Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) for Hair Loss

Located in Sarasota and serving Tampa, Florida, Hair Transplant Center is ready to give you the best service and bring back the confidence in you.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is a kind of medicine that can help you heal. The therapy uses the body’s natural healing abilities to rejuvenate itself.

PRP treatments in combination with hair restoration and other cosmetic plastic surgery procedures. Platelets contain growth factors that can help your skin heal, make it grow more hair, and speed up the healing process. It allows wound healing in trauma and joint tissue injury. This technique can address male pattern baldness, stimulate the growth of hair transplants, and enhance other cosmetic procedures.

Since PRP treatments use your own tissues, they are safe and can be done alone. It is mostly used in conjunction with FUE hair transplant surgery, but you can also get a stand-alone PRP treatment for hair loss. Here is what you need to know about getting a PRP treatment for hair loss.

What Is PRP Treatment?

Blood plasma is the liquid part of blood that contains blood cells. It is a yellowish liquid that makes up about 55% of the blood in your body. Blood plasma carries cells and proteins through your body.

Platelets are tiny pieces of cells that help your blood clot. When you get a cut or bruise, it sends signals to the platelets, and they rush to where there is damage. They form a plug by making tentacles that make them stick to each other. And they send out chemicals that cause more platelets to come to aid in the healing process.

Blood plasma is mostly water and proteins. Blood cells, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, move through the plasma. It also helps keep blood pressure and volume steady in our body and helps remove cell waste.

How Is PRP for Hair Loss Performed?

Platelet-rich plasma therapy for hair loss is a three-step process. First, your blood is put through a machine. Then, the blood has to go through a second machine. This is a process to refine and separate. Finally, the blood will be injected into your scalp. The plasma in our blood is naturally pale yellow in color, so it appears very easily when mixed with the other parts of our body’s cells when we put it through this process.

Doctors believe that PRP injections can help to make your hair grow. These injections help by making blood flow through the hair follicle, which can also make your hair thicker. Doctors might give these injections alongside other treatments for baldness or prescribe medication.

PRP is produced in three steps. Most PRP therapy requires three treatments (four to six weeks apart) and then maintenance treatments every four to six months.

Your blood is drawn (typically from your arm), and 20 milliliters of whole blood is placed into a centrifuge (a machine that spins rapidly to separate fluids of different densities).
After 10 minutes in the centrifuge, the blood separates into three layers:

Platelet-poor plasma.
Platelet-rich plasma.
Red blood cells.

The platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is drawn into a syringe and then injected into scalp areas that need hair regrowth.

Though a recent study found that there is enough scientific basis to support PRP for hair restoration, this type of treatment for hair loss is still in its infancy.

Is PRP Effective at Regrowing Hair?

PRP therapy has been used since the 1980s. PRP therapy can be used for other problems, such as healing damaged tendons and sprained joints, and it can also be used to help with hair loss treatments.

Currently, there is not enough research on PRP for hair loss, and the results are not conclusive. PRP is a kind of treatment that might make your hair grow better, but it doesn’t always work. The research says that when you have better blood flow in your body, you will be healthier and stronger. Blood moves oxygen to our organs.

One hypothesis claims that the growth factors in the blood platelets contribute to hair regrowth. These growth factors include platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor (TGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), insulin-like growth factor (IGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF) and interleukin(IL)-1.

Thus, treatments in areas where hair is thinning could help the shrinking follicles produce hair more efficiently. But increased blood flow would also be helpful. More research is needed to find out if these treatments are helpful on their own.

In 2014, a group of people with hair loss tried PRP. Participants were given a small amount of PRP two times over four weeks. People’s hair loss slowed down between the first and fourth time they tried PRP. The conclusion is that PRP injection may be an easy, inexpensive, and logical treatment for hair loss.

This pilot study offers hope for those who would like to try PRP for hair loss. More research is needed before it can be proven as an effective stand-alone treatment. But, there will need to be more clinical trials with a larger group of participants before that happens.

While PRP is still debatable as the best way to grow hair back, it has been shown to work well for treating wounds. Therefore, we always use PRP in combination with FUE.

After a person’s hair follicles are taken from their scalp, their own PRP is injected back into the scalp to make it heal faster. This makes people feel better after surgery because they don’t have to wait as long for it to heal.

If you have a hair transplant, you will need to take care of it after the surgery. If you follow the instructions, such as spraying your scalp with water and letting it air dry, not washing or brushing your hair for the first week, and refraining from dyeing your hair for at least one month after the procedure, then both the donor site and transplant site will heal properly.

FUE hair transplants are best for people who want to have a fast recovery time. PRP treatments help with the healing process so you can get back to your life faster.

Is PRP for Hair Loss Safe?

The PRP treatment for hair loss is safe. It is created from the patient’s own blood, so they do not need to be tested for compatibility or other factors.

You might feel a headache, have pain, and your hair might fall out. It’s important to note that PRP is not right for people who have bleeding or autoimmune diseases.

How Much Does PRP Hair Treatment Cost?

At the Hair Transplant Center – Sarasota, PRP is very affordable. You can have one PRP treatment with your hair transplant or the doctor/clinician may recommend a series of PRP treatments in case you’re not a good candidate for a hair transplant.

Is PRP a Good Option For You?

If you are worried about hair loss, you may have already tried different options. You might have taken medications like Rogaine or Propecia, but these didn’t work for you. If that is the case, another option to consider is PRP therapy.

If someone has cancer, liver disease, sepsis, or a low platelet count, they may not be a good candidate for PRP. That is why it is important to call and schedule a consultation before going for the procedure. We will do an evaluation of your medical history so we can see if you are eligible for the treatment.

While PRP is a hair transplant treatment we offer at the Hair Transplant Center – Sarasota, we also use it with FUE procedures to help the healing process.

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