PRP (platelet rich plasma) refers to a substance that promotes natural healing and cellular rejuvenation when injected into a specific treatment area. PRP is made from plasma, a component of your own blood that contains important healing compounds known as ‘growth factors’ or proteins that help induce clotting of the blood, tissue regeneration, and cell division or cellular growth.
How Does PRP Hair Restoration Work?
PRP injections work to trigger growth of your own natural hair, using your own plasma– a process that is 100% natural. PRP triggers natural hair growth by increasing the blood supply to each hair follicle and helps stimulate growth with stem cell growth factors.
These compounds found within the platelet rich plasma solution include:
- Platelet-Derived Growth Factor – PDGF, helps promote the growth of blood vessels, cell regeneration and in-turn the formation of new skin tissue.
- Transforming Growth Factor-Beta – TGF-b, promotes the growth of the cellular matrix between our cells and aids in wound repair.
- Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor – VEGF, promotes the formation of blood vessels.
- Epidermal Growth Factor – EGF, promotes cellular growth and cellular differentiation; as well as blood vessel formation, and collagen production.
- Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 – FGF-2, promotes growth of specialized cells and blood vessel formation.
- Insulin Growth Factor – Affects follicular proliferation and tissue remodeling.
PRP Hair Restoration Process
We start by drawing your blood and placing it into a centrifuge to separate the platelet-rich plasma from the other components of the blood. Once the platelet-rich plasma is separated it is injected into the desired treatment area, or ‘bald spots’ along the scalp. The entire process will generally take under a half-hour to complete.
Depending on your specific needs and the level of hair loss, we will recommend 3-4 different PRP treatment sessions – likely 1-2 months apart. For sustained results, maintenance treatments are done every 6 months.
Results
Depending on your specific case, you should start seeing some results within a few months. Some patients use PRP therapy after hair transplantation to enhance their results.