Osteoarthritis, body aches, sprains … widely used in the treatment of pain, mesotherapy avoids the need for oral medications with multiple side effects. This technique consists of local injections of drugs from the French pharmacopoeia in small quantities.

Mesotherapy is a technique that was developed in 1952 by Doctor Michel Pistor. It consists of local injections of treatments from the French pharmacopoeia. These injections contain general medicine drugs in small quantities:

• nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
• anesthetic;
• calcitonines ;
• vitamins;
• myorelaxants ;
• anti-edematous.

It was not until 1987 that the National Academy of Medicine confirmed that mesotherapy was an integral part of classical medicine.

Some drugs are excluded from mesotherapy. This is the case with the cortisone which is reserved for the practice of infiltration. Injections based on certain drugs are excluded from mesotherapy. Injections based on phosphatidylcholine (PPC) alone or combined with sodium deoxycholate (DC) for the purpose of refining one’s silhouette or losing cellulite, have also been banned in France since the decree of April 12, 2011.

More or less deep injections

Each syringe contains a small amount of drug (s) but their effectiveness is due to the local intrusion of therapeutic agents. Mesotherapy can consist of:

Superficial injections

• Par epidermal injection less than 0,5 mm deep;
• Par intradermal injection (topping) less than 2 mm deep;

Generally these techniques are carried out manually, that is to say with a simple syringe and needle for single use.

Targeted deep intradermal injections

They are carried out separately “step by step”. “Some patients may feel a little pain on the injection. They can cause some bruising, depending on the location. The other side effects are rarer ”, according to Doctor Schérifa Salifou Laurain, mesotherapist. “New materials such as electronic injector guns have been developed which can reduce the feeling of pricking.” They allow painless injections and at personalized depths.

Please note, the French Society of Mesotherapy (SFM) has banned the use of certain injectors such as dermo-jets and multi-injectors (even single-use).

“These two techniques do not produce bleeding and the side effects are exceptional”, according to the expert.

Mesotherapy can be practiced at any age (from birth to the end of life) in the context of the pathologies for which it is indicated. It is an interesting alternative when the drugs usually administered by oral route cause undesirable effects and the patients wish to be partially or completely free from them. It is also used when drugs for skin application are too ineffective. It is often associated with other treatments such as physiotherapy, osteopathy and podiatry.

Does not constitute a contraindication to mesotherapy:

• the pregnancy ;
• immunosuppression (related to medication or chronic illness).

Allergies represent a contraindication when they concern products used in mesotherapy: the mesotherapist adapts the treatment after questioning.

“Mesotherapy allows local treatment by injection of pharmacopoeia products usually prescribed by the doctor, but which will have a local diffusion and will therefore limit the side effects. The product concentrations in the area to be treated will also be higher than the concentrations that would be found by oral administration ”, according to Doctor Schérifa Salifou Laurain, mesotherapist. There are a very large number of indications for mesotherapy.

Here is a non-exhaustive list.

Mesotherapy and rheumatology

• Osteoarthritis is one of the main indications for mesotherapy. Osteoarthritis is a form of painful rheumatism linked to wear and tear and then the gradual disappearance of cartilages. Inflammatory reactions can appear and lead to osteoarthritis attacks. “Mesotherapy helps relieve osteoarthritis pain, reduce local inflammation and reduce any loss of mobility. The patient can then do without taking certain drugs with many side effects such as NSAIDs or corticosteroids by infiltration ”, according to the specialist.

In the acute phase, the mesotherapist administers local anesthetics (lidocaine), anti-inflammatory (piroxicam), of myorelaxants (thiocolchocoside), long-acting analgesics like calcitonin.

In the chronic phase, the mesotherapist avoids anti-inflammatory drugs. He turns to preventive treatments for relapses. It favors microcirculatory active ingredients (magnesium, etamsylate), products with nutritional actions (vitamins, calcium, etc.), local anesthetics (procaine).

