Stemcelex is the newest product in a long line of hair restoration therapies claiming to “cure” hair loss via stem cell therapy. Given the recent onslaught of news regarding stem cell based hair loss treatments, injectable baldness cures, and research breakthroughs, it’s not surprising to see new therapies claiming to aggressively fight hair loss through these same mechanisms. However, is Stemcelex truly a stem cell based, regenerative hair loss cure, or is it another therapy simply riding the recent wave of interest in these types of non-invasive, revolutionary treatments?

At first glance, Stemcelex seems quite impressive. The product website is filled with scientific explanations, graphs, charts, and diagrams explaining the science behind stem cell based hair restoration. Stemcelex even states its affiliation with Dr. George Cotsarelis, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center who, along with a talented research team, recently discovered that the bald scalp does not suffer from a lack of stem cells, but rather a dysfunction in the pathway to properly activating stem cells to produce hair. The finding was significant and Dr. Cotsarelis’ involvement and the seemingly detailed science look promising, but what about Stemcelex itself? Does it utilize these scientific breakthroughs and offer an effective treatment for hair loss?

Unfortunately, despite the impressive name recognition and detailed explanations, Stemcelex doesn’t appear to live up to its lofty hair restoration claims. Despite claiming to “activate” the dormant stem cells described by Dr. Cotsarelis, Stemcelex does not offer any sort of feasible molecular/stem cell based therapy. The website cleverly explains the science behind stem cell inactivation and the promise of reversing the dysfunctional pathway, but instead of reinforcing Dr. Cotsarelis’ view that cures for reversing the inactivation pathway are not yet understood, Stemcelex claims to actually fix the stem cell inactivation through a series of unproven homeopathic and herbal treatments for hair loss.

So, what is actually inStemcelex? The treatment involves a three day cycle of different lotions and topical treatments for baldness applied twice a day.

Day1: On the first day of the hair restoration cycle, a topical lotion made from Jaborandi Pilocarpus is applied twice after washing and thoroughly drying one’s hair. According to Stemcelex, Jaborandi Pilocarpus is a parasympathetic activator (it excites the nerves that cause the body to “rest and digest” during periods of relaxation) that rids the scalp of excess oils and dandruff that impede healthy follicular hair growth. Furthermore, Stemcelex claims that Pilocarpus naturally darkens and thickens existing, native hairs. According to the experts, Pilocarpus has no reproducible pharmacological applications and any evidence that it actually thickens and darkens hair is anecdotal.

Day 2: The second day of the cycle involves Veratrum Lobelianum, a family of herbs commonly used in Chinese medicine.  Stemcelex claims these herbs can penetrate the scalp and activate the necessary molecular signaling to “regenerate” the hair follicle stem cells. Furthermore, Veratrum allegedly down-regulates or prevents the production of Dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the hormone directly responsible for male pattern baldness. According to the research, members of the Veratrum family have been used in everything from a Native American poison to a drug researched in human blood pressure.  Currently, they are used in cancer treatments. Although the science behind cancer therapies indicates that the drug could have some molecular benefit in signaling cell activation and inactivation, there has been no research or evidence suggesting that Veratrum is useful in fighting, reversing, or preventing the effects of male or female hair loss.

Day 3: During the third day of the Stemcelex cycle, a kelp based topical extract is applied twice daily to provide nutrients to the “new hair growth” and also ensure that the scalp remains clean and healthy. This step of the treatment doesn’t claim to be more than a simple dose of nutrients useful in good scalp hygiene.

After reviewing the active ingredients behind Stemcelex, there is no evidence to suggest that Stemcelex is an effective hair loss treatment at this point in time. The idea of activating the dormant stem cells is important to finding a molecular cure to hair loss, but despite understanding this importance, Stemcelex doesn’t offer any concrete stem cell reactivation agents. It’s possible that Veratrum may prove useful in cell signaling and reactivating dormant cells, but the current research and evidence simply don’t support its use at this time.  Furthermore, Stemcelex charges a hefty $99.85 for a month supply of the treatment which may keep even the most curious and enthusiastic hair loss suffering men and women away.

Altogether, the idea of reversing dormant hair follicle stem cells is important, but therapies for effectively stopping and rewiring this pathway do not seem to exist at this point in time. Unfortunately, this seems to nullify the claims made by Stemcelex and prevent it from becoming a stem cell hair loss cure.

