Your hair is a vital part of your identity. When you start noticing your hair falling out, it can lead to embarrassment and you trying to find any reason to cover it up with a hat. But there is no reason to be afraid; you’re not the only one who has been down this path. There are now plenty of treatments available for you, treatments such as PRP.
Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy has made major headlines over the last several years. It has been favored by elite athletes to help them recover from injuries, and now it has slowly transitioned into other areas such as soft tissue healing and hair loss treatment.
But what exactly is Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy? And how can it be a great tool to fight your hair loss?
What is PRP?
Our blood is made up of three small components; red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. These platelets are the healing blocks of our blood, they help clot our blood when we get a cut, and their growth factors are vastly important when our body is healing from injuries. Just as the name suggests, Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy depends on these platelets to repair and treat areas of damage.
The process for PRP is straightforward. First, the doctor will draw your blood into a test tube. Next, through the process of centrifugation, the test tube is spun at such a high velocity that it separates your platelets from the other small components in your blood; leaving you with the PRP plasma that is ready to inject.
Once the process of centrifugation is complete, the doctor will then draw the PRP plasma from the tube. This plasma is then ready to inject into any areas of inflammation or tissue damage.
PRP and Hair Loss:
Now that you’re well informed on the process of PRP, how can it help with your hair loss?
Once your blood is drawn and spun in the Centrifuge, your PRP plasma is ready to inject into areas in your scalp that have signs of hair thinning. The growth factors of the plasma can help stimulate the cells in your hair follicle to function and actively enter into the growth phase. It is advised that patients have multiple sessions of PRP, all approximately 30 days apart.
The PRP injections have been shown to increase the vascular structures around the hair follicle and enhance the blood flow to the scalp. Besides helping with hair regrowth, PRP can also help speed up recovery from a hair transplant procedure. Following the procedure, if PRP is injected into the transplanted areas, it can speed up healing times and make sure the implanted grafts grow at a quicker rate than usual.
In 2015, there was a small-scale study conducted on individuals suffering from hair loss. The results showed that after three months of treatment, patients had an increase of 33.6 hairs in the treatment area and hair density was increased by 45.9 hairs per cm²; in comparison to 3.8 hairs per cm² decrease in the control subjects. The study was proof that patients who received PRP treatment had significant hair growth compared to those you didn’t.
How can we help?
At Hair by Robotics, we strive to provide our patients with a gold standard of Hair Restoration products. As such we’re happy to introduce Eclipse PRP Therapy, now available at all Hair by Robotics locations. Unlike other PRP Therapy applications, ours is specifically designed for patients suffering from hair loss. Great for pre and post-transplant procedures, patients can also try it as a non-surgical alternative before committing to a robotic hair transplant. You’re not alone, talk to our specialists and see how we can change your life as we have done for many others.