My review on Regenera Activa - The newest development for Hair Loss and Hair Transplant.

There has been a lot of recent development in terms of hair regeneration / hair transplant and methods to treat hair loss, hair thinning and baldness.

 

 

There has also been some very recent editorial coverage on The Clifford Clinic in the Straits Times and Today on hair transplant in Singapore and how this is gaining popularity. I would go on about Follicular Unit Extraction and hair transplant but this post is not about that. This post is about the latest medical breakthrough in hair loss that is non-surgical and non-invasive. This is about a procedure that I did recently on myself for hair loss. Introducing a treatment called Regenera Activa, a procedure specifically designed to treat hair loss and balding due to androgenic alopecia!

 

That's me doing the implantation during 1 of our FUE hair transplant procedures.

Regenera Activa is a new approach that relies on capillary regeneration technique in combating hair loss, balding and hair thinning. How this process works is using a special device that uses micrografts of progenitor cells ( cells that is able to regenerate more cells ) that are able to repair damage tissue. Think of this progenitor cells like the mother of cells, that is able to produce a lot more other cells. Having that concept in mind, we know that this treatment is used quite commonly now to treat leg ulcers, chronic ulcers, surgical wounds and now also hair loss!
 

What I really like about this new technique is that there is absolutely no down time from this procedure. It is one of the safest and effective ways to regrow hair without the risk of any complications. This method enables the hair to return to its normal life cycle, hence increasing the density, thickness and quality of the hair. The rate of hair loss also slows down, allowing men and women to reverse the signs of hair loss. All this using the concept of progenitor cells to allow your own body to regenerate new hair follicles for the scalp which will eventually lead to new hair growth.

I'm doing some site marking over the frontal region, planning the hairline with my assistant.

Here is a step by step recount of the procedure:

1) The procedure begins with 3-4 hair follicles being removed from the back of the head after administering local anesthetic.

2) The cells obtained by tissues taken through punch biopsy are afterwards fused with a special solution.

3) These hair follicles retrieved are transformed into a special supercell suspension in the Regenera Activa device. The device helps to divide cell samples into miniature and absorbable portions.

4) The disintegration process is started, which can take about five minutes

5) The solution is then injected into areas experiencing an abnormal loss of hair, also known as Androgenetic Alopecia.

The science behind Regenera Activa to treat hair loss in Singapore is to provide aid to the strengthening of the hair follicles and to support tissue cells from the hair root and skin tissue of the person in order to renew and weaken the weakened hair root.

The whole process of Regenera Activa in the treatment of hair loss and hair thining is quick and efficient taking only 30 minutes. It has never been easier to treat hair loss. With only one treatment needed a year, it has never been easier to treat hair loss.

RegeneraActiva is a great alternative to traditional hair transplantation or Follicular Unit Extraction. I still do a lot of hair transplants using the FUE method in my Singapore clinic, but there is a huge role for a non-invasive treatment like this for male and female patients with early stages of hair loss. Especially those who are experiencing some hair thinning over the parting or just generalized hair thinning are excellent candidates.

 

Me handing the Artas Robot, useful in the harvesting phase of Follicular Unit Extraction during the hair transplant cases.

It is important that a careful selection of the right candidates is done for this procedure. Men who have severe hair loss will likely not see much results and those group I would choose to perform a hair transplant procedure on them. If the hair line needs to be brought down as well due to the typical M pattern shape developing, then a hair transplant procedure would be the treatment of choice.

Would I be raving this much about this procedure if I had not done this on myself? Of course like many others, I too suffer from Male Pattern Baldness and hair loss issues. It’s slightly over my crown and I can tell from the distribution that its very mild and early Androgenic Alopecia.

You can see from the picture here that Dr Casanova personally came to my clinic to mentor and also to personally perform this treatment on me. I am proud to say that I seen and felt what this treatment can do and is all about and I am ready to offer this to my own patients.

I personally like to try all my own treatments to not only validate the efficacy of the treatments but to also experience it myself so that I know how my patients feel. Male Pattern Baldness or Androgenic Alopecia is an extremely common condition, affecting more than 90% of men to varying degrees of severity and also 30-45% of women. Hence it is not uncommon for one to be worried about hair loss and hair thinning issues.

The Regenera Activa treatment for hair loss treatment was uneventful. It was over in under 30 mins and I was back to seeing patients after that. There was absolutely no down time. No redness, no swelling, no bleeding. Hair loss treatment has never been that simple. I especially like how this treatment only needs to be repeated once a year.

The only down side of the procedure? Injection of the micrograft solution into my scalp hurt a little. It needed about 20-30 micro injections of solution into my scalp, into the areas that experience hair loss and hair thinning. But I'm glad it was over very quickly! Honestly, after the procedure was done, I don't really remember much of the pain.  

Check out the video of the procedure done on me below. You can see I was still laughing during the injection. Not too bad!  

 

So look's happening after I've done this Regenera Procedure for my partner Dr Chow.

And those who have been following our center, we have recently did a FUE Hair transplant for him for his hairline! This was to bring down his high forehead and bring down his hairline. But we didn't transplant any grafts for his crown.

Glad Regenera managed to restore some hairs that were in the miniaturized phase!

Q switch laser. Why are you NOT getting results?

