Stemoxydine after HT?

[UnbaldEagle]

So I just started using stemoxydine 5% one month after my HT (crushed 5 Proscar pills in it too just to gain advantage of that great vehicle) and I wonder if it could be a better alternative to minoxidil for those wishing early and better growth, etc. 

My reasoning is as follows:

- Minoxidil is generally not advised for a few weeks after a HT (even more according to some doctors), mainly because minox can be rather strong to the scalp, which is still healing.

- Minoxidil extends the anagen phase, which is great, but most, if not all of your HT grafts would still decide that minox or not, they'll have a nice tellogen nap. However this where stemoxydine kicks in and shortens the kenogen phase, thereby causing your follicles to wake up earlier. In theory of course. 

- Stemoxydine is claimed to be side effect free and you can actually discontinue its use every 3 months and not lose any of the benefits (not the case with minoxidil)

 

So I'm calling all the treatment fanboys and junkies here. Has anyone else tried it after a HT?

 

[Melvin- Admin]

I’ve never heard of it, can you put an article up or something where I can read up on it?

[UnbaldEagle]

Yeah, sure, sorry for not providing any sources earlier.

I'll just cherry-pick some bits that are more relevant and then provide a link to the studies below. 

There's actually 2 ways in which stemoxydine is effective:

1. It counteracts hypoxia. We all know the mechanism of AGA and we blame it all on DHT, but the real reason why our follicles are shrinking is due to their inadequate blood supply (as they are chocked by binding androgens). So anything that increases blood flow can only be beneficial. Minoxidil, niacin (the flush-type, a.k.a. nicotinic acid), PRP, stemoxydine. 

"Called stemoxydine, this active ingredient works to counteract hypoxia—a condition that’s known to contribute to hair loss and balding. Hypoxia is a decrease or deprivation in oxygen supply. The condition can be serious, such as with generalized hypoxia, which limits oxygen intake throughout the body. But hair loss is a symptom of tissue hypoxia that affects the scalp—it’s been proven that hair follicles without growth are surrounded by oxygen-deficient microvasculature.

Stemoxydine targets this condition, attempting to increase oxygen levels in the tiny vascular structures of the scalp. The molecule acts upon hair-derived stem cells, improving their regenerative potential and maintaining function so new growth can occur.

In a double-blind study of 100 men between the ages of 18 and 55, a once-a-day application of stemoxydine was found to increase hair density by 4 percent. This may not sound like a lot, percentage-wise, but when you consider the actual numbers, 4 percent represents an average of 1700 new hairs. It not only thickened hair, it also “woke up” follicles that had been dormant and stimulated new growth." [1]

2. What I mentioned in my initial post, stemox shortens the kenogen phase. 

"Hair kenogen phase, as the latency period required for a new hair growth to engage contributes in part to decreased hair density, a hallmark of androgenetic alopecia. In vitro findings on a new compound, a potent prolyl 4 hydroxylase competitive inhibitor, Stemoxydine®, led us to assess, in vivo, its potential in shortening the hair kenogen phase, through three vehicle-controlled protocols. Three double-blind and randomized clinical studies were conducted on healthy male subjects aged 18-55 with AGA Grade III to IV:

1) Two intra-individual studies on 16 and 23 men, respectively with 5 days a week product application.

2) One inter-individual study on 100 men with daily application.

In the three studies, after 3 month treatment, the results showed a significant increase in hair density with Stemoxydine® 5% versus vehicle, without any difference in telogen percentage.

1a) Stemoxydine®+ 4.5% versus control -0.3% (p = 0.04)

1b) Stemoxydine® + 11% versus control + 7% (p = 0.029)

2) Stemoxydine® + 8% versus control + 4% (p = 0.036)

No skin intolerance was recorded in any of these 3 studies." [2]

 

1. L'Oreal introduces NeoGenic with Stemoxydine to target hypoxic scalp follicles - Alan J. Bauman, M.D. -- Hair Loss / Hair Transplant Expert --BaumanBlog.com

2. Oral Presentations (nih.gov) (Ctrl+F for stemoxydine as there are multiple studies on the same page)

Edited January 8, 2021 by UnbaldEagle

[washingtondc]

On 1/8/2021 at 9:29 AM, UnbaldEagle said:

Yeah, sure, sorry for not providing any sources earlier.

