Exosome therapy is an exciting new frontier in regenerative medicine, with incredible aesthetic applications. Whether you’re looking for an effective hair loss treatment or a skin rejuvenation procedure, you may want to consider the boost that exosomes can offer.
Derived from human or plant stem cells, exosomes are the perfect regenerators that help trigger a targeted self-repair mechanism. In this post, we’ll explain what exosomes are, how they work, and why you might want to give an exosome treatment a try.
What Are Exosomes?
Exosomes are cell-to-cell communicating agents that take the form of small, membrane-bound vesicles. They were first discovered in the 1980s as a way for cells to eliminate waste, but we now know that they play a much larger role in cell-to-cell communication.
They’re excreted by cells as messengers that tell other cells to behave in a specific way. They’re key players in many of the body’s basic functions, like the immune response or the formation of new cells and blood vessels.
They’re released by cells to deliver lipids, proteins, and nucleic acid to other cells, which triggers different reactions in the receptive cells, like coagulation or regeneration.
In recent years, they’ve been explored as potential vehicles for drugs and as therapeutic agents all on their own. Research shows that exosomes can have a profound impact on wound healing, helping to speed the process by a significant margin.
Unlike cell-based therapies, there is little to no risk that exosome therapies will trigger an unwanted immune system response.
As aesthetic treatments, exosomes can be derived from various sources, including plants, animals, and even human stem cells.
Exosome Treatment Benefits for Skin and Hair
Exosome treatments aren’t done with just any type of exosome. The exosomes used in clinical treatments are extracted from specific stem cells that correlate with specific benefits. In the aesthetic space, we use them to trigger improved hair growth or increase collagen production.
Before we dive into the science (and there’s a lot of science to cover), here are the key benefits of exosome treatments for hair or skin:
- Exosomes can help improve hair density
- Reduce wrinkles and fine lines
- Improve skin tone and fade pigmentation
- Help address texture and scarring
- May help with redness and sensitivity
- They speed healing time after procedures like microneedling
- Adding exosomes to other treatments can cut the number of overall procedures necessary
Exosome Facials
In the skin, exosomes deliver growth factors and peptides, especially after the skin has been damaged in some way. They help with the skin’s natural healing process, which is why they’re often paired with more invasive skin procedures.
Research shows that exosome facial treatments improve skin hydration and elasticity while reducing wrinkles, texture, scarring, and pigmentation. Their ability to fortify the skin barrier and fight inflammation makes them a useful therapy even for those with sensitive skin conditions.
However, while exosomes are quite impactful, they’re too large to penetrate the skin — that’s why you haven’t seen them in skincare yet. In a clinical setting, we can introduce the exosomes directly into the levels of skin where they can trigger the best kind of renewal, using microneedling or skin infusion technologies.
Exosomes for Hair Loss
While research is still in its infancy, the potential of exosomes for hair loss is immensely exciting. So far, studies on patients with androgenic alopecia showed a dramatic increase in hair density and thickness following exosome hair loss treatments.
Because they stimulate the production of new growth factors and mediate the immune response, exosomes can actively impact the hair follicle. They increase the size of the hair follicle and increase the length of the hair growth phase, which results in improved hair density and length. They also promote the production of new blood vessels, to deliver more nutrients to the hair follicle.
Types of Exosome Treatments
There are different types of exosome treatments for skin and hair. They contain different molecules that trigger specific effects in the skin. Some are designed to boost hair growth while others are meant to help fade wrinkles and increase collagen or elastin production in the skin.
The different exosomes can be isolated from various tissues in humans, such as fat or the umbilical cord. In plants, they can be extracted from plant tissues or cultured cells.
Here are the main types that we use here at Discovery Laser:
- EXOE Revitalizing Complex is a plant-derived exosome complex that helps nourish the skin and enhance post-treatment results.
- EXO BALM is a popular Benev exosomes blend for post-treatment skin regeneration. The Benev exosomes are derived from human adipose cells, making for a potent healing and renewing formula for the skin.
- The Dp Dermaceuticals MG-EXO-SKIN and EXO-SKIN exosomes are designed to pair with microneedling or for post-treatment. They’re derived from umbilical cord stem cells, making for a bioactive, human-identical mix of beneficial components that trigger more youthful skin function.
- For stimulating increased hair density, the DE|RIVE Daily Hair Support System features plant-derived exosomes that target and nourish the hair follicles.
We can also combine exosomes with different delivery systems. The best way to guarantee optimal exosome penetration is with an advanced microneedling device like Dermapen Dp4, whether treating the face, scalp, or any other body part. Microneedling on its own is already a highly effective procedure for triggering the body’s natural self-repair mechanisms, but combining it with exosomes significantly increases its skin benefits
During the procedure, tiny, controlled punctures are made in the skin, breaking up scar tissue and creating microtrauma that generates healthier new skin cell production. Those micro-injuries in the skin also act as a pathway for exosomes to penetrate the skin, ensuring targeted delivery to the specific level of the skin where repair is necessary.
If you’re not a fan of needles, JetPeel delivers the exosomes into your skin or scalp in a non-invasive manner. The pressure-based technology ensures the transepidermal penetration of the exosomes. This treatment simultaneously exfoliates the skin while infusing it with exosomes, which is perfect before special events or if you have any contraindications that make microneedling impossible. It’s a great way to reduce signs of aging in those with sensitive skin.
Exosome Treatments at Discovery Laser
At Discovery Laser, we’re committed to offering the most advanced aesthetic technologies, because our clients deserve treatments that work. Our clinic is a prime destination for treatments with exosomes in Canada.
If you think exosome therapy might be right for you, or you want to learn about other options for addressing aesthetic concerns like hair loss or skin damage, get in touch with us at Discovery Laser!
