Thank you for your question. You state in your question that several days after a platelet-rich
plasma (PRP) injection for hair loss, you had some hair shedding and that a month later,
you don’t see any improvement and you have 2 more sessions left. And so you want to get
some guidance to whether or not this is of any benefit.
Well, I can certainly give you some guidance with this question. I’m a Board-certified
cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgeon. I am also
the founder of TrichoStem™ Hair Regeneration Centers, a system we developed in our practice
where we use platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as well as a material called Acellular matrix
to help men and women from around the world with male pattern hair loss. I’ve been in
practice for over 20 years and we use platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in our practice every day.
So, understanding the current thinking about the role of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) with
hair loss is probably helpful to you even though I am sure this was already explained
to you by your doctor before you made this decision to have this treatment. So, I’ll
tell you what has been, essentially, the experience of a lot of our patients who come to us who’ve
had platelet-rich plasma (PRP) done elsewhere and what my perspective is from my personal
experience as well as how we use platelet-rich plasma (PRP) without the treatment called
Hair Regeneration.
So to begin with, it is generally agreed in the hair treatment or hair loss specialist
community that platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has some benefit for hair loss. And articles
have started to come out that show certain specific objective data to support this. However,
it has been my experience that platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for hair has a limited value.
And what I mean by that is, it does appear to have benefit. It can cause short-term growth
of hair. However, long-term, beyond the point of injection, let’s say a year after the
injection, I don’t think it makes that much of a difference. From patients who come to
us for Hair Regeneration, they’ll state that they have gone for platelet-rich plasma
(PRP) treatment monthly and around the 4th month, on average, they felt like they just
didn’t know where their end point was going to be so they stop going and they learn about
Hair Regeneration.
With our treatment, which we developed over several years based on a wound healing technology
that we were using for hair transplant surgery, we are able to treat with a single treatment
men and women with genetic pattern hair loss. We have 99% success defined by the simple
criteria of stopping progression of hair loss, reactivating hair that is not growing, inducing
the shed of thinning hairs so that thicker hairs grow in. We follow our patients every
3 months and we have years of data to the extent where 5 years out, people are still
not regressing.
So platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a very useful treatment in the world that we inhabit which
is, not only hair loss, but in the field of cosmetic medicine and cosmetic surgery. We
use platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for acne scars, for under eye dark circles, for pigmentation
issues, for a lot of ways that can help improve tissue, improve blood supply and improve collagen.
But when it comes to hair loss, I don’t recommend platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as a
standalone treatment. Now that doesn’t mean that the colleague who is recommending it
is wrong. They may feel that in their hands, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) does have benefit
which, with a certain schedule, may be of value to you. So I don’t think you want
to necessarily abandon hope.
Meet with your doctor again when you are ready for your next session or maybe prior. Ask
about what is the long-term benefit. I think that a lot of times people think all PRP is
equal. And thanks to the time that we have put in with Hair Regeneration, we are basically
seeing an incredible amount of growing awareness because of the success. And on top of that,
the people who we have treated, their friends, their family and their network of awareness
is also increasing. So it is now more a little bit complicated in that, it is not just PRP
alone, it is platelet-rich plasma (PRP) plus Acellular matrix and other things that we
do specific to TrichoStem™ Hair Regeneration. So don’t just stop your treatment. Talk
to your doctor, learn about your options, learn more about alternatives and see what
else make sense for your situation.
So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question!