In women with PCOS(polycystic ovarian syndrome), high levels of androgens (male hormones) in the body may cause hair loss. DHT (dihydrotestosterone), more abundant in men, is created from a combination of testosterone and5-alpha-reductase enzymes. DHT can bind to hair follicle sites, accelerate the natural hair growth cycle, and cause hair to go into resting (catagen) sooner causing thinning hair with each cycle.

Women with PCOS are more susceptible to androgenic alopecia, more commonly referred to as male pattern baldness or genetic female hair loss. Androgenic alopecia is also the number one cause of hair loss and thinning hair in the world.Women with androgenic alopecia typically lose hair in a pattern similar to the ludwig scale,and less commonly the norwood scale.

If you suspect you have PCOS, you should consult with a physician and get tested for it. Only a physician can diagnose you and recommend a proper treatment.

As patients, we know that the physician you choose is the most critical decision in restoring your hair is the physician you choose. Hair restoration physicians' skills, experience, and talent vary widely, as do the end results, vary widely.

You must research and choose your physician wisely. After all, who you choose will determine how natural and complete, your new hair will be for the rest of your life. The surgeons selected and approved by our community have been scouted and vetted by the forum's highly esteemed senior valued contributors of the Hair Restoration Network. Our valued contributors have all spent years researching hair transplantation, and they have all had hair transplants. To ensure there is no conflict of interest, none of our valued contributors receive any compensation. They are volunteers who have shared their experiences and contributed for years to our community. Each surgeon has been approved based on their ethics, surgical techniques, results, and reviews. To support the costs of operating and promoting our community, the approved physician contributes a monthly fee to sponsor our community.

Their recommendation is continued as long as they continue to show evidence of excellent patient results and satisfaction. If a patient expresses concerns, physicians are expected to resolve their concerns. We ask that patients first contact a physician with any concerns so that they can resolve them before publicly posting.

Note - The hair restoration physicians recommended on this site are not a definitive list of all excellent hair transplant doctors. Nor do we warrant or guarantee the results of any of the physicians presented on this site. As always, we encourage you to do your due diligence in evaluating these and all hair loss physicians.

We offer the following suggestions for researching a hair restoration physician:

• Does the physician take a holistic approach to hair restoration? Your physician should help you evaluate all your options, surgical and non-surgical.
• Have they invested time and resources in large micro follicular unit hair transplantation sessions? Outstanding work requires a staff dedicated to and trained to use high-powered magnification to produce more than 2,000 carefully trimmed grafts per surgical session.
• Choose a hair restoration clinic that is patient-focused rather than commercially focused. Some clinics emphasize revenue, speed, and volume rather than dedicating the time and individual care needed to produce optimal results. These commercial operations typically rely on heavy advertising rather than satisfied patient or doctor referrals.
• Is hair restoration the primary focus of their practice? Outstanding results require a physician and staff to perform hair restoration surgery regularly. Doing hair restoration as a sideline and other cosmetic procedures may hinder their ability to do large sessions of highly refined follicular unit transplantation.
• How many patients has this physician produced excellent results for? Like any skill, experience over time is critical to acquiring the skill and judgment required to produce excellent results.
• Can the physician provide detailed patient before and after photographs? Do they also have patients who are willing to speak with you and meet with you in person?

What do their hair transplant patients think?

Ultimately, the most critical measure of a hair transplant surgeon's work is their patient's level of satisfaction. Find out what patients think of their physician's work by visiting our discussion forum or viewing hair loss blogs created by patients. View our standards for recommending hair transplant surgeons.

Find an excellent hair restoration physician in your area.

Send a Virtual Consult

This online feature enables you to fill out a hair loss questionnaire and email it to any of the quality hair loss doctors recommended on this site. You can even attach your photos. They will then respond to your questions and concerns.

Click here, to send a Virtual Consult.

Suggest a physician for recommendation on this site.

We are always interested in learning about outstanding hair restoration physicians. Click below to suggest an outstanding physician for recommendation on this site.
Click here if you are with a hair restoration clinic.
Click here if you are a hair transplant patient.

One product you used to see quite often in advertising is Avacor. According to Response magazine, Avacor was the third best selling product on the Internet in April, 2002. Avacor was originally manufactured by Global Vision Products. After being taken over by new management, it is now being manufactured by Avacor Products LLC.

Like most products that advertise 'Stop Hair Loss and Regrow Hair!', Avacor contains the only FDA approved topical drug minoxidil. Avacor, like other products with similar claims, mixes FDA approved drugs in their generic form with other ingredients in a multiple regimen of products like shampoo, lotion and vitamins.

