Mesotheraphy

Mesotherapy is a technique that is being widely advertised nowadays as a solution to male pattern baldness. But does it really work? Where is the proof? These and other questions must trouble the mind of any person who wants to try this therapy.

Mesotherapy was started by a Frenchman, Michael Pistor, in 1948. It consists of injections of a mix of substances into the mesoderm, the layer of fat cells under the skin. This was believed to help in reduction of fat bulges and also of cellulite. The exact mechanism was never explained scientifically.

From its initial use in fat reduction, mesotherapy soon came to be used for all sorts of cosmetic procedures. It began to be used for age related changes, skin marks, wrinkles, etc. Now it is being advertised for use in regrowth of hair also in baldness. A cocktail of different substances like natural plant extracts, homoeopathic agents, vasodilators, finasteride and minoxidil and vitamins are used, but no center will disclose what exactly it uses. None of these substances have been shown to work in the mesoderm.

But it should be remembered that this has no scientific basis whatsoever.. No one has yet been able to give scientific proof that it works. All that we have are anecdotes related by the centers themselves and photographs which seem decidedly dubious. No such claim has been able to stand the test of scrutiny. There is no way to tell whether the photographs shown in such advertisements are genuine.

There are no scientific studies at all into mesotherapy. If indeed it worked, then there should have been a lot of research into its effects and how exactly it works. At present for example, there is a great deal of research going on into use of stem cells for regrowth of hair. Large amounts of money are being spent on research and several scientific studies have been made into each stage of this process. Even then as yet no claims have been made for success in use of stem cells for hair growth. If mesotherapy was indeed successful, scientists and companies would not have spent money and time trying to find a method for hair growth and instead concentrated on mesotherapy. Practitioners of mesotherapy make astounding claims of its success without spending a single paisa on research or studies.

There are only two scientific studies on the use of mesotherapy for hair growth and both show total failure - one study shows that mesotherapy in fact led to hair loss, and the other study documented a case where there were multiple abscesses in the scalp after mesotherapy. No good news for mesotherapy here!!

Mesotherapy centers are still able to get patients on the basis of their flashy advertisements which feed on people's hopes that they might find an easy cure. Users have to go back disappointed after wasting their money on weeks of treatment. At the end they are so tired and frustrated they simply ignore their losses without a protest. If somebody had sold them a tv that worked as badly they would be back at once demanding their money back and also ready to argue strongly with the salesman for cheating them, but in case of their bodies people are far more forgiving it seems!!