Platelet Rich Plasma [PRP] for hair loss
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a procedure that doctors use to accelerate your natural healing processes in various areas of the body and also to restore hair growth. PRP injections trigger natural rejuvenation of hair and maintain it by increasing blood supply to the hair follicle and increasing the thickness of the hair shaft.
Self-extracted growth factor
Platelets, along with red and white blood cells, are a component of blood. When a person sustains an injury(a cut or wound), the platelets are the body's "first-aid." They arrive and begin to stop the bleeding and promote healing. Some time ago, researchers theorized that an injection of concentrated platelets into damaged areas of the body would accelerate healing.
Platelet Rich Plasma contains a range of growth factors and cytokines that speed tissue repair. While this treatment may not be universally useful for many types of hair loss (that resulting from damage to hair follicles themselves), researchers hypothesized that PRP could help regrow hair by reversing the process that occurs in androgenetic alopecia.
PRP for hair loss treatment process
Most PRP therapy requires 4-6 treatments 4–6 weeks apart. Maintenance treatments are required every 4–6 months.
First, your blood is extracted and put into a centrifuge (a machine that spins rapidly to separate fluids of different densities).
About 10 minutes later, your blood will have separated into three layers, platelet-poor plasma, platelet-rich plasma, red blood cells.
Finally, the platelet-rich plasma is injected into areas of the scalp being treated.
PRP treatment for hair what to expect?
A significant reduction in hair loss cytokines between first and fourth injection. Hair count increased 20-30% on average. The hair pull test [the test for hair loss] decreases by 90%.
In the split head research, ten patients with male androgenetic alopecia who were not on any other medication for the previous 12 months were selected. The evaluation was randomized, blinded, with a placebo half-head group, and evaluated by TrichoScan. After three months, a mean increase of 27.7 hairs/cm2 was found in the treated areas compared with a decrease of three hairs/cm2 in the non-treated area. Also, terminal hair density improved by 27 ± 15.3 in the treated areas but decreased by 2.1 ± 12.4 in the control area of the scalp
The final conclusion of the author of this review was that PRP showed great promise as an effective and risk-free treatment for some of the more common forms of hair-loss.
by Dr. Chontirot Srikasedsarakul
Dr. Chontirot Srikasedsarakul is a specialist in Genomics, Dermatology and Aesthetics. She has received qualifications from numerous educational institutions like Stanford University, U.S.A.; the University of Queensland, Australia; Chulalongkorn University, Thailand and the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine.
