Dutasteride Mesotherapy for Hair Growth
Male pattern baldness (MPB) can be present both in men and women. It is a hair loss on the scalp, mostly in the frontal and central areas. The hair follicles in these areas are sensitive to androgens, they atrophy, thin and fall off, leaving areas of either frank baldness or just thinning hair. For many it starts as early in their life as in 20’s and 30’s. Regardless of the age when the hair loss starts, it does effect negatively many, causing distress, poor self-image, lack of confidence, and even depression.
There are not too many treatments for male pattern baldness that actually work, but dutasteride is probably the most efficient of them, especially when injected directly into the scalp. But before getting into more details, let’s briefly review all the other options.
Topical Minoxidil 2-5% has been proven effective for scalp hair regrowth in MPB, and is approved by FDA for that purpose. However the efficiency is not very high (26% grew hair on Minoxidil vs 11% Placebo). For sure it is a good option to try before considering anything else.
Finasteride (also known as Propecia) is an oral medication used for treating prostate conditions such as cancer and Benign Prostatic Enlargement. It is also fairly effective in helping re-grow hair in MPB because it blocks the enzyme that converts Testosterone into its 5 times more active form Dehydrotestosterone (DHT). Side effects – reduction of libido in about 1% of males.
PRP – injections of Platelet Rich Plasma into the scalp have been also effective in stimulating hair growth. It works because of the several growth factors it contains that are derived from patient’s own blood. We do perform this procedure in our office (read more under “PRP”).
Stem cell transplant is performed far less often, mainly because of regulatory limitations and insufficient availability. Our preferred type is Mesenchimal Stem Cells derived from Warton’s jelly of the umbilical cord (read more under “stem cells”).
LED or laser red light of specific wavelength has also been shown to promote hair re-growth on the scalp. There are several devices on the market, I have personally tried one of them without any success, which is not to say that they don’t work at all. But the suspicion is there that they are not very efficient, or else, at least in my opinion, all other methods would be obsolete by now.
Hair transplants are effective by definition – you transplant some hair from the back of the head to the front – they are there for some time. Problem is, at least in all of my personal acquaintances that had a hair transplant, they quickly fall off just as their natural hair did. It is because the reason they were losing hair is never addressed by simply transplanting them.
And on that note, it’s time to talk about Dutasteride.
As mentioned above, the culprit in MPB is the androgens – male hormones. They are present in both men and women (far less). And there are several different ones, the best known one being Testosterone. However the strongest androgen is DHT, which is produced from Testosterone with the help of enzyme called testosteronedehydrogenase. This enzyme exists in two different forms – TDH 1 and TDH 2 (a third one has recently been discovered).
The above mentioned medication Propecia is only able to block one of them, rendering it only partially effective. Dutasteride on the other hand can block both, and both better than Propecia. That is why Dutasteride is much more effective in hair re-growth than all other medications. In fact, without blocking these enzymes, there is little value in trying to re-grow hair or to transplant them, because when the underlying cause is not being addressed, the new hair start thinning again almost immediately.
Understandably, Dutasteride can have the same side effect as Finasteride – libido reduction in men. In order to make it far more effective while significantly reducing the side effect, it is best to inject Dutasteride directly into the affected area of the scalp (mesotherapy), something I have done on my patients as early as 2008, probably among the very first (if not the first) to do so.
There is no reason why you can’t combine the Dutasteride mesotherapy with other treatment modalities, such as PRP, Stem Cell transplant, Minoxidil applications and red light treatments. In fact I recommend all of them with the exception of Propecia (as it does the same as Dutasteride, but less – kind of redundant).
Services
Injectables
Laser Treatments
Additional Services
Get Our Latest Specials
