Eurothreads for Hair Loss: What It Is And How It Works

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Is hair loss becoming a problem? EuroThreads could be your solution. This is a relatively new technique for regrowing hair, but it is often more successful than other, more popular tactics. EuroThreads can also be used in combination with other hair regrowth treatments.

What is EuroThreads?

EuroThreads is an FDA-approved technology that’s been available for several decades. Sometimes referred to as “skin threading,” EuroThreads can be used for sagging skin or to regrow hair. The EuroThreads device is actually quite simple. It is a long needle threaded with a Polydioxanone (PDO) suture. This is the same type of PDO suture used for other biomedical applications, including cardiothoracic surgery. These sutures are slowly reabsorbed by the skin, so there’s no need to disrupt the tissue by removing stitches after a procedure. And for hair regrowth, leaving the sutures in place is actually how the skin’s healing properties are activated, which is what causes the hair to regrow.

How EuroThreads Works

The EuroThread needle is inserted into the skin, then the suture is placed and left under the skin along the hairline or wherever the hair has thinned. Once placed, the suture then slowly begins to be absorbed into the skin. This reabsorption will continue for as long as 24 months.

It is the skin’s response to the needle and the suture going into the skin that triggers the hair regrowth. Placing the suture creates a localized, controlled injury, and the suture then becomes a foreign body inside the skin. This is what prompts the healing response, and it is the slow reabsorption that sustains the hair regrowth. Once the healing response has begun, platelets are attracted to the area. Blood platelets have many properties, but their most important property in this context is that they stimulate hair follicles, causing them to grow hair again. Hair regrowth from EuroThreads is typically visible after about three weeks and will continue for as long as 24 months.

 EuroThreads

One of the best benefits of the EuroThreads treatment is that it only has to be done once. Once the threads are placed, hair growth will be stimulated for months as the sutures continue to be recognized as foreign bodies in the skin, even as they are reabsorbed. Being able to deliver results like this with one treatment makes EuroThreads especially efficient in terms of the patient’s time. It also means there is no additional cost after the procedure. It is very nearly a “set it and forget it” solution for regrowing hair. However, if patients want to go a step further, EuroThreads can also be combined with Low-Level Laser Light treatment (LLLLT) or topical hair growth solutions, like Rogaine.

What to expect from your EuroThreads treatment

This is the step-by-step process patients go through when they receive the EuroThreads
therapy:

  1. The skin is cleansed. Dr. De-La Michael uses chlorhexidine, a type of antiseptic, to cleanse the skin. Then the skin is cleansed again with alcohol pads.
  2. Prep pads are applied to numb the skin. This topical anesthetic makes it so that even the small injection of anesthesia can barely be felt by the patient.
  3. Tumescent anesthesia is injected into the skin. Tumescent anesthesia is a technique where tumescent fluid is injected into the skin. This numbs the skin, but also makes it temporarily more firm, giving more control over the needle’s insertion into the skin.
    Tumescent anesthesia allows Dr. Dele-Michael to make patients very comfortable during the procedure, while still using as little anesthesia as possible. This is important because while the anesthesia has many good effects, like making pain medication unnecessary, it does cause swelling. So if a patient happens to have a social event right after the treatment, they can usually go to that without visible swelling on their scalp.
    Some patients still do opt to take a Tylenol, but most don’t need to.
    Patients should not take any NSAIDs, like aspirin, ibuprofen, Motrin, or Aleve before the treatment. NSAIDs can cause more bleeding and thus more swelling. They can also impair the work of the platelets, and thus impair the tissue’s ability to produce the conditions that regrow
    hair.
  4. The EuroThread device is inserted into the scalp. This causes a localized, controlled injury in the skull. It is this injury that will activate the skin’s
    healing properties and attract the platelets to the site of the injury.
    Platelet cells have “growth factors” – compounds that stimulate cell growth. One of the consequences of this is to reactivate hair follicles and restart hair growth.
  5. The EuroThread needle is removed, but a tiny suture is left behind.
    This little suture acts like a foreign body in the scalp. Again, this suture is made of the same material that’s used in surgeries, but the PDO sutures used specifically for EuroThreads hair loss are given and additional treatment that helps to promote collagen deposition, as well as the
    inflow of platelets to the scalp. Collagen deposition is an important part of wound healing that increases the strength of the tissue in the wound.
    Once the suture is set in the scalp, over the next nine to twelve months the body’s immune cells will try to absorb the platelets under the suture. This ongoing stimulation is what causes platelets and other growth factors to continue to come to the spot, which in turn stimulates the
    hair to keep growing.
  6. The patient is ready to go home. That one needle insertion to place the suture is all that’s needed. Patients can go home immediately after the procedure, or even out to social events. Depending on how much
    anesthesia has been used, they may or may not have some swelling around where the sutures were set. Most patients will have no pain over the next few days after the procedure, though they may
    have some swelling depending on how much anesthesia was used.
  7. We schedule a followup appointment for three weeks later. This lets us see the before and after results of the treatment. Usually in about three weeks, at least some hair regrowth has begun and is far enough along to see a visible difference.
  8. Hair continues to regrow for another nine to twelve months. The sutures will continue to stimulate hair growth for another nine to 12 months. This makes Eurothreads an especially long-lasting treatment. It also allows for complementary treatments. Patients can add minoxidil, which is Rogaine for topical hair growth. Light treatment, known as low level laser light (LLLLT), also works well with EuroThreads. It’s not a requirement, but it does help to promote hair growth and to wake up dormant hair cells. If you are interested in the EuroThreads treatment for hair loss, contact one of our three offices for a consultation. Prices for Eurothreads therapy start at $X.

Learn More About Dr. Dele-Michael

Adebola Dele-Michael, MD

Adebola Dele-Michael, MD

After helping thousands of people with skin and hair challenges, Adebola Dele-Michael, MD covered a wide range of topics in the skin and hair industries. Her mission is to fill the knowledge gap in caring for hair and skin of color.

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