based Dr. John Cole is one of the world’s most respected hair transplant surgeons. He has trained numerous other surgeons around the world, and is among the world’s most experienced doctors when it comes to the follicular unit extraction (FUE) method of hair transplantation. In 2013, Dr. Cole received the prestigious ISHRS Golden Follicle award.

More importantly, over the years Dr. Cole has been at the forefront of testing out new procedures and techniques, and at adding his own cutting edge modifications to existing procedures. See my post from last year where I discuss Dr. Cole’s experiments with a whole range of different PRP hair loss treatment formulations.

Some might consider a lot of these modifications to just be marketing gimmicks. However, I am certain that it is genuine interest on the part of Dr. Cole to improve the overall field of hair restoration. In recent months, Dr. Cole has taken an active interest in improving the platelet-rich plasma (PRP) procedure. I have discussed PRP for hair loss in numerous posts.

The use of PRP for hair growth has taken off like wildfire in the past few years, but results have been extremely inconsistent. Moreover, almost all hair transplant surgeons who offer PRP (often supplemented with ACell) treatments agree that patients will not regrow hair on totally bald areas of their scalps.

Nevertheless, many claim that PRP usually makes existing hair thicker and even regrows recently shrunken or telogen hair. Over the years I have read a few positive testimonials about PRP on hair loss forums from respectable long-term members. However, none of these testimonials have suggested any miracle results.

Dr. John Cole’s New PRP Study

This week Dr. Cole sent me an interesting e-mail about his thoughts on PRP and about his new study on PRP and I have pasted the contents of his e-mail below. Note that I had not e-mailed him to ask anything about PRP, so this e-mail was Dr. Cole’s own initiative. I have added some brief notes in red below and bolded some of the important parts of Dr. Cole’s e-mail.

I am curious to see what blog readers think. As always, please try to stick to intelligent blog post related comments with no insults. Unrelated comments about interesting new developments in the hair loss world are ok.

Here is the current PRP study I am proposing. We have seen a 50% increase in hair density at six months with Angel PRP (see here) and a decrease with Regen PRP (see here) at that point, but there is an improvement in density and hair check at 12 months with both. That’s good. An increase in hair density is not enough. We need an increase in hair mass and hair check shows we can get this. It just proves that not all PRP is equal. Some are terrible.

What we found with Regen PRP was that some growth factor concentrations were quite low. It suggests that some PRP kits produce better quality platelets because overall levels of platelets were similar. By the way, 1X levels of platelets just don’t work (I have read that 5X is the desired number). Don’t waste your time, nor you money on those. What we have not documented to date is a benefit from Acell (FYI — there are other extracellular matrix products out there too besides ACell), but our data is incomplete at this point, so

I’m holding back on any conclusions on Acell. What I think Acell does with PRP is prolong the duration of growth factors by allowing a sustained release. The problem with Acell is that it is of porcine origin, which makes it intolerant to some religious affiliations.

Thus we need to evaluate the benefits of microparticles such as dalteparin and protamine on the advantages of a sustained release of growth factors at some point soon. These much less expensive adjuncts to PRP would remove religious barriers, as well as, remove financial burden to patients.

We know that Acell can help with follicle regeneration since we cannot locate up to 48% of FUE extraction sites when we apply it during a hair transplant procedure. But whether Acell stimulates stem cells in follicles in conjunction with PRP remains a mystery that we will solve soon. For now, we have to focus on higher growth factor concentrations obtained by sonicated PRP.

Accordingly, now we want to focus on sonicated PRP. At 3 1/2 months, I have found 64 out of 80 grafts growing. That’s amazing with sonicated PRP. The growth factor concentrations in sonicated PRP are off the chart high. As a result, we are engaging in a study in collaboration with the department of chemical engineering at the University of Michigan to investigate the effect of high concentrations of growth factors on the dermal papilla this year.

We also want to look at the density of hair and the hair check and the diameter in a comparison of standard PRP with Acell and sonicated PRP with Acell.

I want to emphasize that across the board all patients in our study done in conjunction with Chiara Insalaco, a plastic surgeon from Rome, had an initial decrease in hair density and hair mass (Hair Check). This reduction in density and hair mass mimics the effect we see from Minoxidil.

I speculate that all patients undergo a transformation from the telogen (resting) phase to the anagen (growing phase) with high quality, concentrated PRP. Anagen effluvium leads to an initial period of shedding, which means that patients get worse before they get better. Just as an adult tooth pushes the baby tooth out of the way, the anagen hair pushes the telogen hair out of the way.

We noted this right away with hair clippings. We found that the percentage of shorter hairs was much higher following treatment with PRP, and the proportion of longer hairs was much lower following PRP. Over time both density and length increase, which leads to an increase in hair mass closer to 12 months following treatment with PRP. Dr. Insalaco and I counted every hair that we clipped in the study area and grouped them by length.

Following PRP, the number of longer hairs drops. However, it recovers and exceeds the number of pre-treatment long hairs following the injection of PRP. Based on these findings, I would recommend a high-quality PRP every 6 to 12 months as a maintenance treatment; however, the duration of this benefit remains unknown.

What PRP will not do is to improve the quality of miniaturized hair for the most part based on our global photography. Years ago in 1999, I found that the last thing lost as follicular unit density, while the first thing lost was hair density in androgenic alopecia. This prompted me to recommend the use of retardants to hair loss early on before the loss of follicles. My conclusions were antecedent to those later proposed by pharmaceutical companies and other researchers.

There are no means to bring follicles back once lost (I think there are rare cases where you can bring back long gone hair), and PRP fails in this objective too. However, unlike products that retard the formation of DHT, PRP carries no unpleasant side effects such as a persistent loss of libido and depression (I do not buy the theory that DHT inhibitors causes depression — maybe depression due to other side effects). As such, PRP seems to be highly preferable to the use of chemicals that can cause long-standing physiological consequences.

We are fortunate to have an article publishing this fall with Pietro Gentile, also from Rome, Italy, documenting the benefits of PRP. We are lucky to have the opportunity to study the combination of PRP and adipose enriched stem cells on hair loss with Dr. Gentile. We are also affiliated with Paul Rose and Bernie Nussbaum in a similar study in Miami.

However, the capacity to study adipose enriched stem cells is far greater in Italy than in the USA (Dr. Joseph Greco’s work and collaborations also seem to focus on Italian researchers). With this in mind, Dr. Insalaco and I are forming an office in collaboration in Rome, Italy with the intent to further study the benefits of regenerative medicine on hair loss. Dr. Insalaco spent the past year training with me in my offices in Los Angeles and Atlanta. She plans to open both a hospital and private practice research center focused on the treatment of hair loss in Rome, Italy. I will be assisting her in this enterprise because she is a gifted surgeon and meticulous researcher. I look forward to continued collaboration with her.

I was thrilled to speak at the 7th conference on regenerative medicine in Rome last December and look forward to speaking at the 8th conference on regenerative medicine in Rome next December. The future of PRP seems to be a combination with adipose enriched stem cells, and there is not a better place to study this than in Italy at the moment.

So here is the study as follows:

The current study model is to apply Angel Arthrex PRP at a 2 or 3% hematocrit on one side and to activate this with Calcium Gluconate on one-half of the scalp. We have found that calcium gluconate activation offers no statistical difference from PRP activated by bovine thrombin, and it is quite safe. Bovine thrombin carries the risk of a hypersensitivity reaction or antibody response to the foreign thrombin. There are no documented cases of plasmid transmission from Bovine thrombin, but this is a concern some have. Plasmids seem to come only from the bovine neural tissue.

Calcium gluconate, on the other hand, is quite safe. On the other side of the scalp, we are applying sonicated PRP. We know that sonicated PRP helps promote far faster hair growth from transplants than standard PRP. However, we are no sure if sonicated PRP will produce a better response in areas of hair loss. An evaluation of density and hair mass are the purpose of the study.

