Monday, July 23, 2018

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!


6 comments:

  1. Hello Dr Gerard,
    Thanks for this article. It was so good reading it.
    I have a question.
    I'm 32 years old and have male pattern baldness (maybe stage later 3 or early 4), since the past 7-8 years.
    I have had FUE HT twice and my frontal hairline looks ok asfte that. The crown has lost many hair and had very few transplanted to that area.
    So my question is is Regenera Activa a suitable treatment for me?
    Your guidance on this would be immensely appreciated. Thanks a lot!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Suril, Yes Regenera Activa is suitable for you. We look for miniaturization of the hair follicles. You clearly have had a M pattern developing with some crown and vertex loss. Regenera can help to prevent further loss and can restore some growth.

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  2. Hi Dr Gerard, do the follicles removed able to grow back new hairs? How much is per treatment?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No they do not grow back. But it’s only 3 grafts so it is not noticible.
      $3500 per treatment

      Delete
  3. Hi Dr, can tell us what's the result for you now that it's about 6 months since you did the procedure? Is it effective for hair growth in previously bald area?

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  4. Hi Dr. Ee... You've mentioned above that the treatment costs about $3500/treatment... If I've done a FUE hair transplant at your clinic approximately 6 mths ago for both my hairline and crown, would I be a good candidate to do this? Would I need to keep doing regenera treatments over the years (as you mention in your blog post above that the treatment should be done yearly) or once is enough since I've had an FUE hair transplant? Also, is there a discount for FUE hair transplant patients from your clinic? As I've been told by one of your staff, this treatment is necessary as an "insurance" for my grafted hair and the remaining old hairs.

    ReplyDelete