• La tendonitis which results in tendon pain which most often results from overexertion. It can affect the upper limbs (hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder, arms) or lower (knee, kneecap, heel), the hip or the gluteus medius. Mesotherapy treatment consists of the injection of anti-inflammatory drugs (such as piroxicam). “It is also possible to add muscle relaxants, analgesics, etc. “;
• La neuralgia (especially sciatica or cervicobrachial neuralgia) is pain caused by irritation or compression of a nerve. Neuralgic pain can be treated with mesotherapy by injecting anti-inflammatory drugs and muscle relaxants;
• La lumbago is pain or a blocked sensation in the lower back, in the lumbar vertebrae. Mesotherapy is a way of treating common low back pain, that is to say of mechanical origin (low back pain secondary to another disease must receive specific treatments for the causal pathology). A mixture of several injectable products is generally used: analgesics (lidocaine), anti-inflammatory drugs (piroxicam), muscle relaxants (thiocolchicodise), calcitonin (for its analgesic, vasomotor and anti-inflammatory action), anti-edematous / decongestants (etamsylate).

Mesotherapy and sports medicine

Mesotherapy relieves muscle and tendon pain and trauma (tendonitis, contractures, sprains, strains, etc.) related to the practice of sport. It consists of local injections of low doses of anti-inflammatory drugs, relaxants, anesthetics or calcitonin where the pain is felt.

Mesotherapy and circulatory pathologies

Venous insufficiency results from an alteration of the walls of the vessels causing poor circulation of the blood and leading among other things to a feeling of heavy legs and the appearance of spider veins and later varicose veins.

• Headache more commonly known as a “headache” is a severe pain that usually affects only one side of the head and occurs as seizures. It results from a dilation of the cerebral arteriovenous network and increased blood flow as well as the passage of inflammatory and algogenic substances into the surrounding tissues. These substances will stimulate the sensitive fibers of the trigeminal nerve which will maintain and worsen the vasodilation and the pain.

Mesotherapy relieves pain and treats the cause of venous insufficiency. However, it does not make varicose veins disappear. The composition of the drug mixtures is modulated according to the stage of the disease. “It is based on the treatment of the lateral and posterior venous axes of the two entire legs and, as for mesotherapy in general, on the usual combination of the two techniques (deep and superficial), with a combination of products such as procaine, magnesium, etamsylate and vitamin C ”, according to the practitioner.

The treatments prescribed in mesotherapy are injections mixing various products such as: beta blockers, muscle relaxants, mineral salts with neuroregulatory properties (magnesium), benzodiazepines with muscle relaxant action (diazepam), products with neurological action (amitriptyline).

Mesotherapy and aesthetics

In aesthetic medicine, mesotherapy revitalizes skin tissue. It is used on the face, neck, décolleté, back or even hands.

• In deep mesotherapy, we use “skinboosters(Galderma), which containhyaluronic acid weakly crosslinked and micronized.
• In superficial mesotherapy, mixtures of various products such as uncrosslinked hyaluronic acid, amino acids, antioxidant vitamins and minerals are used.

Mesotherapy and other pathologies in adults

Mesotherapy is also suitable to treat:

• plantar fasciitis;
• tinnitus;
• the carpal tunnel;
• fibromyalgia.

The drugs used are generally amitriptyline, lidocaine, procaine, thiocolchicoside or even magnesium ”, according to the mesotherapist.

Mesotherapy and childhood ailments

In children, mesotherapy is used in forms of osteochondrosis: Osgoodschlatter’s disease and Sever’s disease.

Mesotherapy is practiced by any state-certified doctor who has obtained an interuniversity (DIU) or university (DU) diploma in mesotherapy. They are most often general practitioners, rheumatologists, functional re-educators, sports doctors, dermatologists, aesthetic doctors, pain specialists, etc.

Mesotherapists are subject to regulatory and ethical obligations which engage their disciplinary, civil and criminal liability. In this regard, recommendations were issued by the French Society of Mesotherapy (created in 1964) in order to supervise the performance of these medical acts.

In order to better prepare your visit to the mesotherapist, it is wise to bring some documents:

• examinations (sample (s) or imaging (s)) related to the problem for which you are consulting this practitioner. For example: if you have a sprain, you can take an x-ray of it);
• the list of drug treatments followed (and especially those which concern the subject of your consultation). For example, if you have osteoarthritis and are already taking corticosteroids;
• documents attesting to your medical follow-up (prescription, health record, etc.);
• from the list of possible allergies. The latter are a contraindication to mesotherapy;
• your Vitale card or a certificate of entitlement to health insurance. In fact, Social Security reimburses mesotherapy if it is carried out during a consultation by an approved doctor and if it is for therapeutic and not aesthetic purposes.