Sonicated PRP is PRP prepared by exposing your own PRP to a higher energy sound wave intended to lyse the platelets and release a much higher concentration of growth factors than can be obtained through activation with calcium gluconate. Some growth factors are increased by 5 to 8 times the concentration of growth factors activated by calcium gluconate. Sonicated PRP is also very safe.

Sonicated PRP requires the use of an expensive machine designed to deliver a known energy for a variable duration of time. We have found that sonication for 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off for a total of one hour produces the highest concentration of growth factors.

The typical cost for PRP is $5000.00 for three treatments. In the study, you will receive three treatments for $750.00 each.

In this study, we will not perform a trichoscan. A trichoscan requires us to trim to 1mm approximately 2 cm2 surface area of hair. Trimming just over 2 square cm can be difficult for individuals to conceal. Therefore, we will be looking at density, diameter, and the hair check because this requires a much small surface area of hair trimming and should not be noticeable. While we did see a positive response on the trichoscan in our previous study, we are eliminating this from the present study. The hair check will require your hair be at least 2 inches long for present and future follow-ups.

In the study, we will want to see you at 3, 6, and 12 months following treatments. We recommend the following treatment protocol. However, we would accept a single treatment provided you make your follow up appointments. We recommend the first treatment at day one, the second treatment at day 90, the third treatment at day 180. However, a single treatment is also possible.

We also know that almost all women respond to PRP. Furthermore, we have a new exciting product for men and females that is a Wnt up regulator (I am skeptical). The Wnt pathway has been shown to increase hair growth.

In a study performed by Antonella Tosti, she found this product improved the Hair Check in the female population of patients she studied. She did not examine this product in men in her study. A positive response in the hair check is a more significant response than an increase in density because an improvement in hair mass ensures better coverage.

I can send you some specific one-year data on both Regen and Arthrex if you like.

Regards,

Dr. Cole

196 thoughts on “Dr. John Cole’s Interesting New Study on PRP”

  1. Wow, great insight. So, like with all things, I’m guessing the “bad” prp is way more common than the “good” version? What would be the best way to tell which version a company is offering?

    Also the WNT product sounds interesting, any idea what’s happening with that? Great work dude!

    1. And the thing I’d like to know…that picture they show. Is that from the 3rd party study or is that a Follica pic???

      1. Worth noting too that they don’t explicitly say they are using minox or fin for their trials. More that a 3rd party used their approach (wounding) but not their method. From their own literature they

        ” stimulate the growth of new follicles and hair through disruption of the skin, followed by treatment with drugs and
        chemicals to enhance the effect on these new hair follicles and potentially further develop new hair”

        Still don’t have confirmation of what those drugs and chems are sadly.

        1. Ah, thanks for that. Although I see they’re now talking about this on HLT.

          But if it’s true that it’s minox (and those results from that study aint that impressive), then how come it’s taken them 10 frickin’ years to bring it to market. That doesn’t jibe at all. Plus they’ve consistently said, including in the above quote I posted earlier, that they’d been experimenting with topical formulations.

          There has got to be something more involved.

          BTW admin, enjoyed that article. Particularly where you poke a few holes :)

          Edit: Hey Mike, thanks. I removed part of your comment as I do not want to get things out of hand again:-)

    2. That looks pretty shady

      – showing only a rendering of model the dermabrasion device
      – showing a screencap from an animal wounding study (follicle neogenesis)
      – showing a screencap from the indian study that confirms better minoxidil performance with wounding, however no follicle neogenesis confirmation

  2. Ya sorry to get off topic admin just wondering I thought that Tsuji interview was this week has anyone heard the results?

  3. I really want to know what the real answer is on the regrowth of completely bald areas of scalp. If it cannot be regrown, then the only way to fix the problem is a HT. Too costly for me. So why do some say hair can be regrown and some say it cannot? What is the truth here?

  4. I am an attorney and need to look good for my career. Approaching age 50, I have a lot of concerns and one of those is balding. I have lost a lot of hair. I also don’t care for the insensitive comments from other people, “hey baldie!” You know? People can be so rude.

  5. “[R]esults have been extremely inconsistent.” I think you meant, “non-existent.” You claim to have read positive testimonies on forums (talk about anecdotal) – could you provide links? Because I and other have started numerous threads on the big forums asking for positive testimonies about PRP, and have yet to find any (there’s currently one of these threads going on HLT, with four replies and no positive results). In fact, it’s been quite the opposite – many have claimed they LOST hair after their PRP sessions. Finally, those few, scattered positive reviews mention hair maintenance only, an effect that is impossible to judge without doing a true, double blind study that includes densitometer data; saying, “my hair seems to have stopped shedding” means absolutely nothing.

    As for HT doctors pushing PRP, it’s very telling that physicians began selling this “treatment” long before there was any study supporting it’s beneficial effects. I can’t think of any other medical specialty where that would happen; can you imagine an oncologist selling a drug that had only anecdotal evidence?

    Finally, as for Acell, let’s review the history of that product and how it made its way into the hair loss community, shall we? Acell was never intended for hair loss – it was a treatment that was promoted for wound and limb repair. It started popping up in forum chatter, and then the HT community started selling it. That’s it – no studies suggesting it’s usefulness, only more supposed, flimsy anecdotal evidence. Interestingly enough, Acell isn’t even widely used by the medical community for its intended purpose, much less for hair loss.

    Sorry, but the HT community has given little reason to trust it. It has always gone for the upsell, promoting things that had no scientifically-proven benefit. As someone who has significant experience in both research science and medicine, I find it appalling that a profession that should be operating on the principles set for in the Hippocratic Oath would promote these protocols. They may be doing no harm, but the almost certainly aren’t doing any good, either (that is, of course, unless you define “good” as improving bank accounts).

    1. BTW, I welcome people to prove me wrong; I would love it if PRP worked, as I have the type of loss for which that it is supposedly beneficial. So here’s a current thread on HLT started by a member (no me) soliciting positive reviews of PRP: https://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/threads/prp-platelet-rich-plasma-injections.100678/
      To date, eight replies, none positive.

      I also find it odd that HT doctors take to the forums to discuss these sorts of treatments. Why do that? If you’re looking for educated discussion about your observations and results with your peers, what are you doing on a forum? That’s what the journals are for. No, those sorts of behaviors are simply unpaid adverts for that doctor’s services, and I’m sure it works quite well.

    2. We discussed this before PRP Sceptic…. If you think the ones I have read are anecdotal positives, then the negatives are also anecdotal. In any case, here is the latest positive one:

      http://www.hairlossexperiences.com/forum3/8463.html

      “The short story is that I’m happy with the results at five months especially considering my particular circumstances.”

      — And another where “Hicks” seems happy:

      https://www.baldtruthtalk.com/threads/22394-Is-there-anyone-on-the-entire-forum-who-have-had-positive-experience-with-PRP

      More importantly, here are pro-PRP studies:

      https://www.hairlosscure2020.com/does-prp-work/

        1. I think you should introduce a guideline for the proper derision of irritating posters on here. Like a gentlemanly etiquette for the abuse of other members posting. For entertainment if nothing else.

      1. My anti royal examples of negative results is far less crucial to the claim that PRP works than are positive anecdotal testimonies: if it works, that should be proven, and not only through a handful of anecdotes on forums.

        Further, I see some major issues with Cole’s methodology. No mention of controlling for other protocols, he won’t be doing trichoscan because it would be too “inconvenient” to the subjects have then shave a 2cm patch on their head, and the subjects have to pay to participate lol! What legitimate study makes the test subject pay? Come on, dude – this is an advertisement for his practice.

        As for personal attacks, when did Indo that? Your post is about a doctor’s supposed study – do you want us to only praise that and not critique what are some glaring deficiencies?

        1. What do “anti royal” and “indo” mean?

          There were three unrelated personal attacks against different people yesterday (none against Dr. Cole) so I had to remove them. No idea what you are saying about my not allowing criticism of Dr. Cole’s methodology or deficiencies.

          1. They were typos; “anti royal” = anecdotal, and “indo” = I

            I didn’t commit any personal attacks in my post, so why post that to one of my replies?