Avacor historically cost approximately $239 for a two to three month supply and over $1000 for a year’s worth.  New prices are much more reasonable which range from $180 for a 3 month supply to $400 for a year’s supply of the men’s and women’s formula. Note that the ingredients in Avacor can be bought over the counter at your local store at a fraction of the cost for which they are sold in Avacor. However, they do offer 24/7 customer service and a 90 day money back guarantee.

Marketing Practices

Avacor, like other products with similar claims, has taken a lot of slack over the years for their controversial marketing tactics. Avacor has a checkered past and has previously been the focus of lawsuits and investigative reporting by major media like ABC news. Recently however, new management has taken over and claims they are very serious about selling quality products at more reasonable prices, without the hype and controversial marketing strategies. In looking at their website, while Avacor still uses slick marketing language to promote their products, the vast majority of their claims are much more realistic.

Avacor includes 3 distinct products that claim to provide “total hair care”. This includes a 'Scalp Detoxifying Shampoo', a 'Physicians Topical Formulation' and finally a 'Nutricap'. Avacor's Nutricap ingredients consist mainly of common herbs like saw palmetto, gingko biloba, keratin, resveratrol, and bilberry. While conjectured to inhibit the production of DHT, none of these ingredients are FDA approved or proven to stop hair loss. Avacor’s Physician’s Topical Formulation however, does contain 5% of the FDA approved hair regrowth agent minoxidil.

Other than minoxidil, no other ingredient is proven to regrow hair. A number of studies have been done that suggest saw palmetto inhibits the production of DHT, like Propecia. But, unlike Propecia, it has never been proven to stop or reverse hair loss.

Avacor Products

Avacor admits on their website that the only product proven to regrow hair is the Avacor Physician’s formulation which includes the FDA approved ingredient minoxidil (5% for men and 2% for women). The other products claim to provide hair with the essential nutrients for healthy hair growth but are careful not to claim to prevent the progression of male or female pattern baldness (androgenic alopecia). Perhaps this is why the Avacor Physician’s formulation can now be purchased separately. Costs of the Physician’s Formulation are still, but only a little more expensive than Rogaine topical hair loss treatment, one of the first and most popular topical minoxidil products.

The Avacor Study

At this time, Avacor’s proof comes in the form of the FDA approved study showing that minoxidil can stop and reverse hair loss.  No other study is provided with their product.  Their website also is much more realistic as to what their product line can accomplish for hair loss suffering consumers.

Confidence in Products and Services

Before you consider spending hundreds of dollars for any product or service, do a review. Legitimate products will have legitimate studies and have been reviewed on many quality websites. Doctors with real talent and satisfied patients will be able to show you dozens of photos and allow you to talk with past patients. Proven physicians will make available their resumes along with their formal education and associations they belong to.

It is always best to review a product or doctor for information on their background before you make a decision for something as important as hair loss and hair restoration.

Conclusion

At the very least, the Avacor Physician’s formulation will be as effective as the Rogaine liquid formula or generic minoxidil. However, to date, both Rogaine and generic minoxidil are more cost effective than Avacor.  The nutricap, shampoo, conditioner and other products may promote healthy hair and provide it with volume, but make no claims of stopping hair loss or regrowing hair.

Childbirth may result in hair loss. It's common for many women to notice hair loss about 3 months after they've had a baby. This too, is caused by hormones. But this is not something to worry about. You see, during pregnancy, hair that normally falls out is kept in by high levels of hormones. Once the hormones have returned to pre-pregnancy levels, this extra hair falls out. The normal cycle of hair growth and loss then begins again.

Procerin is one of the top selling “all natural” hair loss products on the market today and is often an attractive alternative to drugs like Propecia (finasteride)and Rogaine (minoxidil). Procerin comes in both a tablet and topical form that can be ordered together or separately depending on your hair restoration goals.

Men and women suffering from androgenic alopecia (genetic female hair loss / male pattern baldness) have elevated levels of the hormone DHT (dihydrotestosterone) in their body.   Procerin’s claim to fame is that it naturally blocks this DHT without reacting with testosterone like the drugs Propeciaand Avodart (dutasteride).  This allegedly allows Procerin to stop hair loss and stimulate hair regrowth without unwanted sexual side effects.   Procerin is so convinced their product works, that they offer a 90 day money back guarantee if you don’t receive your desired hair growth results.  But how many balding men and women have successfully restored their hair with Procerin?

In order to fully evaluate the efficacy of this product, we must further explore each ingredient to determine whether or not this hair loss treatment delivers what it promises.  Below you will find a list of ingredients and information that will help you determine whether or not Procerin is right for you.

