Provillus is a product marketed at people suffering from hair thinning/loss.
This article is an attempt to factually describe the current position and should not be interpreted as advice to either buy or avoid buying this product.
Description
Provillus is essentially a mixture of natural foodstuffs, minerals, vitamins and nutrients. People selling it (this takes place primarily over the internet) claim that it is effective in stopping hair loss and eventually, perhaps re-stimulating some areas of growth.
Some versions of the product may contain only the natural ingredients. Other forms also contain Minoxidil, which is one of only two drugs the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) license for use in the treatment of typical pattern hair loss.
Provillus is not a recognized drug or medicine. You do not need a prescription to obtain it.
Note that just because Provillus may contain an FDA licensed ingredient in the shape of Minoxidil, this does not mean it is an FDA approved product in total – it is not.
Use
The normal course of treatment involves tablets and/or a preparation to use on the affected areas.
The manufacturers/retailers typically recommend use over many months and their publicity appears to suggest that it may be necessary to wait until as long as perhaps 6 months before improvement will be noticed.
It is marketed in versions for both men and women. The Minoxidil concentrations are typically 5% or 2%.
Claimed process
The body produces Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) from testosterone.
DHT is clinically known to have a detrimental effect on the hair follicles and for men (and to an extent women also) it can play a part in the development of pattern baldness.
The manufacturers’/suppliers’ claim is that provillus can block the effects of DHT on the follicles and also stimulate them by increasing the supply of nutrients etc (the exact process descriptions vary somewhat between sites).
As provillus is seen as essentially a herbal product, it is not required to undergo rigorous clinial evaluation and licensing.
Efficacy
At the time of writing, it has not been possible to trace any objective clinical trials that support (or refute) the effectiveness of this product.
What is clear is that the internet is full of case studies, product reviews and testimonials, proporting to represent satisfied clients. Surprisingly, relatively few indications of concerns or stories of failure seem to come to the fore.
However, extreme caution needs to be exercised before reading too much into that:
• Many of the articles, in widely varying sites, contain fulsome praise of the product to an extent that should generate unease.
Experience suggests that unqualified reviews of any product are very rare, so this may indicate a high degree of ‘article placement’ and search engine optimization by a sponsoring and sophisticated net-marketing operation;
• Many of the articles appear to contain very similar logical structures, styles and at times, even language. This may indicate ‘syndication’ as well as sponsorship. That must give rise to concern over their objectivity;
• The internet is fairly heavily populated with ‘blocker’ or ‘interference’ articles that come up when trying to search for problems and dissatisfied clients using search criteria such as “provillus problems”.
These articles are often provocatively entitled “provillus scam” or “problems with provillus” but immediately again launch into virtually unmitigated praise of the product.
It is, therefore, difficult to ascertain an objective summary position.
As a general rule, there are very large numbers of products sold that claim to help premature hair loss and it is generally accepted that the vast majority of them are, in effect, probably useless.
Provillus typically offers a money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied and that may give cause for re-assurance though no comment is made regarding the extent to which this guarantee would be honored or not.
Summary
It is impossible to cite objective evidence relating to the probability of success when using this product.
It does contain a drug (Minoxidil) that is known to be effective in some cases.
Whether it would be more cost-effective to purchase Minoxidil over the counter at a pharmacy and still achieve the same effect, must be open to question.
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