            As I said, that methodology is seriously flawed; what do you have to say about him having his subjects pay for inclusion in the study? That in and of itself could color the results, as people who pay for a service have all sorts of reasons for believing that service worked.

  6. I think it all depends on how each person looks at it though. For me, if im going to spend $5000 on a treatment, it damn well better bring back atleast a norwood or 2. A little thickening is not worth $5000 to me.

    On the other hand if you have a ton of money, and 5k is chump change then I guess itd be worth it. I want a thick head of hair for that price, not wispy, I guess im fine with it, hair. For something that seems to have less than % 50 positive reviews, I would not want to throw my hard earned cash towards it. I mean for crying out loud its 3 friggen injections, with no guarentee it will have any benefit, and some even say it just dropped them below baseline. So why the hell does it need to cost so much? The price of hair treatments is just ridiculous.

  7. I’m agree with @Susana and @PRP Sceptic. Current PRP treatments have very very limited results! And it’s very expensive. Maybe the good combination will be: PRP+adipose cells. In 2017 we will see.

  8. Admin, great job as usual. Cole seems very ambitious but not certain if he’s realistic ( this doesn’t imply anything negative about his character). Make sure to ask him about the Clinic he was opening in Mexico for transplants, stem cell, etc. Seems to have died on the vine.

  9. I tuly feel prp plus adipose may yield so very significant results… On a side note I’m waiting in some hair maniac besides myself to harass Dr. Cole ….example..hey doc while your in Rome you need to track down Dr. Brotzu and make him talk lolololol. Oh and find all the gb guys and gals whileur at it.. Does n e 1 know or have ya heard about the follica device being presented to the public.. Last I heard that were leaning towrds a dermapen type and not laser. Admin thanks again u kick asss! If only Spency baby would talk more about up and coming… He is wonderful and has done tons for the hl community but it seems he shys away from treatments on the horizon .he is a realist and I guess seeing Joe already get his hopes up and lose it was too much…lol

  10. I don’t mean to derail the topic here, but in the post linked in admin’s “(I am not so sure. Please read this Dr. Cole)” aside to Dr. Cole’s comment about there not being a way to bring back follicles, this study jumped out at me:

    http://journalssc.com/?page=article&article_id=33470

    So what the hell is topical diclofenac, why haven’t I seen anyone talking about it, and where can I get some??

    1. Yes, we need a real scientist, not a shade of a doctor who aims at making money out of it.
      Shame on such docs.
      Exploiting people’s insecurity.

  11. I’m seeing the same thing over and over; Differentiate yourself by using some obscure technology/methodology and offer a high cost “boutique” package treatment. I’ve seen it too many times before. When you stop to think about what PRP actually is……you should realize that charging 5000$ for 3 treatments is akin to ROBBERY, in any setting. orthopedic related PRP treatment can cost as little as ~200$ at top hospitals in Europe, as a comparison.

    1. Thats why the coming of a cure or really efficient treatment would be so welcome and blessed! Not to mention that it would solve our problem, it would also put an end to all these ROBBERY and charlatans once and for all.

    2. Exactly; every doctor claims they are using some different technique, which is suppose to be superior to some other technique that all their colleagues are doing. And as you said, the cost is outrageous; a quality centrifuge costs about $1,500, and I have never heard of a plasma centrifuge that cost more than $3,000, so where’s the justification for charging thousands for one treatment? There is no skilled technique to the injection process, and any “additives” are <$100 per patient.

  12. Hi admin,

    I am 23 male, receded temple before I even noticed. Now thinning at vertex. I want to slow down or halt the process. I have seen dermatologist and she said we will wait for 3 months before saying anything meanwhile I am losing my hair like crazy. Please suggest me what should I do ? Should I look into PRP etc. I want to halt the process at best for at least next 6-7 years. I also have eczema and was prescribed for that. But it’s shocking how my derma ignored the thinned vertex. I can literally see my scalp in harsh light and previously I couldn’t so yes its definitely thinned. and losing ~100-150 hair daily.

  13. I have had PRP once, with zero results, PRP/Acell once with zero results, and PRP/ACell twice with what I would describe as good results. In my opinion, you need a doctor that knows what he is doing and it will only be helpful if you have slow gradual thinning so if you have little remaining hair or if you expect it to reverse back your norwood number, you are probably wasting your time. For me, it thickened existing hairs, it took short weak thin hairs that were barely visible and made then longer and thicker and it visibly reduced the circumference of the balding area at the crown. You will not see results before about the 4 month mark and it won’t last more than 12 months. So in my opinion, you need to do it at least once every 9 months. And at that rate, it isn’t cheap, not to mention the travel.

      1. Yes It was Dr. Cooley. And the reason I tried it a third time after 2 previous efforts with no results is that the first with PRP only was at the very beginning. Then I tried it when Acell was first introduced. I decided to give it one more go because they came out with an acell powder (that I heard Dr. Cooley mention) that was much more conducive to being injected without clumping. They are now beginning to try it with something called BioD Restore which is placental rather than bovine. I prefer not to post pics but I can send you some visible proof if you like and you can judge for yourself. And with respect to pushing the treatment, I don’t believe Dr. Cooley has it listed as a treatment on his website so he is not out there making a big sales pitch as far as I know.

    1. PinotQ, did you have any shedding after the treatments that showed improvement? I had my first PRP session done with Dr. Greco and my hair is shedding like crazy. Ugh. Hope this means that I’ll be growing in some new stuff……………..

  14. i know a woman who did mesotherapy and got injected by a combination of proteins and the results were ver good in term of regrowth …

    sorry admin for going off topic but riken replied again and their replies are really weird …

    i emailed them back : “So 2020 release is a dream scenario”

    they replied:

    The simple answer is yes. They are striving for 2020, but there are no guarantees.

    Sincerely,

    Developmental Biology Planning Office (Research Communications)

    RIKEN CDB

    1. Man can you shut up!! They are telling you it’s most likely to release it in 2020, you don’t understand!?! Do you want them to to swear so you believe!? Be thankful they gave you a date of release!

    2. It sounds like whomever is emailing you back works directly in the lab right next to Tsuji and is just on her/his break it’s gotta be.. right? :p I doubt they have the answers Kyocera themselves have globalized their report on 2020 it would sound stupid if they were like awh no we was just kidding which is what that reply is insinuating so I take it with a grain of salt. I’m sure they have tons of people emailing them and they arent exactly going to send ol John Smith the lab video feed and their daily log. So basically…you not I not this replyer probably not even Tsuji knows when this is coming out so instead of critiquing every bone they throw at us let’s just play the quiet waiting game. Unless someone knows how to hurry up the cure of course then by all means put your suggestions under this comment.

  15. If PRP actually had a high success rate it could well be a cure for low norwoods. I would totally get it done if it would regrow thin miniaturized hairs that were still active and thicken up existing normal hair. It’s a shame there are few success stories. It’s always the same old repetitive false promises. I really can’t understand with all the technology they still can’t find a solution that works better than Rogaine for regrowth. It’s just plain sad. If follica, SM, Sisheido fail then we are pretty much done for when it comes to treatments within 5 years. I still have hope for follica out of all the others.

  16. I’m going to a dermatologist in DC next week who is colleagues with cotsarelis. I tried getting an appointment with cots in Philly but he isn’t seeing new patients and back up till Jan. I put myself on a wait list for him, so we shall see. As for this doctor I’m seeing, she had mentioned go me back in 2008 that cots was working on a robust hair loss treatment that would be released in 5 years. Obviously the deadline well passed lol. I’ll try and get as much info as I can and will share it with you guys.

