Stem Cell Secretome Treatment in Aurora

Your body is always talking to itself. Cells send out signals that say repair this, renew that, slow down here. As we get older, those conversations get quieter, and we all notice it eventually: skin that takes longer to bounce back, hair that isn’t quite as full as it used to be.

Secretome science is a young field that studies those signals directly. Instead of using the cells, it gathers the messages the cells send. At Thrive! MedAesthetics + Wellness, our physician-led team, led by Medical Director Dr. Amber Bocknek, offers a secretome made from your own hair follicle stem cells. We’re also upfront that this research is new and still growing.

What is a secretome, and how does it relate to stem cells and exosomes?

Think of a stem cell as the foreman on a building site. The foreman doesn’t lay every brick; they send out instructions. The secretome is that full set of instructions: growth factors, cytokines and peptides, plus exosomes, which are tiny bubble-like packages (extracellular vesicles) that carry proteins and genetic messages from one cell to another.

The secretome we use is made by Acorn Biolabs, a Canadian company, from a small sample of your own hair follicles. Acorn describes it as cell-free. It contains the molecules and exosomes your cells release, not the cells themselves.

Stem cells, secretomes and exosomes at a glance

Stem cells: cells that can renew themselves and help maintain tissue. Your hair follicles contain them.

Secretome: everything those cells release to communicate, collected into a serum.

Exosomes: one part of the secretome; tiny vesicles that carry signals between cells.

Is secretome treatment the same as stem cell therapy?

No, and the difference matters. Stem cell therapy puts living cells into the body. In Canada those treatments are regulated as drugs, and most are still experimental. Secretome treatment uses only what your cells release, with no living cells in the serum.

If you found us by searching for stem cell therapy, you’re in the right place to ask questions. We’ll walk you through what each term means and what is realistic for your goals.

Is this exosome therapy?

Exosomes are part of what this secretome contains, alongside growth factors and peptides. Exosome products come from many sources, including donor cells and plants. This one is made from your own cells. At Thrive! it is used as the manufacturer directs: applied to the skin or scalp right after microneedling.

What the research shows so far

Here’s the honest picture. Small clinical studies of exosomes and stem cell-derived secretomes have reported improvements in skin texture, hydration, elasticity and fine lines. Studies in thinning hair have reported changes in hair density. Most reactions reported have been mild and short-lived, such as redness. But the studies are small, the products differ from one another, and researchers agree that larger, longer trials are needed.

Our Aurora clinic, led by Dr. Amber Bocknek, was a participating site in Acorn’s registered real-world study of this secretome (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06477172), which is now complete. That experience is why we’re careful about how we describe it: this is the beginning of a new science, not a finished one.