Thank you for your question. You are 18 years old and
you describe in your situation where your father is bald and you are noticing for about
2-3 years that hair has been thinning and that you are in good physical health. And
you are stating that you are also opposed to using Rogaine or finasteride
due to side effects and you are asking if platelet-rich plasma(PRP) will benefit or
help you. And you recognize that hair transplant is not a good option for you.
Well, I can certainly help you with this question. I’m a board certified cosmetic surgeon and
fellowship trained oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgeon practicing in Manhattan
and Long Island for over 20 years. Hair transplant and hair loss is a very significant part of
my practice and in fact I am the founder of TrichoStem™ Hair Regeneration centers which
is a system we developed in our practice where we do use platelet-rich plasma(PRP) as part
of a treatment we call Hair Regeneration. So certainly I can give you my experience
when it comes to platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and what we do in our practice for someone
like yourself.
Now understanding that hair loss and hair thinning is clearly most likely by your description
a genetic pattern and a genetic pattern that is very aggressive. The early onset and related
progression pretty much anticipates for your future that you will be like your father at
some point depending on what pattern your father experienced. We have seen many patients
who have started losing their hair at the age of 18 who were practically bald by the
time they are 22, if not bald. I would say you have a very aggressive hair loss pattern
as supposed to somebody who starts noticing hair loss somewhere in their 30’s or 40’s.
What does platelet-rich plasma (PRP) do? Well, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a concentration
of the healing elements that are necessary for wound healing and it has been observed
that the use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) on stimulating hair growth. The question we
have to ask is does it stop hair loss progression? In my practice, platelet-rich plasma (PRP)
alone does not stop hair loss progression. It is typical and often that patients come
to us who have been getting injections of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in their scalp
and it is with the best intention by the doctors who are treating them that they are using
the technology they are familiar with to help their patients but they are going for injections
every month and that becomes difficult to sustain. In the long run and many times, the
patients tell us that there was no recording of data to confirm relative benefit. So I
think that in many ways, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is kind of a last ditch approach to
a lot of people. And in some patients who experience where they are getting platelet-rich
plasma (PRP) and the doctor wanted to do in getting a transplant so it’s almost a lead
in to do before a transplant.
We have developed a treatment called Hair Regeneration and with Hair Regeneration, what
we developed is a combination of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) with a material called Acellular
matrix. What we have been able to accomplish with this combination and algorithm we developed
for many years is that for most patients male and female, we are able to do a single treatment.
And we follow up our patients every 3 months and we measure very objectively. We take digital
photos, microscopic photos and we really analyze the patient’s progress. What we found in
this one treatment and in certain situations, we might do a second treatment somewhere between
12 to 18 months, we have been able to get sustainable stopping of hair loss. We’ve
been able to get thickening of thinning hairs and we’ve been able to get reactivation
or weak of growth of hairs that are not growing.
This type of technology is unparalleled of developments since the introduction of finasteride
in ‘97. Now this is developed from our work in using this material which is a wound healing
material for hair transplant. And what we learned is that not only we are helping the
grafts heal better but we are also able to see thinning hairs become thicker. The material
is not easy to work with which is why not many people have been using it and we went
through the work and development to try to make this into a scalable consistent procedure
and process. We have patients who come from all over the world who actually will stop
have the procedure and go home sometimes even on the same day and get back on the plane.
I think you are on the right track. I think you need to learn more about the technology
I described, Hair Regeneration combination with Acellular matrix and platelet-rich plasma(PRP)
and I think that there is an opportunity. One of the things we really have made a distinction
for several years we have been doing this is that we can help patients who have salvageable
hair but the unfortunate reality is once a hair is lost, it can’t be treated because
there is no hair follicle to treat. The earlier we catch someone, the better. So we’ve been
treating a good number of people in the 18 and 20 something age range for men and for
women. We’ve been treating female pattern hair loss confirmed by biopsy and as early
as the second decade or 20’s. So the key is catch them early and before when it is
too late that there is no hair to treat. Learn more about Hair Regeneration and I think that
it would be a superior option than platelet-rich plasma(PRP) alone.
So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question!