  17. thats the thing of it.
    there is no difference in miniaturized hair or completely invisible hair(bald).
    just because human eye doesnt catch, it doesnt mean they are different.
    if a treatment actually works, it should thicken up all type of hair.. not only miniaturized ones..
    its been known that hairs are not dying just going to dormant phase…

  18. I had a chat with a person who tries the Follica procces

    – Every 2 weeks he performs dermabrasion (just today he did it for a 3rd time – 4th week)
    – Before every dermabrasion session he shaves his head
    – Has his own crude dermabrasion device which he says is a mistake even though is an engineer and waits for a chinese cosmetic microdermabrasion machine with diamond tips – he hopes for better accuracy and hopefully less pain
    – After you cause your skin to pinpoint bleed the skin area is extremely sensitive and therefore going over the part of the skin with his device again is extremely painful – he rates it at 7 with 10 being passing stones..
    – Numbing cream absolutely needed even for the toughest of the toughest – he has hopes for the bought device to cause less pain.. he says microneedling or even getting a tattoo is childsplay in comparison to this
    – After your scalp starts bleeding and oozing liquids you put on hydrogel which causes insane levels of pain for about 30 seconds.. pain level 8,5 out of 10
    – Covers head with a plastic wrap with few small holes and puts on fresh hydrogel 2 times a day
    – On the 4th day his scalp is healed and starts putting on minoxidil again

    Overall he said it’s a messy proccess, hygiene is a must (gloves, 70% alcohol and other antiseptic measures) hurts like hell without numbing cream, for 4 days he needs to have his scalp covered. A very uncomfortable procedure that will seriously limit life for next 4 days.

    He said he now feels like he knows why it takes so long for Follica to release it – it’s super hard to perform proper deep bloody dermabrasion if you dont have a freshly shaven head – god knows how the Follicas probably oscilating (the sanding fingers on that device probably won’t rotate) device will handle exactly this situation – if it wont pull hair or the hair will simply shield the skin from being sanded. Also if you dont use hydrogel your scalp will scab up and will take 2x time to heal. How on earth can people who dont want to shave before, put hydrogel on parts of scalp with hair is and perform their jobs is a mystery.

    He also said he sheds 80% less hair than he used to just weeks before.

    So overall this procedure is only for people who can handle great discomfort and have alot of time on their hands.

    1. Wait…what?! Do you mean, he is just doing something which he thinks mimics the follica process, or is he part of a clinical trial related to follica? I cannot see any product coming out on the market which has the potential to cause serious damage if incorrectly applied. Secondly, any product which requires you to shave your head wouldn’t make market. And anything with that level of effort or pain involved, also wouldn’t make market as a consumer good. I call bullshit that the above has much similarity to follicas process

      1. So do you think there is a difference between one way of removing skin to a certain depth than other? Removing skin on a scalp with hair by a mechanic force does seem to be a problem.. and what do you then when your scalp and hair is wet with blood? You let it scab or use hydrogel like in the patent or phade 2 clinical trial? I do think these are valid questions.

        And yes you are exactly right it wouldn’t make the market – maybe that’s why it still wasnt released. Follica tried to find a chemical that would force more terminal hair to appear at not just 25 out of hundred but maybe at 100 or more so shaving head once for this procedure wouldn’t be that bad since the reward is high. With just 2 procedures you would get up to the average density.

  19. If you can afford PRP it makes perfect sense. After 9 months of PRP with acell things have definitely helped. I don’t think I’ve noticed my miniaturized hair reversing. I’ve been on the big 3 for 3.5 years. I’m going back to Cole September 1st for 1000 graphs and this new PRP treatment. It’s been proven that acell helps in the donor area for healing. Not sure of regeneration. Just like histogen, you need 3 injections. I have not done this because I just can’t afford it. To think histogen will be more affordable doesn’t make sense. I’ve seen Cooleys prp photos and those are impressive. I’ll see if there are before and after pictures of my prp treatment from 9 months ago. If anyone has met Cole you know he’s a competitor. He is blunt so don’t expect a hug but he’s treated me great. Best of luck everyone!

  20. @Hicks if you pay more than 1000€ for 3 PRP sessions you are being stolen. I pay 2000 more than a year and today the same doctor ofers 3 set for 750?

  21. @mjones: who are you going to see? Garza? As him if we can get involved with follica trials as I dont see it posted anywhere. Also be sure to ask him if they are banking on minox with the follica procedure? C’mon man dont back down, you have been telling us for a long time that you were going to work the cots angle and many of is have been waiting.

    1. Hi Tom, I’m on a wait list for cots. All of the dermatologists at upenn were booked till dec jan. Crazy. He was booked till Jan 2017. Hopefully one of his patients will cancel and I can hop in. I’m not seeing Garza in dc. It’s another dermatologist who is pretty top notch in the DC area that is friends colleagues with cots. I will ask her your questions but I’m not getting my hopes up for any solid feedback but you never know. I’ll report back wed with any new updates.

  22. Thanks mjones. Listen I know this is wayyyy off topic but the board is pretty darn quiet right now so I may as well ask. Kind of an embarrassing question. Guys, after you orgasm, does your scalp itch for like the next 12 hours? Mine does and that is when I have the most hairloss in the shower. There has got to be sonething other then fin that can stop that or slow it down? Like a supplement or something?? Sometimes I just want to have fun with a lady friend but im like, damn, is it worth it?? Lol

    1. Hey tom, yes that is due to an increase in androgens being released. I get a ton of hair shedding during sex. It’s like all over the pillows and sheets. I have to brush them off when my girl isn’t looking. I think it may be due to high peaks of dht and blood flow causing a stress to our hair. To answer your question trying taking like 20mg of zinc chelated right after you orgasm. Your body loses a lot of zinc when you cum, which causes hair loss. Replacing it quickly helps. It works for me .

      1. It’s not to do with the zinc, it would take you a lot more time and an awful diet to become deficient. It is, however, to do with your elevated prolactin levels. They are much higher after you crack one off (not when you have sex though, weirdly) and remain high for a period of time thereafter. If you are cumming numerous times a day, you are really pushing prolactin high and causing an inflammatory response , which is your itching and hair loss. Go a week without whacking off and I bet you notice a difference. I’ve been doing that for a few months now, which I’m beginning to suspect it has assisted me in the regrowth I posted over on hrn. Link in previous post comments.

    2. Sorry to jump in. What i don’t get is how does hair fall out in an instant or next day? If spike in DHT is the cause then wouldn’t take months (at least weeks) for the hair to go through it’s phase before being pushed out? If you have sex and the hair falls out the next day, it’s most likely those hairs are going to fall out anyways. Maybe the sweat or heat causes the pores to open up releasing the hairs.

  23. @mjones: ok so you get the same reaction..have you tried taking the zinc before orgasm and what was the result for you? I can tell you that I have taken it before orgasm and it made it worse..also do you get monster shedding and itching after you eat certain foods? Any remedy for that besides the obvious to stay away from those foods?

    1. I take it after. For foods that cause shedding I just stay away from them. There are quite a bit of foods that cause scalp pain, itch and burn for me. For ex. Pf. Changs, almost all deep fried food or food with high sodium. I stopped eating them all together. As much ad love fried chicken it’s not worth shedding and infkammimg my scalp for 3 days. All this started when Propecia stopped working for me. When Propecia was working I ate like all fried foods, pf changs, sodium filled crap and never had scalp burn or shedding. I was also in my 20s not sure if that makes a difference.

  24. Not sure how many of you follow FT blog, but they just scored an exclusive interview with Haircell. The interview is amazing and worth a read. They are claiming to use the bodies own electrical signals to release components to restore organs and hair follicles as well. They made a claim of seeing 3 to 4 fold improvements, not just 10% regrowth. They have been researching organ regrowth for 31 years. Give it a read.

    1. Sounds like a pretty smart guy and they seem to be progressing pretty quick hope it pans out. I really hope I have enough hair follicles left to revive my grandfather and his brothers have all diffuse hair loss from the sides too I’ve noticed which has me kind of worried if anything will suffice :/

      1. I read that article looks good. Only problem it has to go through all 3 phases trials which will take who knows how long. At east 6 to 8 years best case scenario unless it goes through trials as a technical medical device which may hurry the process

  25. @tom, I replied above but wanted to catch you here too. I have the same question myself, but what i don’t get is how does hair fall out in an instant or next day? If spike in DHT is the cause then wouldn’t it take months (at least weeks) for the hair to go through it’s phase before being pushed out? If you have sex and the hair falls out the next day, it’s most likely those hairs are going to fall out anyways. Maybe the sweat or heat causes the pores to open up releasing the hairs?

