The Richfeel trichology centre, founded by Dr. Apoorva Shah and Dr. Sonal Shah, world’s leading trichologists and the pioneers of trichology in India, together they epitomize a pioneering spirit with a single minded dedication towards the field of hair and scalp care in India and the world over.
Bringing in over 40 years of combined experience to Richfeel, their work has been recognized and applauded in India and abroad. A feature in the Limca Book of Records in recognition of their pioneering efforts and a confirmation of the world’s highest Trichology award — The Ronald Salinger Award, are just a few of the acknowledgements of their outstanding contributions. Today, other than being associated with the Femina Miss India Pageant since the past 9 years, as their official hair and scalp care consultants, the doctors have the unique distinction of having developed India’s first training institute for Trichologists at MET, Mumbai.
At Richfeel trichology centre each and every patient is seen by a certified Trichologist from IAT, Australia AND Richfeel strives to give back a person his confidence and make this world a better place to live in.
Founders
Founded by Dr. Apoorva Shah and Dr. Sonal Shah, world’s leading trichologists and the pioneers of trichology in India, Richfeel is today a name to reckon with amongst the international hair sciences community. With unflinching zeal and dedication, Richfeel’s founding doctors continue to research and innovate newer technologies that are ensuring trichological solutions achieve greater breakthroughs in the coming years.
Bringing in over 40 years of combined experience to Richfeel, their work has been recognized and applauded in India and abroad. A feature in the Limca Book of Records in recognition of their pioneering efforts and a confirmation of the world’s highest Trichology award — The Ronald Salinger Award, are just a few of the acknowledgements of their outstanding contributions. Today, other than being associated with the Femina Miss India Pageant since the past 9 years, as their official hair and scalp care consultants, the doctors have the unique distinction of having developed India’s first training institute for Trichologists at MET, Mumbai.
Both Dr. Sonal Shah and Dr. Apoorva Shah completed their Diploma in Basic Trichology from the International Institute of Natural Therapies in 1987, and then went on to be recognized as India’s First Certified Trichologists from the International Association of Trichologists (IAT), Australia, the world’s governing body in hair and scalp care. This is indeed a rare honour as there are just about 335 Trichologists around the world.
Today, the Shah’s have been appointed as Executive Directors of the International Association of Trichologists, The Indian Chapter. An honour that is clearly in recognition of their dedicated contribution towards the development of this science across the world.
Dr. Sonal Shah and Dr. Apoorva Shah set up India’s first Trichology centre, the MET Richfeel Trichology Centre in Mumbai. Today, it is the most advanced hair and scalp care centre in the country with presence across India and abroad.
DR. SONAL SHAH
Her affinity for research, led Dr. Sonal Shah to develop an advanced research centre for hair care at Richfeel. Dr. Shah’s work at the centre has led to the successful creation of a unique and exclusive range of Tricho-active products. The first of its kind, in India.
Today, Dr. Sonal Shah is focusing her efforts in further developing the Non-surgical Hair Implant procedures using the Integration Technique. Known as the Revolution Hair System, her non-surgical solutions are giving Indians a chance to combat baldness without surgery. Needless to say, she is also a master at the surgical procedure.
Dr. Sonal Shah is also a qualified Beauty Physician in Natural Therapies. She completed her studies in this area from the Natural Therapies Institute of London. The doctor has almost two decades of international experience and expertise in setting up beauty clinics the world over. As a pioneer in developing homeopathic solutions for beauty treatments, she has to her credit India’s first natural range of nutritive homeopathic cosmetics called Richfeel Personal Care. Thereby effective using her knowledge and skills to introduce beauty through homeopathy in India.
DR. APOORVA SHAH
An erudite speaker, Dr. Apoorva Shah was the first person to lecture on hair at CIDESCO World Beauty Conferences in Cyprus, Greece, Singapore and the UK.
Focusing strongly on understanding “stress” and its contribution to hair thinning and hair fall, Dr. Apoorva Shah devised various holistic therapies which include Reflexology and Dr. Shah’s Relax and Stress Massage to combat the detrimental effects of stress on hair.
