What is PRP Therapy, and How Effective Is It?

What is PRP Therapy, and How Effective Is It?

Hair loss, no matter how mild it is, can mess up your facial beauty. If you are suffering from hair loss, you need to understand that this is a common condition that affects 60% of males and 50% of women worldwide. Hair loss interferes a lot with how you may want to style your hair. Since hair loss comes in different forms from different causes, not all hair loss treatments are suitable for everyone. Before considering getting any kind of hair restoration procedure, you first need to consult your physician. He or she will tell you the exact cause of your hair loss and the suitable treatment. 

Modern medical hair loss treatments come in different techniques. Some offer permanent solutions to hair loss, while others are just temporary. Among the latest hair loss treatments are PRP for hair loss, the FUE hair transplant Los Angeles procedure, micro scalp pigmentation, and medication. 

In this post, we shall explore and explain the PRP hair loss treatment to see what it offers, what makes it quite effective, and who is eligible for this type of hair restoration therapy. If you need to study more about this type of treatment, read along for more insights. 

What Does PRP Stand For? 

PRP is short for platelet-rich plasma, which is a treatment that utilizes high concentrations of platelets to treat not just hair loss but also faces wrinkles and sports-related injuries that have affected muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Platelets are very tiny cells produced in the bone marrow, responsible for cell regeneration and blood clotting to stop bleeding when tissue is damaged. 

When treating hair loss, platelet-rich plasma is extracted from the patient's blood, and then it's injected into the areas of the scalp experiencing balding to stimulate hair growth. The theory behind this type of hair restoration therapy is that the PRP solution increases blood supply containing nutrients that strengthen the hair follicles. Another theory suggests that platelet-rich plasma contains growth factors and proteins responsible for cell regeneration and repair. 

PRP hair treatment can also be enhanced by combining it with other advanced treatments such as FUE – follicular unit extraction hair transplant procedure. Once the doctor is done with the hair transplant procedure, PRP is injected in both the recipient and the donor areas to speed up healing and hair growth. 

Steps Involved in The PRP Hair Treatment Therapy 

There are three main steps associated in the PRP hair restoration procedure. The majority of the patients who undergo the PRP follow these steps within 4 to 6 weeks. Once this time is over, the patient will be going through maintenance treatments in about six to one-year intervals. Let's now look at these three steps. 

1. Drawing of the Patient's Blood 

The first step in the PRP hair treatment therapy is removing or drawing the patient's blood. The doctor only requires a small sample of the blood that will be used to extract PRP. Once the blood is extracted, it is placed inside a centrifuge machine, which spins it rapidly to separate the different components of blood from that sample. This process divides blood components based on density. 

2. Division of Blood into Three Different Layers 

Once the centrifuge machine spins the blood for about 10 minutes, the blood sample will divide itself into three components. These three components include the red blood cells, platelet-rich plasma, and plasma with little platelets. Since what is needed in this procedure is platelet-rich plasma, the doctor will extract it using a syringe. 

3. Injecting the PRP Solution Into the Thinning or Balding Areas 

The third and last step is to inject the PRP solution into the areas of the scalp suffering from thinning hair or balding. This is done to promote healing and stimulate dormant hair follicles to grow. 

Risks and Side Effects of PRP Hair Treatment 

Since only the patient's blood is used to extract the platelet-rich plasma, there are major risks of blood infections. Provided you have sought the best PRP hair treatment from the best hair restoration clinic or doctor, the risk of infections from medical instruments such as the syringe will be reduced. Like any other therapy that uses injections to administer treatment, risks will always occur in PRP hair treatment therapy. Here are some of them:

  • Infection
  • Scar tissue
  • Calcification at the injection points
  • Blood vessel and nerve injuries 

Conclusion 

PRP has proved to be an effective hair loss treatment that offers a semi-permanent solution. If the doctor examines your scalp and rules out the FUE hair transplant Los Angeles procedure as a hair treatment, the best option would be the PRP hair treatment procedure. Unfortunately, since this type of treatment is seen as a cosmetic procedure, health insurance doesn't have a policy covering it, meaning that the patient will have to pay for the treatment. 

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