    1. See my above post. Prolactin not DHT. Try eating mustard after it instead of zinc, you would have more luck. It’s inflammation not.zinc. prolactin ks the trigger

  26. I have met with Dr. Cole several times in Atlanta. I feel that he is now old and out of touch with the most recent events. Not to say that he is not a pioneer of his day, but he is not what he once was. He is driven by money and fame, just as all others… which is not particularly a bad thing- but it has not brought fruition to the final cure. The problem they all face is finding a cure that cannot easily be copied that they can capitalize from in one way or another. Right now, transplants bring in the most money for their time and effort and that is what they will continue doing, with added unproven marketing gimmicks of Acell, PRP, Tri-closures…etc

    In other news: http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/08/is-elysium-healths-basis-the-fountain-of-youth.html

  27. @GBH: do you consume mustard after orgasm because you find it helps or is this theory? Basically do you have positive experience with it? If so, what kind of mustard? The regular store bought yellow stuff or the spicy guildens?
    @mjones: do you consume zinc like right after orgasm or do you wait til the morning? Is it zinc gluconate? Have you ever tried the zinc with those foods that inflame your scalp? I can tell you that all chicken does it to me. So ill be over a buds house for the game and they are chowing down on wings and im like damn I cant eat that or ill be up half the night scratching my damn scalp etc. ..and my theory is that those foods cause inflammation and an increase in dht and the sebum glands go into overdrive resulting in hairs being pushed out prematurely unless they are in the growth phase.

    1. I don’t take zinc anymore unless I go out and drink more than a beer. I would take zinc when I left my girls house so probably like 2 hours later. Regular chicken doesn’t cause any problem for me. Chicken wings in Buffalo sauce is junk food and crap. I eat all organic and grass-fed meat. I shop at whole foods and if I eat out, it’s at nice restaurants not shot places like ruby Tuesdays. I have changed my diet considerably since 2013. Do scalp massages every morning . That has stopped my scalp burn and tingling. It won’t grow any hair but man did it stop my scalp burn and pain dramatically!! Just one fist on left side and one fist on right side and push up so middle of scalp is being pushed up. Do that for 10 min every morning. Massage temple from forehead moving skin up to hair line pushing the blood flow up. Same with crown area. Get your top scalp flexible and elastic. After a week your tight scalp should be more elastic and after 2 to 3 weeks of daily massage your pain should be gone. I think it has go do with clogged dht in scalp, calcification and lack of bloodflow. Whatever the cause massaging works for me.

    2. I’ll have mustard with something once a day because it is an anti inflammatory. Simple as that. When I lift weights, after I play a match, if I have an injury, etc. Its just a great anti inflammatory. I tend to go for Dijon, but thats just a taste thing, never researched what kind is better. My point is, stop ripping the head off it for a week or two, bring down your inflammation with mustard and reduced sugar intake, see how your scalp feels and hair looks, and try not to relapse into binge w*****g sessions. Think of it like this, baldness is natures way of telling you you are having too much sex by making you unattractive to women, and if you’re overdoing sexual stimulation, you’re cheating nature.

        1. Not sex brah, jacking off. Has a different effect on neurochem and prolactin. Haha surely molesting yourself to the extent that your hair falls out is sadder?

        2. actually, let’s make this interesting…you prove that there is absolutely no connection and I will try and prove that there is, deal? Talking about posting studies which support the theory.

  28. @admin, sorry bout askin something off topic. Has anyone tried any natural DHT blockers? Been reading a bunch of good reviews on Amazon of the product Folliform. Im aware that its not as effective as Fin, but im still curious to know if anyone tried something similar?

    1. Spanky anything new and interesting is always ok even if off-topic. Regarding Folliform, reading some of the descriptions and the reviews, I am very skeptical.

      English is also not the first language of whoever is selling the product and they have no website… I spent 2 mins doing research on it so you might having better luck finding the missing information.

    2. Seems like bullshit to me. If you are looking at natural DHT blockers, I’d go for a cheaper risk free thing which you can use long term. Pumpkin seed oil extract or nettle leaf extract will set you back like ten quid for three months and are both effective DHT inhibitors. Used pumpkin seed oil tabs for a few months, didn’t see regrowth but less scalp itch / greasy hair…plus huuuge spike in sex drive after 6 weeks on it. Might go back to it.

  29. Hey Admin. Quick off topic question.. Is the general consensus that hairs cretaed by dermabrasion (Follica) would cycle normally but eventually fall prey to DHT/ inflamation. Do we have a theory on how long that would be before it happens?

    1. Richieron, unfortunately I do not know, but maybe they say something in their recent/last one year’s worth of large pdfs/presentations?

    1. No idea what I had – 375 mg rings a bell but might be way off. It’s all natural so can’t hurt. Does leave a pumpkin oil taste though when you digest it, like a nutty olive oil. Not too unpleasant actually

  30. Guys, commentator “PinotQ” sent me several e-mails in the past two days describing his various PRP procedures. The procedures that he had with Dr. Cooley worked well and his before and after photos clearly show this. Unfortunately, he does not want me to post the photos here, so you have to trust my word. “PinotQ” has been commenting on here for a few months, and all his past comments have been useful and have involved topics such as dermal papilla cells, Tsuji, Replicel/ Shiseido etc… so I trust him and am sure he is not trying to promote PRP or Dr. Cooley.

    It is one more anecdotal piece of evidence and you can take it for what it is.

    1. why not? come on pinotq.. there are ENOUGH obstacles in hair loss world. Don’t become another one for sweet mary’s sake!

    2. Come on admin and with all due respect for your wonderful work here… anecdotal evidence is just that: anecdotal. There is not a single shred of evidence that this thing works, and dare I say: PRP has been proven time and again to be nothing but a load of balooney. How anyone can part with thousands of their cash to get this useless treatment is beyond me.

  31. *Admin

    What sort of improvement have you seen in these pictures?

    Any norwood changes?

    Shame the poster won’t show pics. But to be honest if it couldn’t take you down at least 2 points on the n/w scale then it’s of no consequence to me.

  32. I didn’t read the whole article, but the word dalteparin and protamine caught my attention. So adding an anticoagulant and protamine (protamine is the antidote for heparin, and just to be clear, the human body makes its own heparin, its our bodies natural blood thinner) will make things better?

    I honestly think that the price of PRP is way too marked up! It’s the patient’s own blood! Shoot, I could buy my own centrifuge and get a nurse friend to inject my own blood into my scalp.

    And stop sending me spam email!

    1. Yoda load those up bro. I’m very interested in Hcell. I have gut feeling they have something good for low Norwoods

  33. Is 2016 in a few months 2017 and we still talking about PRP. It’s so sad. At least we have new treatments (new pathways) for male and female pattern baldness in 2017.

  34. Unfortunately Paul, I see no treatments coming in 2017 either. Any treatment even close to that date has not released any photographic evidence that it will help us. Treatments that have, are not even in the US and will still take years to get FDA approval. Unless you have thousands to dish out to travel or spend on a FUE I see no end in sight for mpb.

    Usually I try to be pretty optimistic, but rcently my hair has been thinning like mad and ive just given up on this crap. Scientists cant seem to agree on whether or not bald scalp areas can regrow hair, most of them seem to care more about AA than mpb, half the treatments have gone silent, none of them can release halfway decent pics. Its just a joke. When companies are taking methods such as prp and fin and trying to come up with a better way to utilize them, I think it means we effectively have 0 other options in the near future. Maybe in 5 years a treatment will halt baldness, but by then for 90% of us on this blog it will be too late, myself included.

    1. Rancid mango just wrote the most on point post I have ever read on this blog. I have my appointment tomorrow with my dermatologist, maybe she can shine some hope on the cots forefront.

