What is PRP therapy?

PRP (platelet-rich plasma) therapy for hair loss is a three-step medical treatment in which a patient’s blood is drawn, processed, and then injected into the scalp. Some in the medical community think that PRP injections trigger natural hair growth and maintain it by increasing blood supply to the hair follicle and increasing the thickness of the hair shaft. Sometimes this approach is combined with other hair loss procedures or medications.

There has not been enough research to prove if PRP is an effective hair loss treatment.

 

Although there hasn’t been much scientific research done on PRP for hair loss, PRP therapy has been in use since the 1980s. It has been used for problems such as healing injured tendons, ligaments, and muscle.

     

    PRP therapy process

     PRP therapy is a three-step process. Most PRP therapy requires three treatments 4–6 weeks apart. Maintenance treatments are required every 4–6 months.

 

     Step 1

     Your blood is drawn typically from your arm and put into a centrifuge a machine that spins rapidly to separate fluids of different densities.

     Step 2

     After about 10 minutes in the centrifuge, your blood will have separated into in three layers:

     Poor plasma

     Rich plasma

     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.