PRP is a non-surgical treatment which is used treat hair thinning, to arrest hair loss and promote hair growth. It takes place by injecting plasma into the scalp, with the objective of stimulating the follicles. The PRP is activated with growth factors to stimulate inactive or newly implanted hair follicles into an active growth phase. The regular use of PRP prolongs the Anagen phase of the hair growth cycle.
Hair loss and thinning hair are common problems across all genders. About 50 million men and 30 million women have lost at least some hair. It’s especially common after reaching age 50 or as a result of stress. And there are seemingly hundreds of different hair loss treatments with varying levels of reliability and success. But some are based on much more solid science than others. One of these treatments is platelet-rich plasma (PRP). PRP is a substance drawn from your blood and injected into your scalp that can purportedly help heal bodily tissues, including follicles from which your hairs grow. PRP is extracted from your blood using a centrifuge-like mechanism that can separate the substance from your blood and increase the concentration of specific proteins that promote healing.
Here, I focus on using PRP for hair loss. Specifically, PRP is quite helpful for early to moderate stages of androgenetic alopecia. Androgenetic alopecia is one of the most common causes of hair loss, resulting from a combination of genetic, hormonal, and environmental/nutrition effects. You’ll notice thicker, more luscious hair after your treatments, and a decrease in hair loss.
It takes about 30-45 minutes. It takes 5-10 minutes to draw blood, another 10 minutes to spin out the other cells, and 10-15 minutes for injections.
To begin with, I recommend 3 treatments, spaced 4 weeks apart to boost hair growth. Maintenance spaced out every 6-8 weeks or quarterly can be done thereafter, depending on your needs.
For hair loss: we typically do not pretreat with numbing medication, as the injections are quick! If you are not having any laser resurfacing or microneedling performed at the same visit, I usually apply any left over liquid gold over your scalp.