      Maybe AGA is just something that can’t be won. It’s a genetic trait like height. Can’t fix it unless you fix the gene causing it which is decades away from commercial practice.

      Follica, histogeb and maybe SM, is what we got that might have a chance

      1. mjones, are you serious when you think that some dermatologist will give out to you the secrets Follica has been struggling to hide for 10 years, in an appointment.

        You really should be kidding.. lol

    2. I respect your opinion…but i don’t think the same. Sorry. People are working VERY HARD. Remember that.

  35. @Mjones

    HL never will cure in our lifetime at least… But some f…. Tratment se need and is posible if someway they find/invent .

    The real Joke is so many companies calling to the descovery of a new treatment/cure and ZERO prove of that. This is a real Joke. XD
    The histogen CEO in the last interview saed that they forgot to take picture of the great finnd the just made…. Really? They forgot?
    XD
    Really they think that we will believe that just discovery you dont get photo from you own cellphone ?
    Is a Joke .

    1. Susana how can you say never a cure in our lifetime when we have Riken working on hair regeneration?

      Things point to them being possibly close to a functional cure.

      7-15 years seems like a very good possiblity if everything goes well in their research. It may seem far but it really isn’t and it is within a lifetime.

      If God forbid Riken did fail, then yeah, I would say there will not be a cure.

      But as long as we have Riken in the game then we still have hope.

  36. M jones please do not forget my questions. At the minimum ask if minox is the follica treatment? If not, what is?
    Ask if we can get involved in the clinical trial as many of us are not on any treatments and would be ideal candidates.
    Ask her if she were to give an estimate on when follica will be available? She will reply I have no idea. Tell her to just guess.
    Ask what is the holdup?
    I am east coast as well so i can get involved

  37. If Follica worked well it would be the perfect and most “organic” treatment. No cell manipulation, biopsies and implantations which could result in unnatural results. With follica all the new follicle formation would take place organically underneath the skin layer.

    But I still don’t see any evidence that follica could work. Lacklustre research results that were published few years ago showed na-da.

    As somebody once pointed out, follica do not have a completely new method of wounding that is completely unique.
    What they will use will be similar to wounding techniques we have seen already and for the most part have shown very modest improvements. Nw7 to nw0 – !!!! no.

    If follica will use minox, then that’s depressing. My only hope is for a miracle and that further down the line they use FGF9 which shows a lot of promise for regrowing hair, at least in mice.

  38. There are many new treatments Friends. I think baldness will end in 2018. Follica + histogen + Hair transplate + brotzu = Nw7 — Nw0

    or Repricell, brotzu lotion, kelopesia lotion, … I am very hopeful..

    1. Yeap, the cure is coming. Com’ on … like really?
      Shave it, grow a beard and wait up until 2020. By then, we shall know if Tsuji’s method has any potential…
      I wish you all the best, my baldsy friend.

  39. I have to agree with Habe here. If follica indeed needs minox then lets just forget about all this new treatment BS. no further questions… case is closed for good.. lets focus on some other treatments.

    going forward if someone talks about follica, lets be harsh on them too…

  40. Guys, stop crying please. every single thing you are writing here is just suppositions, there are some companies working on AGA, showing what they can show.
    i know you guys are crazy to see before/after pics, but please, be patient, there are a lot of millions waiting for the first company that comes with a new treatment, so that meant they are working on it, just wait, we’re closer and closer every single day. ( Follica, Brotzu, Histogen, Replicel, Kelopesia… ) Patience guys..

    1. @Cris

      why you think de are close? I need only one reason. 1. And dont tell me is becouse are farmas CEO talking all have the next big thing…..

    2. Kelopesia is a joke. Just another snake oil. Brotzu we have only seen proof for AA patients, and we have to go by word of mouth that it works for AGA. And if it was even half as decent for aga as it is for aa they would not be targeting this for aa use, but rather where the money is which is aga. Follica is apparently just butchering your scalp and slapping minox on it. I can use a garden rake to destroy my head if thats what I really wanted, and I would never use minox again because it is a joke. Histogen gave shoddy pics and has been in the works for ages. I’m not saying they dont have a treatment because they do, but it isnt going to be even close to what we are looking for, and wont be in the US for ages. Replicel I have barely even heard much news or buzz about.
      Think about it. If a company was really close to a cure, or even a % 50 regrowth and maintainence drug, all other companies would just drop out of the race. SM wouldn’t bother trying to move forward with their % 10 regrowth if there was a legit treatment coming out. HCELL wouldn’t have even put their name out there. People wouldn’t be trying to 3d print hair, they wouldn’t be trying to reintroduce fin as a topical, or trying to come up with better ways to make prp work if a real treatment was around the corner. Every scientist has a different idea of how to regrow, and it seems like every other day a new company joins the fray – which is a good thing and a bad thing. Means we have more people looking into it. But it also means we really dont have anything to look forward to in the near future, because if we did there wouldnt be 50 hands in the pot trying to get a piece of the profit because they would lose out the second the real treatment hit the stores. Yes better things are coming, but I do not think it will be anytime soon.

      1. @Rancidmango…demagogism: the art and practice of gaining power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people. And remember Finasteride and Minoxidl DON’T WORK. WE NEED NEW TREATMENTS ASAP. And yes, at least we will have new treatmentS for MPB/AGA very soon. It’s easy. Market and demand.

        1. An interesting thought paul, but my father and grandfather are bald, and I know they felt the same about hairloss as you and I do. The emotions and passions are already there, and I believe they have been for a while. There have been plenty of treatments even during their younger days that promised a cure was “just around the corner” and then failed to deliver. Not trying to get into a pissing contest with you by the way, as I think you bring some good points to the table and always have, not to mention I appreciate your optimism. Its just getting very hard for me to see the light at the end of the tunnel recently and im about done with this whole baldness ordeal. I want proof. I want answers. I want to be rid of all these snake oil companies making profit off of poor saps such as us.

          1. I really fancy your mindset, Rancit, even though it’s mixing up things a little bit.
            Let me explain myself.
            All projects currently running or being at standstill (except for Replicel/Shiseido and Tsuji-sama) won’t work, in my opinion (that’s an assumption, of course, based half on evidence, half on my guts; Greeks can be very intuitive!). Yet, the increasing number of research teams and projects and of real companies getting involved in da business is a good thing. A good thing, pal. The more people you get working on the same deed, the higher the chances of getting somewhere most of us would be happy about, ;-).
            iPS technology was a mere sci-fi scenario in your grandpa’s and papa’s blossoming years. Now, it’s reality.
            This era is different, amigo.
            I know you’re sick and tired of it, but com’ on, you’re clever. You know that baldness cure or at least effective halt treatment is gonna be a reality in the years to come. We just need real science coming in. Not PrP fiascos and advanced FUE techniques. Who wants white dots all over their head?
            You’re clever. No need be so dark pessimistic!

      2. @Rancid

        Everyone should give up if there is a product out or soon to be coming out right?

        Just like Pepsi did when they realized that Coca-Cola had been out for over 10 years with essentially the same product. Legend has it that they went bankrupt because no one bought their brand of cola.

        Cheers.

        1. No I’m not saying anyone should give up. I’m saying from a financial standpoint, I highly doubt any company would be investing more money in an outdated treatment such as fin, or something like prp that has such a small success rate if a really good and effective treatment was around the corner.

          And like I said, im happy more companies are targeting mpb. I just think that if a company found a cure like treatment and it was to be released in the next few years, why would all these other companies be trying to correct mpb by different methods if one was already shown to work?

          1. we like choice. Some people will want to inject chemicals, others their own cells, others will want to pop a pill and still others will want to puncture their heads.

            Your question of why companies would still be looking for a cure for one is easily answered. The market is huge. On top of that their technique is different which will be marketable to a whole different subset of people.

            It goes back to Pepsi… Why would they make a cola if one was already out?… Marketing, niche market, choice etc.