Oral Ingredients:

The Procerin tablet includes a number of alleged “all natural” DHT blockers including saw palmetto for hair loss, zinc sulfate, pyroxidine, magnesium, and a proprietary blend of gotu kola, nettles, pumpkin seed, eleuthero root, muira puma root, and uva ursi.  Many, but not all of these ingredients are also found in the highly popular hair loss treatment Provillus.

Oral saw palmettoand nettle root extracthave been used as “all natural” alternatives to treat benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) or enlarged prostates.  Theories have thus been produced that they might also effectively treat baldness and alopecia.

Some studies suggest that Zinc when combined with Vitamin B6 may be able to inhibit the conversion of testosterone to DHT in the skin.

Pumpkin seed oils contain the ingredient delta-7-sterine that has been said to protect the prostate by competing with DHT.  Therefore, it’s suggested that this ingredient might help reduce the risk of genetic hair loss.

Eleuthero, uva-ursi, muria puma, and horsetail are said to promote healthy hair growth, hair expansion, and a clean scalp.  However, promoting healthy hair growth is not the same as stimulating new hair growth, hair regrowth, nor does it indicate they’re effective hair loss treatments.

Topical Ingredients

The Procerin topical solution contains saw palmetto extract, gamma linolenic acid, grape seed extract, azelaic acid, avocado oil, and nettle extract.

Azelaic acid when applied topically has been conjectured to inhibit DHT.  Some anecdotal evidence suggests oral saw palmettomay inhibit DHT however; no such evidence exists for topical use.  Though nettles are typically consumed orally, some speculate nettle root extract may help fight alopecia areata when applied topically.

Possible Side Effects

One false assumption is that “all natural” hair loss products don’t have potential side effects.  Procerin reports directly on their website that reported side effects include mild stomach discomfort and from the topical formula, skin irritation.  Additionally, be sure to research each ingredient carefully as some side effects are possible in larger quantities.

Dosage

Currently there are no standards on dosages of herbal medications in the United States.  In addition, no formal clinical studies have been performed on them for treating baldness.  Therefore, the suggested daily value listed on the ingredient package is based on something other than government regulation and scientific study.

Costs

The discounted cost of the combined formula for a 1 month supply of Procerin is about $50 and is discounted when you buy in bulk.  It is also cheaper when you buy in bulk.

Conclusions and Our Opinion

Though we can appreciate the aspiration for balding men and women to use herbal products as an “all-natural” replacement for Propecia to treat androgenic alopecia, we’ve seen no third party clinical studies that support the ingredients in Procerin can successfully stop hair loss or stimulate hair regrowth.  Due to the lack of compelling evidence in these other conjectured hair loss solutions, it may be more beneficial and cost effective to spend your money on Propecia (finasteride) for men only and Rogaine (minoxidil) that has helped balding men and women worldwide for years.  For men who have experienced sexual side effects with Propecia, Procerin may at the very least, be worth trying as an adjunct treatment to Rogaine.

Diffuse Hair Loss and How to Treat It

Unlike male pattern baldness (MPB) and female pattern hair loss (FPHL), which tends to follow one of the hair loss patterns defined by the NorwoodScale and the LudwigScale, Diffuse Patterned Alopecia (DPA) is characterized by diffuse thinning throughout the front, crown and vertex(crown) with no distinct pattern evident. However, like male and female pattern balding,Diffuse Patterned Alopecia patients typically preserve the stable "permanent zone" on the sides and back of the scalp and may sometimes retain a well-defined hairline. DPA is also a type of hereditary balding condition like and rogenetic alopecia (genetic hair loss).

Diffuse Patterned Alopecia (DPA) can be difficult to diagnose and, particularly in its early stages, may be confused with a similar condition known as Diffused Unpatterned Alopecia (DUPA). While both conditions are characterized by diffuse thinning, DUPA sufferers lack the stable permanent zone necessary for surgical hair restoration.

Treatment for Diffuse Patterned Alopecia

DPA often responds well to medical hair loss treatments like Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine(minoxidil) and, due to the preservation of the permanent donor region, many DPA sufferers are candidates for hairrestoration surgery.

Conclusion

It’s essential that hair loss suffering men and women seeking medical and/or surgical treatment for diffuse thinning consult with a skilled and experienced hair restoration physician. Differentiating between DPA and DUPA is critical because Diffuse Patterned Alopecia patients frequently make good hair transplant candidates, whereas DUPA patients rarely do.