Hey guys, my name is Dr. Sam.
Now recently, I've had a few viewers ask about
PRP treatment and in today's video I'm going
to explore how does PRP or platelet-rich plasma work
for hair loss?
Does PRP stop hair loss?
And what are the success rates
of PRP hair loss treatments?
If you don't know anything about PRP treatments,
or you're feeling a bit lost about it.
Don't worry! Sit back, relax and I'll go
through it with you.
What is PRP?
PRP stands for platelet-rich plasma which is given as an
injection for hair loss.
And PRP has actually been around for a long time,
since the 1980s.
But it's become quite trendy recently.
In fact, in 2006 a couple of scientists
discovered that injecting PRP into
problem areas like elbows that have
chronic issues such as epicondylitis
reduces the healing time.
And since then, this is spurred on a whole host of new
medical professionals trying it out
in different conditions.
One of which is hair loss which is associated with
androgenetic alopecia.
How does PRP work?
Platelet-rich plasma contains several
growth factors and proteins that are
important in promoting tissue healing.
It is thought that PRP therapy could
help regrow hair by reversing the
process that occurs in androgenic
alopecia.
What is the PRP process?
PRP therapy is a three-step process.
Most patients require 3 treatments that
are spaced 4 to 6 weeks apart.
With 6 monthly maintenance injections.
Step 1. Your blood is taken
from your arm and put into a centrifuge.
A machine that spins the blood rapidly
to separate it into the different blood components.
Step 2.
After about 10 minutes in the centrifuge,
your blood separates into three
components: platelet-poor plasma,
platelet-rich plasma and red blood cells.
Step 3. The platelet-rich plasma is drawn
up into a syringe and then injected into areas of
the scalp that need increased hair growth.
The injections are given over
about three minutes and there are
usually about thirteen of them.
Please be warned that this process is
quite painful and that's because your
scalp is very sensitive to injections
because it's got lots of blood vessels
and nerves.
What are the side-effects of PRP?
Because PRP involves the injection
of your own blood, there is no risk of
catching any blood-borne disease from
somebody else, which is really great news.
But there are some things that you might
expect afterwards (after the procedure),
which I'll list.
So, specifically you might get some scalp tenderness,
some mild pain at the injection site,
some swelling or a headache,
you might notice some itching or temporary bleeding
at the injection site.
Immediately after the procedure,
it's really important that you
don't shower or wash your hair for
about a day.
You don't want to also have
any scalp massage or endure any scalp
trauma in the first two days.
Also be on the alert for any signs of infection.
So redness, heat, fever, spreading rash and -
please see your doctor immediately.
The other thing to know is that, it's
uncommon, but some people do develop some
calcification and scar tissue that forms
at the injection sites.
Is PRP effective?
There have not been any large randomized
controlled trials to answer this question.
But in 2019, a group of researchers
carried out a systematic review of the
research and their findings are
published in the Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Journal.
Which I'll link in the description below.
This looked at eleven research papers
with a total of 262 participants
who had androgenetic alopecia.
The findings of the research showed that PRP therapy
reduced hair loss,
it increased the diameter of the hair follicles
and increased the density of the hair growth.
This was level 3 evidence which is pretty good
but it's not the ultimate,
which is level one.
What is still needed is larger studies,
with larger population sample sizes,
with standard protocols to confirm
whether these findings were actually real.
How long does PRP last?
PRP is not a cure for conditions that cause hair loss,
as you have to keep doing the injections
to keep seeing the results.
So it's similar to medications like finasteride or
minoxidil that you would use and need to
keep using to see the effects.
In terms of how long it takes to start seeing the
results, it's usually about two to three
months after having started having the
PRP procedure.
How much does PRP cost?
The price typically ranges from about 1,500
through to $3500 for three treatments,
or three injections. With each injection
costing around about $400 or more.
The price varies depending on who is doing
the procedure, the quality of the
equipment that's used and whether there
are any additives needed, for example,
other nutrients or local anaesthetic is used.
So what is the bottom line?
In terms of treatment options for hair loss
you can start with topical treatments
like Minoxidil, or you can use
tablets like Dutasteride or finasteride,
then you can use natural
products like saw palmetto.
Moving on to PRP therapy, hair transplants or you can
become a Mandalorian.
All of them have pros and cons to treatments
and PRP probably falls somewhere in the realms
of "this is a really promising treatment
but we still don't have enough evidence
to say whether it's really worthwhile".
I think if you're pursuing this decision,
I would weigh up how much like what kind
of budget that you want to spend
on hair loss treatment and also try and have
realistic expectations of the outcomes
from PRP therapy, as it's still not a
proven treatment just yet.
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Thanks for watching :)