  41. no Crls, so far i only see very few who has a potential to cure this disease. Dr Tsuji and maybe jak inhibitors and replicel.. others are pure scam nothing more than that.. and you will see maybe one or two of the mentioned above treatments will hit the market

  42. Hey guys.

    I know its out of topic but did anyone of you noticed that swimmers dont suffer from hair loss?!
    Or maybe im imagining stuff

    1. Fabien Gilot was the only one i can find who was losing his hair a bit. Could be a coincidence or you could be onto something ;)

    2. It’s probably the fact that their whole entire body is being worked out cardiovascular and blood flowing all over especially the head. Then again runners do that same thing and I see lots of bald runners. Maybe it’s the chlorine burning the dht from their scalp lol

    3. Most swimmers are 18-24 (Phelps owes a lot to the drugs his docs gave him!). AgA ain’t that frequent at such a young age.

  43. Hey guys just got back from my dermatologist appointment. She wouldn’t tell me a dang thing about follica. She even went to tell me that derma rolling is bs and it doesn’t work. She goes all you can do is Propecia and Rogaine. That’s it. Or ht. So that really put me in a bad mood. Either she doesn’t know anything about hair loss or she is being straight up honest and saying we are fked for any better treatments anytime soon. I’m still on the wait list for upenn cots but at this point I’m just starting to not care anymore

    1. Really they told you that? all you can do is Propecia and Rogaine? XD

      And you pay for that? What do you waiting for? Come on..

      Nobody have the real cure/tretment that we ask. The better thing is something like fin without 2° effects.
      Kepolesia is dead. Brotzu is almost proven to be the same.
      You need to understand that in reasearch the lies are true. Only to have more money to do research.
      They are PhD that the all life are made in Reserach without somethinh real to prove correct or in best case to be real bit not working in the real life.

    2. A very few dermatologist know about the upcoming treatments for AGA, because they usually don’t search for the upcoming products.

    3. mjones, I agree that you should not care and probably take a break from the hair loss world. You have been talking about Cotsarelis for at least one year now I am guessing. The next dermatologist that you see might tell you that the only option is a wig! In that case, come back and post a before and after photo.

      FYI — you should try to date Susan from Portugal. You guys are 100 percent made for each other. I am very serious.

      1. Very true statement admin. She is one of the very few people in this forum who is smart and realistic. I would totally date her:) Portuguese women are hot!

  44. I wouldnt read too much into dermatologists when it comes to hairloss. They don’t specialize in hairloss, they are more for skin disorders etc. A trichologist would have more accurate and current information. My derm is a complete waste of time as well, and just chalked my hairloss up to TE, when it is quite clearly aga.

    Besides they won’t get any info on upcoming treatments or care about them until they are released. So your derm is correct – for now. Fin and minox are the only treatments we have. As I already said. Our children will be very fortunate to be free of this disorder. We, on the other hand, I believe are doomed to rock the chrome dome.

    If scientists really wanted a cure for mpb they would pool their thoughts and ideas into making one treatment that attacks from all angles. Having 25 different friggen options that all use a different pathway to correct baldness is not going to be the answer, but it will bring them lots of money. At my job we have something called “kaizen.” Basically we take everyone who had an idea on how to improve a process and put them in a room to hash sh** out and come up TOGETHER with the perfect plan. We dont use one single idea because no matter what, it will have its flaws. Instead we get a bunch of different perspectives and eventually we get a virtually flawless process. Right now we have gene editing, follicle cloning, jak inhibiting, prp injecting, topical dht inhibitor, wnt pathways, etc etc. Its a money grab, because quite clearly not one of these stand alone treatments is the end all.

  45. I asked her about Rogaine with retina she said retin a won’t grow hair and won’t work better with Rogaine. She pretty much said everything not fda approved is crap. I asked her if anything new is coming out and she said no. She said she attends all the conferences and she saw nothing that had any potential to grow lots of hair. All in all I shouldn’t have gone to see her. The derm in upenn that I saw a couple years ago said they were working on activating stem cells to cure hair loss and that it would be out in 5 years. The only real advice she gave me was that Rogaine liquid might work better than the foam that I’m using.

    Anyone here switch from foam to liquid with better results ?

  46. Mjones i want to thank you forb your pursuence. She is probably told to only talk about the current approved fda products…at least I hope that is the case. Did you or her mention histogen by chance? Did you talk about follica wounding even the slightest? Or did she change the topic as soon as you said the majic word follica? When I went to upen like five years ago they said the same about minox liquid fyi. They also encouraged me to apply it with a toothbrush. I think were screwed guys. In the future some of you need to chill out about the non fda approved potential treatments like brotzu and kelopesia. You get everyone amped up only to be dissapointed later.

    1. That is exactly what happened. I said follica and she gave me this look and then switched topics. She cut me short on everything and just said Rogaine and Propecia. She goes I won’t go completely bald while taking Propecia and that I will maintain 70% coverage. She said derma rolling is bs. That’s all we discussed. No histogen discussed

      1. Ha – I had a similar experience with a dermatologist – as expected though.

        Plenty nice and all, but literally had read what he had to say many times over – he’d start each sentence and I’d finish them off.

        The anecdotal information was all I really wanted – re. Fin and sides experienced by other customers / frequency etcetera.

        Some of the infographics were embarrassingly basic, I guess to cater for all.

        TBH – I have been making good strides as far as acceptance goes. I recommend watching Max DaSilva shaving head videos on youtube. He looks awesome!

        Focusing on getting lean and muscular – certainly attracting a lot more looks. Walking around with a smile on your face makes a big difference too.

        It is not so bad yet TBH.

        Still would be sweet to regrow – it is nice to have the haircuts and people playing with your hair. I guess re-purpose the money for massages for now?!

        One-love brothers.

  47. Fda approved = pharmaceutical companies profit. For a dermatologist to say that there’s nothing coming out with any potential is just ridiculous

  48. I think it will be resolved in 2018 .

    follica – 2018 ( terminal 25 / 75 vellus )
    Histogen -2 018 ( vellus regrowth ) 2-5 years for re-use
    kelopesia – 2016 ( same histogen)
    Brotzu – 2017 ( 5 years back )
    repricel – 2018
    Patience friends .
    2020 will be resolved before the.
    but a cure completely in 2020. thanks @admin nice blog.

    1. I have no idea what the timeline will be but there is more research inching closer to a solution every day and there are more entities coming at this from many different perspectives than ever before. So I don’t think it is unreasonable to be optimistic. Personally, I think we may see some incremental advances in the next few years but I don’t see the big breakthru until someone solves the cellular culturing issue so that multiplication into the millions retains inductivity. So if you are a high norwood the near term probably doesn’t look so good. But if you are fighting to hang on with better prospects for some increment of reversal, there is reasonable hope. I note that Admin’s comment on fevipirant didn’t seem to get much play, but in as much the clinical trial has been described as an asthma game changer (exponentially better results than setipiprant), I think this might see a fast track to market that will be prescribed off label to prevent hairloss. I also think JAK inhibitors, if proven effective, might see a relatively fast track to market since they are already approved internally but would only be applied topically for a period of time, maybe for a brief period on an annual basis. And I think Follica will get to market with some improved increment of effectiveness. I am a big believer in following the money when you are trying to read between the lines and figure out what’s really going on. And there is an incredible amount of money out there for any company that crosses the finish line with a breakthru treatment, so the motivation level is very high. If you follow this line of thinking, and take a look at Replicel, despite claims in a recent video that they have solved the inductivity issue in replicating dsc cells, you will see their stock price on a continual downward slope. On a five year path from over $25 a share to a current 45 cents a share, or perhaps more relevant, over the past 1 year, a decline from just under $5 a share to a current 45 cents. There is nothing in their stock price that would seem to back up their claims that they are moving toward an effective solution.

      1. Thanks for replying.
        I have fin and side effect. And currently fin doesn’t work well.

        i dont have enought time. Everytime i hear good news about clinical trial, i realize it takes long time for me….

        About brotzu, we dont have any surance.
        it gives me a hope, at the same time, also depress me that it may be scam.

        BUT i really really hope that we have excellent treatment or cure for near future.