CONTRIBUTING TO SOCIETY SHARING KNOWLEDGE
Both Dr. Sonal Shah and Dr. Apoorva Shah have dedicated themselves to imparting quality training to promising young physicians keen to master the science of Trichology. A visiting faculty at the World CIDESCO congress and schools all over the world since 1992, they set up a Trichology branch at MET, Mumbai.
The MET League of Colleges is a conglomerate of premiere educational institutions, driven by a single-minded focus on imparting quality education to make students sharp. Established in 1989, with a mission to redefine the system of education, MET is a professionally managed, multi-disciplinary and multi-faceted oasis of knowledge.
CURING WITH CARE
Through the Menaxiben Shah and Rekhaben Shah Memorial trust, the doctor’s are bringing in some positives to the lives of cancer patients. Working in tandem with India’s finest oncologist — Padmashri Dr. Suresh H. Advani and his NGO for cancer patients — The Helping Hand, the trust believes in helping cancer patients face the world with the same spirit and joyful demeanor of a healthy individual.
The doctors are offering free treatment to all cancer patients in order to ensure that the damages of chemotherapy and radiology do not damage their spirit to fight. q
Insights Into Infertility Treatment
Infertility is a complex problem, which places considerable emotional demands on a couple. Infertility is still considered a social taboo in developing as well as developed countries. The range of treatment options now available can be even more confusing.
To make empowered decisions for your infertility treatment, it is important to take the right treatment at the right time from the right doctor i.e. an infertility specialist. Treatment options may range from natural cycle timed intercourse, ovulation induction-timed intercourse, natural cycle IUI, ovulation induction and IUI, fertility enhancing endoscopic surgery or ART(Test tube baby). The choice is made depending on age of the patient, infertility diagnosis and other factors.
There is utmost importance of lifestyle modification in the form of healthy diet, exercise regimen, avoiding stress, folic acid intake in patients who are trying for conception. Scientists have now proven the effect of lifestyle modification on the quality of gametes. This is especially true in obese patients who have an endocrine disorder called polycystic ovarian syndrome where reduction of just 5-10% body weight may restore regular menses and fertility.
Ovulation induction involves the use of medication to stimulate development of one or more mature follicles (where eggs develop) in the ovaries of women who have anovulation and infertility. These women do not regularly develop mature follicles without help from ovulation enhancing drugs. Some of the women with anovulation have a condition known as PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome.
Minimally invasive surgery in the form of laparohysteroscopy helps to evaluate the cause of infertility other than gametes .It helps to find the cause in the uterus,cavity, tubes or ovaries and treat it in the same sitting.
In IUI (Intrauterine Insemination), at the anticipated time of ovulation, the washed and processed semen sample of the male partner, containing highly motile good quality sperms, is deposited in the womb of the female partner using fine catheters. IUI is best advised as first line of treatment in cases of unexplained infertility (where no obvious causes in both the partners has been found) or mild male subfertility. Because sperm is placed directly inside the woman, IUI can also help couples who are unable to have intercourse because of disability, injury, or difficulties such as premature ejaculation, erectionproblemetc.
IVF(In Vitro Fertilization) is a procedures designed to unite sperm and egg outside in the petridish, thus bypassing altogether some of the factors causing infertility — particularly tubal problems.Injections are given to give to stimulate the formation of 8-10 eggs in the ovaries. Oocytes are retrieved from female and sperms from male. The union of both is achieved in optimum laboratory settings. The embryos thus formed are grown in the incubators for 2 to 5 days. The transfer of embryos into the womb of the mother is done on day 2 to 5 depending on the number and quality of the available embryos.
In ICSI (INTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION), the sperm is injected inside the egg with micromanipulators. This process even overcomes the natural fertilization process. This is useful in cases of male factor infertility or fertilization defects. Thanks to ICSI technology that a male partner even with a single sperm can father his own (genetic) child. In cases of azoospermia, secondary to blockage in the pathway, sperms can be aspirated from testis and used for individual egg injection.
In cases of severe male infertility or aspirated sperms from the testis, there are high chances that the sperms are morphologically abnormal. In ICSI, these abnormalities may not be detected completely as the magnification of sperm is 400 X only. This can be overcome by performing IMSI where magnification is 7200 X, which enables better morphological analysis of the sperm. With IMSI, it is very much possible to select a morphologically normal sperm from a crowd of abnormal sperm.
