Lately it seems that every week a new stem cell-based hair growth treatment is announced. Most of these announcements are accompanied by tentative clinical trial dates and vague timelines for future release. Bucking this trend, BioRegenerative Sciences, Inc., a privately owned stem cell therapeutics corporation headquartered in San Diego, CA, recently announced the launch of a product it calls “Hair Stemulating Complex for Women“.The women’s product is now available for purchase with a second formulation for men currently in development and slated for release later this year. The question is; is there any substance to their claims of hair regrowth? A careful read of the company’s website reveals no list of ingredients nor references to third party studies having been conducted. Consumers should be cautious when considering products that are marketed under such secrecy.
According to BRS, the Hair Stemulating Complex (HSC) employs a proprietary technology they refer to as S2RM which purportedly “nourishes the scalp’s stem cell niche where the hair and the hair’s pigmentation develop”. The Stem Cell Released Molecules Technology (SRM) is based on the “identification, selection, culture, and stimulation of the appropriate stem cells and other molecules” and then the capture of those molecules released from the stem cells, including growth factors, peptides, collagen, cytokines, interleukins, anti-oxidants. BRS claims that this process captures what the stem cells normally release in the body and mimics the manner in which the body heals itself. The use of two or more stem cell types to produce the SRM is known as BRS S2RM Technology.TM
I’m currently researching different hair transplant physicians for a follicular unit extraction (FUE) procedure, and I’m wondering which type of extraction tool is currently considered the best and most efficient for this type of hair transplant surgery?
Simply put, the best type of FUE extraction tool is the one that works best for your doctor.
Personally, I use manual hand punches 90% of the time, as I’m not as consistent with the motorized punches except in really straight haired patients. For really curly roots I use a different style hand punch.
More important than the punch name however (manual extraction devices, motorized extraction devices, etc) is that your hair restoration surgeon feel comfortable with it. Additionally, because there is a huge learning curve associated with FUE, technicians involved with the procedure need to be experienced and trained (as this can affect the outcome just as significantly as using different extraction tools). Even in the most experienced of hands, it is a harder procedure than follicular unit transplantation (FUT), with more variable results.
Dr. William Lindsey
_______________ Blake – aka Future_HT_Doc
Is there any medicine or ointment that can be used to keep the scar minimal after a hair transplant? I don’t want it to stretch. Why does it stretch? Does combing your hair stretch the scar?
The reality of scar formation from hair transplant surgery is that it is most dependent on two things which are actually out of your control. The first is how aggressive the hair restoration surgeon is in taking the donor strip. The wider the strip (taller), the more tension on the closure and the greater the chance of scar formation. The second has to do with the amount of elastin in your tissue. The more elastin, the greater the chance of scarring. The younger you are, the more elastin you have. So, one tends to see better scar results in older patients, all other factors being equal.
Vitamin E, in my opinion, is not appropriate for wound care until a few months after hair restoration surgery. Its use during the early phases of wound healing can actually interfere with the normal process and retard normal healing processes. During the immediate post-op period, (First 14 days), Bactroban or Neosporin is most appropriate. As previously mentioned, keeping physical activity to a minimum during the first few weeks after hair transplantation is recommended as well.
Dr. Nilofer Farjo of the Farjo Medical Centre in Manchester, UK shares the story of how hair loss affected a patient and how hair transplant surgery restored not only his lost hair, but his confidence.
The Farjo clinic is able to do mega and giga sessions of all follicular units, up to 4,500 grafts, depending on the patients’ needs. They are very careful to limit the size of the session to only that which can be done safely and with excellent rates of hair growth.
To learn more about Dr. Nilofer Farjo, her experience, skill, philosophy and to see examples of her excellent hair restoration results, visit her Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center profile here.
How can you assess the quality of a particular hair loss product? I have done some research myself for a hair regrowth supplement and I personally believe that this can help me regrow hair but, of course, it’s not an overnight course and I am still considering hair transplant surgery. How costly are hair transplants and how many procedures will I need?
Beware! The hair loss industry is rife with snake oil salesman making lofty claims about unproven and ineffective hair growth treatments.
For men there are only two clinically proven and FDA approved medical hair loss treatments. These are Rogaine (minoxidil) and Propecia (finasteride). However, there are some credible natural alternatives available via our online store. It’s important to note that no alternative hair loss treatment is likely to be as effective as Rogaine and Propecia.