The Q switch laser is widely used by many doctors for many various reasons. Some doctors use them for acne, some for pigmentation while others use them for pores. Yet on numerous occasions, I get patients who tell me that they had done similar lasers and NOT see any results.  Yet they are somehow able to see a difference when the Q switch laser is performed by others. So what's the difference?
Why are some doctors able to get the desired eradication of pigments and even skin tone while others are unable to do so? What's the real secret?

The Q switch laser is essentially an ND-YAG laser. Being a ND-YAG laser, this means that the clinician has chosen the 1064nm wavelength to treat your skin. The choice of wavelength is dictated by the need for good absorption of the laser or light energy in the target structures deep in the skin, while avoiding unnecessary damage to the epidermis or the top most layer of the skin. For the treatment to be effective, the light energy needs to penetrate deeply into the skin because it is necessary to destroy or thermally affect specific skin structures. Depending on the location of the pigment or the end target in the body, the light energy must penetrate to at least 2-7mm in the skin to be effective.

This is dependent on 2 main properties of the laser. The absorption and the scattering of light.
Absorption of the light energy is dependent on numerous factors like the depth, absorption coefficient and intensity of the laser beam.

The absorption coefficient in real skin also vary from the absorption coefficient isolation. Chromophores do have very specific and selective absorption coefficient yet in real skin, this is influenced by numerous other factors. An example of one of this factors is skin colour. Skin colour affects the melanin concentration and this increase in darker individuals. This consequently results in greater penetration depth. Hence using a non Q-switch ND Yag laser results in increase thermal injury.

Scattering is yet another factor that affects the end result of treatments. Scattering of the laser light substantially influences the beam propagation through tissue and thus affects energy absorption in the skin. Once light penetrates through the skin, the depth of penetration becomes strongly influenced by scattering. The degree of laser light scatter before reaching the target is also dependent on the laser wavelength. It is important to know which laser is being used as this influences the amount the scatter. An example would be, when comparing the Q-switch laser to say an IPL or a ruby laser, a ruby laser would require a larger spot size and energy. This is the same if you are comparing an alexandrite laser to a diode laser.

With scattering, light no longer travels in a straight line. Its direction becomes random and causes the light to bounce back and forth inside the skin until it is absorbed. In order to penetrate deeply and unidirectionally, the wavelength and large spot size is important. The influence of spot size on the penetration depth and the energies require to achieve this is highly dependent on the machine and the experience of the doctor. Every single Q-switch laser in the market has a fixed spot size with a maximum energy and frequency it can be fired yet. So, not all Q-switch are equal! Some are indeed better than others. Each of these factors greatly influence the ability of your doctor to achieve the results you desire. With numerous lasers out there in the market, eg the IPL, Ruby laser, Erbium, Co2 etc etc etc... patients in the end really do need to trust the doctor they are seeing.

Pulse width, ... yet another factor I haven't even begun talking about. But by now, I am certain anyone reading up to this last paragraph is already already confused. And if you are a doctor reading my blog, at least I hope you gained some information reading on the 2 factors mentioned above. Absorption and scattering. Period.

Till then, treatment intervals, fluence and shot count.. more technical terms... keep it coming!

Adult acne - Permanent Results. Proven.

It's been a very long time since I've updated this blog. But I thought this was time I release an update on the treatment outcomes and methods that is used to treat Adult Acne.

Its great to see lovely outcomes from my patients with the clearance of their acne and the lack of recurrence especially with the use of the AGNES treatment.

AGNES was previously only exclusively available to my clinic but now I can see it being used widely in Singapore. This is good news as the local distributors have decided to sell his machine now to many other clinics.

AGNES is a treatment used to selectively destroy acne prone oil glands. It is quite common for one to then wonder, if doing AGNES will make the skin less oily or will it make it dry and wrinkled. This will not happen, as only very few oil glands are destroyed in proportion to the millions of oil glands located throughout the entire face. On the contrary, it is very likely that topical creams are the most likely cause of the dry skin. However, even through this is uncomfortable and make up often does not sit well on a extremely dry texture, the side effect is nevertheless temporary.

Why is it that sometimes the performance of AGNES varies? AGNES is a very specialized procedure. Accurate identification of the oil glands including direction of the oil glands and accurate selection of the energy required and number of shots needed for complete oil gland destruction takes experience and patience.

Is AGNES a miracle treatment in the treatment of acne and pimples? There are no miracles in treatment of this extremely difficult condition. Yet improvements in medical technology continuously pushes the boundary and allows us doctors to continuously do our best for our patients.

Acne has indeed multi causes. From hormones to genetics to the environment. Every doctor has their own way of treating acne. It is a constant battle to improve our methods and improve our techniques with research taking place regularly on how best to treat this.

I personally do not perform AGNES on all my patients either. Selection of the right candidate for the best outcomes depends on the expertise of your doctor. And again as mentioned, acne alone because has multiple causes, one really needs detailed and careful evaluation as to the likely cause of the pimple before knowing which treatment would work best.

Lastly, acne also has many different forms. Some are huge giant cystic nodules. Others may come as smaller papules or tiny red bumps. While others may appear primarily as bumps on the skin or commedonal acne. Some people describe their acne as fungal acne when it is really pityrosporum folliculitis. And then combined with Rocasea there is subtype 2 Rocasea with papularpustular rocasea or pimples associated with redness and flushing of the skin.

The diagnosis of acne is often straight forward yet it is really up to your doctor to identify the cause and treat it accordingly.