PRP-Platelet Rich Plasma For Hair Loss

You’ve just finished blow-drying your hair and you look on the bathroom floor to find what seems like enough hair to make a wig.  You may be startled, alarmed, curious. Why does this happen?

Similar to a well-manicured lawn, your scalp needs to be properly groomed with the right nutrients, attention to the health of the roots and properly fertilized.  Any stress to the environment, floods, droughts, harsh chemicals, can drastically alter the health of a lawn. It’s the same for our scalps.  Environment, genetics, age, stress and how you treat your hair all play into whether you keep or loose those precious strands.

While men are more likely to suffer hair loss, middle-aged women often suffer silently from thinning hair when hormonal shifts happen.  In my office, we’ve been using Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy for pain management, but are seeing more and more patients for hair loss.

There are many benefits of using PRP treatment to promote healing for hair growth. Highly concentrated growth factors in the form of platelets have been shown to generate new hair growth, thicken thinned out hair, and make hair transplants grow thicker and healthier. If the hair follicles or hair roots are healthy, the growth of the hair is healthy. Hair follicles survive on the nutrition they get from blood supply. If we introduce platelets by administering platelet rich plasma (PRP) in the area of damaged hair follicles, it amplifies the body’s naturally occurring wound healing mechanism.

With just 60ml of your own blood, we process out the platelets, stem cells and growth factors. We apply the PRP to the scalp area where hair loss has begun. With special tools and a delicate touch, there is minimal pain involved in this process. The procedure takes from one to two hours, depending on the amount of hair loss and the size of the area needing treatment.

Patients generally have to receive this treatment a few times before they can see any results. However, some patients may only have to receive this therapy once a year.  PRP does not pose any danger of allergy, hypersensitivity, or foreign-body reaction and it is a safe choice for many patients. Prognosis is generally good, but it varies from person to person. Most of the clinics practicing this therapy have reported almost 80% success rate.

However, not everyone is an ideal candidate to undergo this procedure. Patients who have an active infection in the scalp, history of a viral infection like shingles, diabetes, any clotting disorder, or patients who are on blood-thinning medications like aspirin and immunosuppressive drugs like cyclosporine are not candidates for this procedure.  Also, if hair follicles are completely lost, this procedure is less likely to help patients.

The good news is that this is a great and safe therapy, especially for those who do not want to undergo hair transplant surgery or elect oral treatment with Propecia.

We have seen exciting results in our office, which you can view HERE.  It will also better help you understand the technicalities of the treatment and prepare your expectations of the procedure.

I’ve been eager to share this topic with you, as the subject is growing in popularity and we are seeing lots of success for PRP Therapy for pain management.  In a few weeks, I’ll discuss on m blog here how we are using PRP for facials.