The cost of hair restoration surgery and the number of procedures a patient may require will depend on many variables including but not limited to the patient’s degree of hair loss, scalp/hair characteristics and the clinic the patient has chosen.
The best way to research hair loss treatments and hair transplant surgery is to frequent online hair restoration communities like our Hair Restoration Forum and Social Network.
How soon after your first hair transplant can you safely go back for a second? I’ve asked four hair restoration surgeons so far. Three said eight months, the other one said that he liked to wait until month nine, but that it was safe to go back after eight.
I generally tell my patients that 10-12 months is the earliest I would recommend a second hair transplant procedure.The reasons are four:
It allows time for the blood supply to return near normal to support the next surgery.
It allows the donor area to become lax once again, so that a second strip can be taken out without undue tension on the closure and the possibility of a wide scar.
You want all of the hair to be growing at the time of the subsequent surgery, so you don’t puncture a new recipient site right on a previously placed graft.
You want the patient to see some concrete evidence of hair growth that is relatively impressive so he/she will be motivated to go through with and pay for another procedure.
For women and men with minimal hair loss and a fair amount of native hair still on top who have one procedure, I will usually recommend waiting 18 months so they can see the “full flowering” of the procedure and also so I can best make a determination as to whether they need another session.
Dr. Friedman is recommended on the Hair Transplant Network. His surgical technique, and patient results were carefully reviewed by our patient based online hair loss community. To view the highlights of this review, click here.
Can the hair loss treatments Propecia (finasteride) and Avodart (dutasteride) increase risks of cancer?
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a statement claiming the drugs Avodart and Proscar, typically used to treat benign prostate hyperplasia (prostate enlargement) in men, may increase the risks of high-grade prostate cancer.
The news came suddenly after two large clinical trials revealed the increased risks (ironically enough, both drugs were tested as a method of preventing prostate cancer in late 2010), and now individuals at the FDA are pushing the makers of Avodart and Proscar to include prostate cancer warning labels on prescription bottles.
While this news is important for individuals taking these medications for prostate enlargement issues, the announcement also comes as a surprise to hair loss patients, as the active ingredient in both Avodart and Proscar is dutasteride and finasteride (respectively). These two compounds are used to block the action of 5-alpha-reductase enzymes – proteins responsible for converting testosterone to the hair loss inducing, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) form.
Finasteride is also the key ingredient in the hair loss drug Propecia, which is proven safe and effective for treating male pattern baldness, and although the amount of finasteride in Propecia is greatly reduced (compared to Proscar), the FDA believes it should now carry a similar warning label (although it was not one of the drugs included in the initial clinical trial).
While researching hair transplant surgery I’ve noticed that some physicians utilize nape hair during transplant procedures. I’m curious, is nape hair resistant to future hair loss like follicles harvested from the universal donor region, or are these hairs susceptible to progressive male pattern baldness?
Nape hair, in my opinion, is a bit of a grey area. With normal androgenic alopecia (male pattern baldness) certain, generalized areas are affected by hair loss and create the familiar balding patterns associated with charts like the Norwood balding scale.
However, at the root of the hair loss is a hormone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), that attacks susceptible follicles (those outside the universal safe zone) and creates the balding patterns.
Although the nape hair area (back of the neck/lower region of the scalp) may not constitute a region that fits a Norwood balding pattern, the hairs are still susceptible to DHT and therefore can be affected (to some extent) by male pattern baldness.
Normally, individuals who experience nape loss are advanced hair loss sufferers (Norwood VI and VII), but technically any individual experiencing androgenic alopecia could see some level of nape hair recession.
_______________ Blake – aka Future_HT_Doc
Dr. H. Rahal of Ontario, Canada discusses non-surgical and surgical hair loss treatment options he provides hair loss sufferers visiting his hair transplant clinic.
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Lately it seems that every week a new stem cell-based hair growth treatment is announced. Most of these announcements are accompanied by tentative clinical trial dates and vague timelines for future release. Bucking this trend, BioRegenerative Sciences, Inc., a privately owned stem cell therapeutics corporation headquartered in San Diego, CA, recently announced the launch of a product it calls “Hair Stemulating Complex for Women“.The women’s product is now available for purchase with a second formulation for men currently in development and slated for release later this year. The question is; is there any substance to their claims of hair regrowth? A careful read of the company’s website reveals no list of ingredients nor references to third party studies having been conducted. Consumers should be cautious when considering products that are marketed under such secrecy.