This is a boon to cases of severe male factor infertility where the embryologists can select a better sperm, enhancing the pregnancy rates further.
Donor sperms can be used in cases of testicular failure, male factor infertility where the couple cannot afford advanced technology in the form of ICSI/IMSI, genetic diseases in father etc. The issues of confidentiality, health and anonymity of the donor are given utmost importance. For women with premature ovarian failure, advanced maternal age or recurrent ART failures, egg donation is the only realistic option for getting pregnancy.
Those patients who are not able to hold the pregnancy either because of diseases of uterus beyond repair or in cases where carrying the pregnancy is not advised as it is dangerous to the health of a women (heart disease, renal failure, renal transplant etc), the services of a surrogate mother can be hired. Here, the couple’s genetic baby is developed by in-vitro-fertilization and transferred into the womb of the surrogate mother.
Thus with advances in technology there are several treatment options raising hopes of the infertile couple.
Profile: Dr. Sunita Tandulwadkar
Dr. Sunita Tandulwadkar is a trend-setter of the first order. She is the one who started the trend of laparoscopic hysterectomy and advanced endoscopic surgeries in the city of Pune in 1995. Trained in endoscopic surgery at various institutes in Sydney, Germany and the US, she also has interest in laparoscopic repair of pelvic floor. The young achiever went on to design many endoscopic instruments and presented her work at national and international conferences; ISGE (International Society of Gynaecological Endoscopists), AAGL (All American Association of Gynecological Laparoscopists) and ASRM to name a few.
In December 2002, Dr. Tandulwadkar established a state-of-the-art IVF Endoscopy Centre at Ruby Hall Clinic. Committed to healthcare since 1959, the Pune-based clinic offers a full spectrum of services in clinical and surgical care as well as a wide range of specialty support, in-patient and out-patient services. Dr. Tandulwadkar has organized many international conferences in Infertility and Endoscopy at Ruby Hall clinic, and trained numerous gynaecologists and surgeons for endoscopic surgeries and reproductive medicine from all across the globe.
The Centre itself is a place of repute for Basic and Advanced Endoscopy training as well as Basic and Advanced ART training by FOGSI (The Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India). It is a top institute for post-doctoral fellowship in reproductive medicine by National Board of Examination, and the first centre in the world to do successful Blastocyst transfer within 6 months of its launching.
Dr. Tandulwadkar’s academic excellence has taken Ruby Hall IVF & Endoscopy Centre to the height of international distinction, making it the only centre in India recognized for an International Fellowship from the Canada-based Institute of Reproductive Medicine and Endoscopic Surgery (IRMES). It has become an institute of repute in such a short span of time thanks mainly to Dr. Tandulwadkar’s hard work, sincerity and dedication. Her skill in advanced endoscopic surgery is the biggest asset to the centre as well as to countless patients across the world.
Dr. Tandulwadkar is a woman of many talents. Apart from being a clinician, she is also an academician with a PG guide for DNB in Obstetrics & Gynecology as well as a Fellowship in Reproductive Medicine by the National Board. Her book Endoscopy Simplified: Practical Tips by Experts decodes endoscopy for the average reader. The library of American Society of Reproductive Medicine uses her video on Laparoscopic Management of Twisted Adenexa for educational purposes & this month she released her another book‘.
A member of the International Scientific Program Committee of the International Society for Emerging Technologies and Treatment in Women’s Health, she has conducted Endoscopic workshops across India and published various papers in national and international medical journals. Getting invited as reviewer by an editorial board of most prestigious International journal of Reproductive medicine ‘Fertility Sterility’ is another feather in her cap.
In 2004, the tireless pioneer was conferred with a Sarvashree Award and gold medal for her outstanding contribution to Endoscopy and ART, adherence to ethical standards and active involvement in public causes. she ha been awarded a “Gold Medal” and a certificate for her excellence in the field & taking Ruby Hall Clinic at International level by Dr K.B. Grant, chairman of Ruby Hall Clinic.
Dr. Sunita Tandulwadkar currently holds the positions of Chief IVF Consultant and Endoscopist, and Head of Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Ruby Hall Clinic. She is also Honorary Consultant to Poona Hospital & Research Centre.