I'll just cherry-pick some bits that are more relevant and then provide a link to the studies below. 

There's actually 2 ways in which stemoxydine is effective:

1. It counteracts hypoxia. We all know the mechanism of AGA and we blame it all on DHT, but the real reason why our follicles are shrinking is due to their inadequate blood supply (as they are chocked by binding androgens). So anything that increases blood flow can only be beneficial. Minoxidil, niacin (the flush-type, a.k.a. nicotinic acid), PRP, stemoxydine. 

"Called stemoxydine, this active ingredient works to counteract hypoxia—a condition that’s known to contribute to hair loss and balding. Hypoxia is a decrease or deprivation in oxygen supply. The condition can be serious, such as with generalized hypoxia, which limits oxygen intake throughout the body. But hair loss is a symptom of tissue hypoxia that affects the scalp—it’s been proven that hair follicles without growth are surrounded by oxygen-deficient microvasculature.

Stemoxydine targets this condition, attempting to increase oxygen levels in the tiny vascular structures of the scalp. The molecule acts upon hair-derived stem cells, improving their regenerative potential and maintaining function so new growth can occur.

In a double-blind study of 100 men between the ages of 18 and 55, a once-a-day application of stemoxydine was found to increase hair density by 4 percent. This may not sound like a lot, percentage-wise, but when you consider the actual numbers, 4 percent represents an average of 1700 new hairs. It not only thickened hair, it also “woke up” follicles that had been dormant and stimulated new growth." [1]

2. What I mentioned in my initial post, stemox shortens the kenogen phase. 

"Hair kenogen phase, as the latency period required for a new hair growth to engage contributes in part to decreased hair density, a hallmark of androgenetic alopecia. In vitro findings on a new compound, a potent prolyl 4 hydroxylase competitive inhibitor, Stemoxydine®, led us to assess, in vivo, its potential in shortening the hair kenogen phase, through three vehicle-controlled protocols. Three double-blind and randomized clinical studies were conducted on healthy male subjects aged 18-55 with AGA Grade III to IV:

1) Two intra-individual studies on 16 and 23 men, respectively with 5 days a week product application.

2) One inter-individual study on 100 men with daily application.

In the three studies, after 3 month treatment, the results showed a significant increase in hair density with Stemoxydine® 5% versus vehicle, without any difference in telogen percentage.

1a) Stemoxydine®+ 4.5% versus control -0.3% (p = 0.04)

1b) Stemoxydine® + 11% versus control + 7% (p = 0.029)

2) Stemoxydine® + 8% versus control + 4% (p = 0.036)

No skin intolerance was recorded in any of these 3 studies." [2]

 

1. L'Oreal introduces NeoGenic with Stemoxydine to target hypoxic scalp follicles - Alan J. Bauman, M.D. -- Hair Loss / Hair Transplant Expert --BaumanBlog.com

2. Oral Presentations (nih.gov) (Ctrl+F for stemoxydine as there are multiple studies on the same page)

Had actually been reading about stemoxydine recently and had this exact same thought process. Hairs are in anagen -> pushed into telogen via the trauma of being removed from scalp and re-implanted -> some time passes and they hit exogen and fall out (additional existing hairs in the recipient area may also fall out via exogen due to shock loss) -> then they go to kenogen before restarting anagen.