  49. Sorry admin this is off topic, I think one day baldness will be something from the past this what I belive,
    Since AGA is not a life threat and complicated disease it consider as a cosmetic, so scientists wouldn’t spend time and money to find a cure, that’s why all the treatments that are available and approved now has been discovered accidently.
    What I want to say is.. all this companies are runing researches and trials that means they are so close and it’s all just a matter of time, who knows may be some day a scientist would show up with a breakthrough and find a cure coincidencly..
    Thanks admin for the hard work.

  50. Is there any news about Indian contraseptive RISUG? which was in development by I. I. T. KHARAGPUR by dr. Guha..

    Its side effect was hair regrowth.

  51. aah man i wish atleast brotzu works as he said… until Japs do something about this curse…. I am totally scared to take propecia and never will and minoxidil never worked for me ..it actually made it worse…..

  52. If brotzu works for AA how come the girl with the fb account who was on fidia trial is still completly bald ? And there isnt any single pic to prove that it works for aga and the dr has done trials on humans for 6 years ! How abour a single young man pic who got his hair 5 years reversed to back the weird theory of this reputable vasculsar surgeon who is not really specialized in hair loss …

    1. Because hair loss makes smart men desperate and willing to believe anything. Of course, there would be a picture if it worked. There’d be dozens. Same goes for Histogen.

    2. Brotzu lotion works for MPB and it will be released in 2017. Thanks @hlscc. And rivertown therapeutics is finishing phase 2.

  53. Hair loss drugs falls in the same category as obesity drugs. These companies will claim whatever they can to sucker you in to get your money. It’s just how it is.

    None of is knows what will be the true cure or treatment. It’s a long ass waiting game that has unfortunately been disappointment after disappointment. Good news is that several of these companies are aiming for 2018 release. We shall see if they are legit. Time will tell.

  54. Paul phoenix you always struck me as a level headed guy that understands what is going on. I am kind of curious why you believe brotzu will work for mpb when we havent seen one pic of it working on mpb? Is it just a hunch??

  55. I have a crazy question and it’s off topic, but maybe you guys could share an oponion? If this needs to be deleted that’s ok too.

    I know some people claim that garlic and onion topicals help with hairloss. Also, that plucking hairs can cause the body to regrow hair due to inflammation or something like this?

    My idea is maybe hot sauce could be used as a topicle. It may activate the same response as plucking hairs and perhaps even increase blood flow?

    Maybe this has been tried before? Either way let me know what you think. I might be crazy enough to try this.

    1. Onion juice is high in sulfur which is a hair growth stimulant. Garlic is an anti inflammatory and immune system builder which could cause some hair loss to slow down

      1. You can soak your head in garlic hot sauce for a year and it won’t do a thing, except make you smell lol. I guess I have not tried it, but judging from history of all bald human beings I don’t see how hot staff can help. Working through big 3 regime will be a more useful time. Minox + fin/dut + nizoral as good as it gets for now

    2. I can say from my personal experience that i used to squeeze the juice out of an onion and apply it to the scalp with wool or a quick finger massage and it kept my hair in great condition, reduced fallout and thickened the hair that was thinning. I did this twice a day however in the end it was too much to keep up, especially considering the smell that comes with it. I think if a topical was made with the potency of onion and garlic and took away the smell somehow (i know this would most likely hugely reduce the effect but i’m making an ideal scenario) then i genuinely believe this would make for a good topical.

  56. Anyone sign up yet for the setipiprant clinical trial? Anyone going to? It amazes me how so many dudes on here where so excited about this discovery but now its time for trials and its a ghost town. Put that on the list of “I dont get it!”

    1. Still waiting for Pennsylvania to start recruiting. I check back every now and then to see if they have started. Like I said before, im more than willing to try it, and have not been on any other treatments for over a year now.

  57. Hey Tom, when you went to university of Pennsylvania which doctor did you see? Did you try Rogaine liquid with any better effect than foam?

      1. They said they already had a 100% solution for male AGA. Working on it for female hair loss.

        A lot of us thought and still think they were just fooling around with their bold statements in April 2016.

        If they actually were fooling us (very likely) Thorn Medical should be punished on the financial market within 1 or 2 months. At least that is what most of us hope for.

        As soon as 1 or 2 decent AGA solutions are on the market for everyone, all the scammers will go bankrupt, that is exactly what should have happened years ago.

  58. @hlscc: Yes, I try tofac since 6th july but the dosage and the vehicule are really not good. I want to try the Tofac cream of Chemistry Rx Philadelphia:

    https://www.facebook.com/chemistryrx/photos/a.632498960200070.1073741828.366683910114911/789559087827389/?type=3&theater

    But they want not to deliever the cream to Québec (Canada) and I need a prescription by a US dermatologist only. It’s very complicated for me.

    Are there a trusted person here who would like to contact me privately to help me get the cream? A person living in the United States near Philadelphia, which would fetch a prescription from a US dermatologist , who would run the Chemistry Rx buy the cream. Of course , I will refund the price of cream and the delivery Philadelphia-Québec.

    Thank you.
    William

  59. Mjones: I saw two doctors. First was garza second was an asian lady however I do not recall her name. Couldn’t tell you if one worked better then the other. Both worked but bloated my face so I quit.

  60. I want. But I need help. Read again my message. Sorry my English is very bad.

    “But Chemistry Rx want not to deliever the cream to Québec (Canada) and I need a prescription by a US dermatologist only. It’s very complicated for me.

    Are there a trusted person here who would like to contact me privately to help me get the cream? A person living in the United States near Philadelphia, which would fetch a prescription from a US dermatologist , who would run the Chemistry Rx buy the cream. Of course , I will refund the price of cream and the delivery Philadelphia-Québec.”

  61. Sceptics, You’re observations are spot on. Not all PRP spinners are created equal. There is no standard of practice so unless you do the research yourself, then find a clinic that has the gear you want, you’re rolling the dice. PRP by itself does not work. I don’t care how many treatments you get. We see it all the time. minox by itself does not work. Finasteride is what you prescribe to your enemy, we also do ED treatments, we’ve seen the aftermath of that one.
    Can you ReGrow Hair on shiny bald scalps? Yes. It just takes longer. Each new terminal hair becomes a stem cell donor for the next layer of ReGrowth. It comes in, in approx half inch increments. It begins as villus hair that is best seen with a green LED light as they are extremely fine and clear. Tattoos mark the end of terminals. Villus hairs eventually become terminal as long as the patient is disciplined with their home care regimen. The new terminal hairs give rise to the next layer of villus sprouts and on and on it goes.
    On price, yes it is expensive to offer a high quality program that actually ReGrows hair. The better the spinner, the more expensive the kits, and as I’ve said before PRP by itself is a recipe for disappointment. Acell, Amnio, High concentration PRP and home care including LLLT, topical formulas, and nutritional supplements including dermal rolling are all necessary. Save your money. If you’re being offered $700 PRP TX’s I absolutely guarantee you, you will be wasting your hard earned dough. Our cost is way over that but we have zero Non-responders. If you truly understand the concept of hair regrowth you will know that it is going to take time and the amount of time depends on two things 1) The amount of recession, you start with and 2) Your disciplined execution of systems and processes. There is no magic. A bunch of injections done at any interval with no home care is a complete waste of time, money and energy.
    It’s no wonder guys are so aggressively negative on this site. They are right. Docs and clinics have not done their research before they offer the next quick buck treatment. Most have no idea what is required in order to actually ReGrow Hair.
    Here I go, teaching my competition, but we need to clean-up this industry. The cheap me-too guys are an embarrassment.

    1. Ah, yes. “We have the super magical centrifuge with flux capacitor that spins the plasma at just the right speed. We combine that with our essential proprietary blend of snake oils that we add to the PRP. All that for ONLY 10X the cost of “standard” PRP.”

      Produce peer-reviewed studies proving your “unique” process is any better than the standard treatment or be content to look like a scam artist.

Leave a Reply to Uncle Grandfather Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *