How Effective is Stem Cell Therapy for Your Scalp Combined with Hair Grafts? (photo)

I'm unaware of any real use of using just stem cells for hair growth.  Medications like Rogaine and Propecia do work, and of course hair transplantation is perhaps the best tool.  I prefer FUE using NeoGraft to avoid a linear scar.

Thank you for your question. You’re 35-years-old and after being on finasteride for several years, you’re finally considering having a hair transplant of 2200 grafts, combined with stem cell therapy. You’re wondering about the effectivity of the two combined treatments and are asking for opinions on the matter.I can certainly help you with this, as I frequently perform hair transplants and use a wound-healing or stem cell-based technology in my practice. I am the founder of Trichostem™ Hair Regeneration centers, which offer a non-surgical alternative solution to hair loss, based on stem cell-based wound healing technology. I am alsoa Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgeon, practicing in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years.To begin with, let me say that hair transplants are very labor intensive, and for years, one of the biggest frustrations with hair transplantswas the limitation of the number of grafts you can harvest, and the survivability of the grafts once they are transplanted. In a 2200-graft hair transplant, for example, you are essentially making 2200 openings in the scalp, and unfortunately, you may lose anywhere from 10% to 90% of those grafts. We have seen this in patients who’ve had “mega sessions” elsewhere and come to us for assistance after they’ve lost a lot of hair. Now, the term “stem cell therapy” is too broad a term, and does not specifically tell mewhat way or what modality stem cell therapy is being applied in your situation. I can tell you, however, what we do in our practice.We use a wound-healing material called extracellular matrix, which promotes the activation of adult stem cells.These are stem cells in your own body that create an effect to improve wound healing. We use this in hair transplants to improve donor area healing and improve survivability of hair grafts. What we discovered is that it could also thicken existing thinning hair.In your case, you’ve been taking finasteride, but your hair loss is still progressing – this does happen sinceit is well established that finasteride slows, but does not stop hair loss progression. It also appears that you still have thinning hair on the crown area of your scalp. It underreported in the hair transplant industry that when you make 2200 openings in a balding area of scalp,there is going to be a certain percentage of native, miniaturized hairs that will get lost in the process from trauma of the transplant. This is known as collateral loss. It’s a compromise that’s often justified because transplant doctors know that those thinning hairs will be lost eventually anyway. Now, in our practice, we’ve developed a treatment called Hair Regeneration. What we’ve observed is that with this treatment, we are able to stop hair loss progression in existing thinning hairs, reactivate the hair growth cycle, and help thinning hairs become thicker. By saving and thickening thinning hair you already have, we are able to more effectively restore volume and density in comparison to a hair transplant. In fact, our results with Hair Regeneration have exceeded the results of a hair transplant.What we do in our practice is first stabilize hair loss progression with the help of Hair Regeneration, even before considering a hair transplant. Our results have been so remarkable that after one injection, we are able to stop hair loss progression, without any signs of regression, for at least 3-5 years.It’s important to remember that stabilization of hair loss is a crucial part of hair loss treatment, without which you cannot effectively treat hair loss. In our experience, we’ve observed that the combination of finasteride with Hair Regeneration has been synergistic. I think there is value in understanding the role of stem therapy before moving forward with surgery.I don’t know exactly what your doctor is offering so I can’t speak specifically about it, but I can tell you that based on your photos, if someone like yourself were to come to our practice, we would first treat them with Hair Regeneration. This is not to say that you don’t need or shouldn’t have a hair transplant, but rather that based on our experience in treating our patients,we actually don’t see the need to offer transplantation first, and instead find that addressing hair loss with Hair Regeneration is just as effective.I recommend that you speak with your doctor and learn more about stem cell therapy – what it means, how it work, and what the expectations are.I hope that was helpful and I wish you the best of luck!This personalized video answer to your question is posted on RealSelf and on YouTube. To provide you with a personal and expert response, we use the image(s) you submitted on RealSelf in the video, but with respect to your privacy, we only show the body feature in question so you are not personally identifiable. If you prefer not to have your video question visible on YouTube, please contact us.

There is no such thing as Stem Cell therapy for hair loss. It is sometimes used to describe treatments such as PRP but it is not actual "stem cell" therapy.