The Hindu Business Line : Losing battle?

Is your crowning glory becoming a source of embarrassment for you lately? Does a single brushstroke leave your scalp depleted of clumps of hair? Not to mention the hair loss with every washing.

Well, help may be at hand in the form of mesotherapy, says Dr Sanjay Parashar, a Dubai-based specialist plastic surgeon. Mesotherapy has been found successful in controlling hair fall or loss, except in individuals with serious illnesses or skin affli ctions. It also helps delay male pattern baldness, says Dr Parashar.

Mesotherapy involves injecting small amounts of a customised mixture of drugs into the middle layer or mesoderm of the skin. The drugs are usually a blend of plant extracts, minerals, vitamins, amino acids and enzymes.

The technique was first developed by Dr Michel Pistor of France to treat sports-related trauma, vascular diseases, infections and rheumatism. However, mesotherapy has today assumed an aesthetic and cosmetic nature, and has been found extremely useful in spot fat reduction, treating pigmentation problems, collagenation of the skin, facial rejuvenation, elimination of cellulite and control of hair loss.

How does it work?

To control hair loss and promote hair growth, mesotherapy uses a combination of nutrients including biotin, hyaluronic acid and silica, besides androgen blockers and vasodilators. This is delivered in small doses directly into hair follicles by means of a gun. The medications enhance blood circulation in the region and stimulate the hair follicles.

After-care

Hair destruction and hair fall are continuous processes accompanying advancing age. Dr Parashar emphasises that mesotherapy cannot do anything for those who are completely bald. It is neither a cure for hair loss nor can it stop natural hair fall associated with ageing. But what it does is to strengthen weakened hair follicles and help them grow into thicker hair. But mesotherapy alone is not sufficient to ensure maintenance of healthy hair state.

It has to be complemented with other healthy habits, including eating nutritious food, avoiding junk food, drinking plenty of water, tackling stressful lifestyles and nourishing the scalp with appropriate hair-care agents.

However, mesotherapy is not recommended for pregnant women, diabetics, especially those dependent on insulin, stroke victims, heart and cancer patients, those who have skin lesions, individuals who are on blood-thinning medication and those who are allergic to the drug components used in mesotherapy.

Also, any contraindication for any type of injection is a contraindication for mesotherapy, hence the process is not advised for individuals with bleeding disorders and haemophiliacs.

However, the heartening fact is that needle-less mesotherapy is breaking ground, particularly in the West, and this involves allowing the drug to permeate the skin by a process called ionisation, says Dr Parashar.

Course of treatment

Persons seeking the treatment are checked for medical history to see if they are fit to undergo the process. They are advised not to use sauna or any other hair treatment, including application of cream or oil, for a whole day prior to the treatment. They are, however, asked to rinse the hair with shampoo.

The duration of each mesotherapy session depends on the hair condition and the person’s pain threshold, but usually lasts 20-30 minutes.

The injections do not penetrate deep into the skin, but as nearly a hundred pricks may be required at a single time, the scalp tends to become sore. This may also bring on a headache soon after the procedure.

In some people, the medications may cause temporary dizziness and headache, which are managed using simple painkillers, says Dr Parashar.

Incidence of local allergies, if any, to the medications is also taken care of, he says.

A typical treatment schedule involves therapy once a week for four weeks, followed by once a fortnight for one month and finally tapered down to once a month for four months. On completion, maintenance therapy may be undertaken once every three months.

Warning signs

■ Hair loss is seen to begin at a much younger age today than it did before, and affects both men and women in equal measure.

■ If present trends are any indication, it is likely that 50 per cent of men and 40 per cent of women would suffer from thinning/loss of hair before they turn 50. The condition is particularly prominent in women as they grow older and reach menopause.

■ Factors contributing to hair loss are many and varied, ranging from hereditary factors to the increasing number of environmental pollutants

■ Erratic and faulty eating habits, eating nutritionally deficient food, illnesses, anaemia, poor blood flow to the scalp region, skin pathology, hormonal imbalances and excessive dandruff are major factors.