If we can apply stemoxydine to shorten the kenogen phase, those hairs (the ones that are transplanted and also those lost to shock loss) may pass through kenogen more quickly and reach anagen sooner, resulting in earlier growth and better restoration of shocked hair. I'm no doctor obviously but it all makes logical sense to me. It sounds like stemoxydine has the added benefit of "waking up" a small number of dormant follicles anyway, which I'd gladly take (even if it's only 4% or a couple thousand hairs).

I'm definitely going to ask my surgeon about this and assuming he doesn't think there's any risk involved, add it into my stack.

[washingtondc]

On 1/8/2021 at 9:29 AM, UnbaldEagle said:

Yeah, sure, sorry for not providing any sources earlier.

I'll just cherry-pick some bits that are more relevant and then provide a link to the studies below. 

There's actually 2 ways in which stemoxydine is effective:

1. It counteracts hypoxia. We all know the mechanism of AGA and we blame it all on DHT, but the real reason why our follicles are shrinking is due to their inadequate blood supply (as they are chocked by binding androgens). So anything that increases blood flow can only be beneficial. Minoxidil, niacin (the flush-type, a.k.a. nicotinic acid), PRP, stemoxydine. 

"Called stemoxydine, this active ingredient works to counteract hypoxia—a condition that’s known to contribute to hair loss and balding. Hypoxia is a decrease or deprivation in oxygen supply. The condition can be serious, such as with generalized hypoxia, which limits oxygen intake throughout the body. But hair loss is a symptom of tissue hypoxia that affects the scalp—it’s been proven that hair follicles without growth are surrounded by oxygen-deficient microvasculature.

Stemoxydine targets this condition, attempting to increase oxygen levels in the tiny vascular structures of the scalp. The molecule acts upon hair-derived stem cells, improving their regenerative potential and maintaining function so new growth can occur.

In a double-blind study of 100 men between the ages of 18 and 55, a once-a-day application of stemoxydine was found to increase hair density by 4 percent. This may not sound like a lot, percentage-wise, but when you consider the actual numbers, 4 percent represents an average of 1700 new hairs. It not only thickened hair, it also “woke up” follicles that had been dormant and stimulated new growth." [1]

2. What I mentioned in my initial post, stemox shortens the kenogen phase. 

"Hair kenogen phase, as the latency period required for a new hair growth to engage contributes in part to decreased hair density, a hallmark of androgenetic alopecia. In vitro findings on a new compound, a potent prolyl 4 hydroxylase competitive inhibitor, Stemoxydine®, led us to assess, in vivo, its potential in shortening the hair kenogen phase, through three vehicle-controlled protocols. Three double-blind and randomized clinical studies were conducted on healthy male subjects aged 18-55 with AGA Grade III to IV:

1) Two intra-individual studies on 16 and 23 men, respectively with 5 days a week product application.

2) One inter-individual study on 100 men with daily application.

In the three studies, after 3 month treatment, the results showed a significant increase in hair density with Stemoxydine® 5% versus vehicle, without any difference in telogen percentage.

1a) Stemoxydine®+ 4.5% versus control -0.3% (p = 0.04)

1b) Stemoxydine® + 11% versus control + 7% (p = 0.029)

2) Stemoxydine® + 8% versus control + 4% (p = 0.036)

No skin intolerance was recorded in any of these 3 studies." [2]

 

1. L'Oreal introduces NeoGenic with Stemoxydine to target hypoxic scalp follicles - Alan J. Bauman, M.D. -- Hair Loss / Hair Transplant Expert --BaumanBlog.com

2. Oral Presentations (nih.gov) (Ctrl+F for stemoxydine as there are multiple studies on the same page)

Actually @UnbaldEagle... out of curiosity, I see you had a transplant some months ago. Did you use stemoxydine religiously during the growth period to this point?

[HairRun]

The big questions for me are, does it just has a small and limited effect on density? Or might it have a dampening effect on hair loss mechanisms as well? 

It's been over the counter for at least 6 years now. May not have a huge effect on regrowth considering the number of experimenters there are in the hair loss community. 

Edited August 30, 2021 by HairRun