FAQ about PRP for Hair Loss

Hair thinning in women, which affects nearly 40 million American women, is mainly due to heredity and can start any time after puberty. However, we also know that female pattern hair loss can be strongly influenced by age, nutrition, stress, surgery, medications, illness, social/lifestyle factors, hair care and more. As hair follicles weaken and stop producing hair, hair loss occurs.

Remarkably, PRP for hair loss can impact the hair itself, often resulting in hair rejuvenation.

The first step for anyone with a hair or scalp problem is to visit a full-time, credentialed hair restoration physician with experience and expertise in accurate diagnosis, successful treatment and long-term follow-up required in the medical management of hair loss patients. A medical hair loss “work up” starts with a detailed medical history, including family history, history of medical illness, poor nutrition, current medications, hair care regimen, recent surgeries and a detailed history of the hair loss situation.A hair dermoscopic analysis, scalp biopsy, and blood tests or other testing may be performed if indicated by the history and physical symptoms. Physical exam would include evaluation of the scalp for signs and symptoms of hair loss and any concurrent problems, such as inflammation. Hair Dermoscopy with the High Defintion FotoFinder System is essential to determine if there is decreased numbers of follicles in the affected areas, a decreased caliber of follicles in the affected areas, or inflammatory signs on the scalp that will guide the diagnosis.

PRP or Platelet Rich Plasma for hair loss is an in-office, non-surgical, treatment derived from the patient’s own blood that can be performed in about an hour. After the area of concern is identified, evaluated and measured, standardized medical photos are taken in the photo suite. Special gentle and sterile techniques and equipment are used to separate and concentrate the platelets and plasma from a small sample of peripheral blood. PRP contains growth factors and cytokines that have been shown to be responsible for stimulating and enhancing hair follicle function. The scalp is prepared with antiseptic solution and anesthetic (a “ring block,” not simply local anesthetic gel) is used to completely numb the scalp. Small injections of the PRP deliver the powerful platelet-derived growth factors into the skin at the level of the weak follicles. Electronic, mechanical microneedling is performed.

If you’re interested in exploring whether PRP for hair loss is right for you, call us for a convenient appointment. Our office is located in Foster City, thus convenient to both San Francisco to the north, San Mateo to the immediate West, and Palo Alto to the South. Indeed, persons looking for PRP for hair loss therapy come to us from as far away as Oakland or San Jose.

At the Silicon Valley Hair Institute, Dr. Canales focuses on two types of hair loss patients when it comes to PRP treatments: patients with areas of “weak quality” hair growth on the scalp, where functioning hair follicles can still be observed, and patients with small areas of alopecia areata.  In our experience, these are the patients who appear to have the greatest success with PRP hair regrowth treatments. PRP for hair loss is something you can explore with Dr. Canales; his office is in Foster City, but we have a satellite office in Palo Alto.  Patients from Menlo Park, Redwood City, San Mateo, etc., find it convenient to come in for a free consultation.

It takes six to twelve months to judge the results of PRP “visually” in the mirror or with standardized photos. Photographic assessment is performed every three months, so the plateau phase of improvement can be tracked.

PRP is a comfortable, in-office, non-surgical procedure that takes about an hour start-to-finish.  Most patients notice a brief period of inflammation during which their scalp remains somewhat pink and numb for a few hours. Hair growth improvements can typically be measured in about three months, but it takes six to twelve months to visually “see” the difference in photos and in the mirror. Patients with certain blood disorders or on certain medications are not candidates for PRP treatments. PRP is immunologically neutral and poses little risk of allergy, hypersensitivity or foreign-body reactions.

There is no activity restriction after a PRP treatment. Patients may shower/shampoo/condition their hair normally just several hours after the treatment and resume normal daily and athletic activities. As mentioned previously, some brief mild inflammation noticeable as redness/pinkness and numbness of the scalp may be present for several hours. No harsh chemical coloring or perming treatments should be performed for at least 72 hours. Use of topical hair growth treatments like Rogaine or similar can resume the next day. Laser therapy treatments can also be resumed the next day.

Patients should be educated by their Hair Restoration Physician as to what results they could expect from PRP in various areas of the scalp. Different areas of the scalp may respond differently to PRP depending on the amount of weak hair follicles present in each zone. Generally, with the exception of small round areas of alopecia areata, locations where severe depletion of follicles has occurred should not be treated. The vast majority of healthy individuals can easily undergo PRP treatments. Certain conditions like blood and platelet disorders, chronic liver disease, presence of an active severe infection, cardiovascular or hemodynamic instability and/or the presence of anti-coagulation therapy (e.g. warfarin) would make PRP contraindicated.