Mesotherapy is an alternative medical treatment that combines the elements of acupuncture with those of injection and reflexology therapy, injecting via microinjection mostly natural, low-dose and individually composed active substances into the skin areas of the body that cause the patient problems. With the injection, a skin depot forms as a carrier of the active substances, which gently and continuously releases the substances to the organism, so that in addition to an immediate effect, positive effects can also be achieved in the long term through the therapy method. Although the patient benefits from the low side effects, the short time required and the gentle mode of action of the procedure, the effectiveness of mesotherapy has not yet been proven in clinical studies, which has so far prevented health insurance companies from covering the costs of mesotherapeutic measures.
What is mesotherapy?
In mesotherapy, the doctor applies conventional and homeopathic medicines in low doses to the patient’s skin. In 1960, French physician Michel Pistor developed mesotherapy, an alternative medical treatment method based on acupuncture. At that time, Pistor combined with the acupuncture components mainly elements of neural therapy, reflexology and injection therapy. In mesotherapy, the doctor injects conventional and homeopathic medicines in low doses into the patient’s skin, from where they are supposed to act on deeper tissues. The therapeutically important active ingredients in this form of therapy are usually vitamins and trace elements, whereby the doctor or alternative practitioner himself is responsible for the respective composition. Thus mesotherapeutic measures differ already with the personal preferences of the treating physician. While mesotherapy is hardly used in the present Europe except for France, the treatment method enjoys great popularity in the USA and Canada.
Function, effect and goals
Mesotherapeutic measures should be able to help in the fight against a wide variety of diseases. The most common areas of application include circulation problems, wound healing disorders, keloids, rheumatic diseases and arthrosis. However, the therapy method is also used against damage caused by overload, immune deficiencies, cystic fibrosis or asthma. Just as many patients opt for mesotherapeutic procedures in the fight against hair loss, infertility or irritable bladder. The same applies to patients with fatigue, disturbed sleep patterns, chronic headaches or presbyopia and age-related hearing loss. Particularly in the USA, people with most frequently cellulite and obesity are treated with mesotherapy. Another, relatively frequent area of application for the alternative medical method are worldwide incurable illnesses, against which the orthodox medicine does not offer so far sufficiently many promising ways of therapy. During mesotherapy, the patient presents his or her condition to the doctor as precisely as possible. The treating physician or alternative practitioner then compiles the active ingredients for the therapy according to the patient’s individual needs. He injects these low-dose active ingredients into the skin with fine needles. He selects the area where the patient complains of discomfort as the injection site. Since the active ingredients are injected directly at the site of the complaint in this way, smaller quantities of the drugs are required. Microinjections are supposed to have a better effect than simply applying the respective substances to the skin. At the same time, the method is much more comfortable for the patient than injections with a conventional syringe, because the injection needles of mesotherapy are only a few millimeters long. During treatment, these tiny needles stimulate the tissue of the problem area and promote both local blood flow and oxygen supply. The injection forms a skin depot that carries the respective active substances. If required, the substances are later gradually released from the skin depot and spread throughout the organism. In this way, mesotherapy can achieve an effect that is both immediate and long-lasting. Due to diffusion processes, the active substances also penetrate deeper body structures, but hardly reach the bloodstream, thus sparing the organism. Acupuncture points also play an important role during the injection procedure.The treating physician determines the weighting of the individual treatment components and alternative medical procedures.
Risks, side effects, and hazards
Mesotherapeutic combinations of individual active ingredients usually rely on a natural basis. As a result, they are largely well tolerated by the patient and can sometimes be used even if the patient is simultaneously following conventional medical treatment paths or is being treated with conventional medications. In mesotherapeutic treatment, the injection of the substances feels similar to acupuncture for the patient. Thus, the therapeutic measure is a rather gentle method that is not associated with pain. Since the active substances hardly reach the bloodstream due to the fine microinjection needles, the patient’s organism is hardly burdened at all by the therapy method. Side effects may occur, depending on the drug, but they are rare due to the low dosage of the drugs. Mesotherapy combines this gentle mode of action with a low expenditure of time and materials. The duration of a session is between a few minutes and half an hour. In Germany, only doctors and alternative practitioners are allowed to offer mesotherapeutic procedures. However, since the effectiveness of mesotherapeutic measures has not yet been proven by clinical studies, German health insurance companies generally do not cover the costs of the procedure, or only extremely rarely.
