Cure Hair Loss with Your Own Blood: Hair Restoration Specialists in San Francisco Explain PRP Therapy
Losing your
hair can be a stressful and embarrassing process. With society strongly
associating a full head of hair with youth and vitality, hair loss can be a
very difficult transition, especially if it progresses quickly and
unexpectedly. PRP therapy can be a viable alternative to hair transplant
surgery, and Drs. David Lieberman and Sachin Parikh are committed to educating
patients about the non-surgical options for hair restoration in San Francisco and
the surrounding Bay Area.
PRP, short for platelet-rich plasma, is plasma from the
blood that has been enriched with platelets. PRP contains a number of growth
factors and small proteins that help stimulate the healing of soft tissue. PRP
therapy has been used for years in the fields of orthopedics, dentistry, and dermatology.
PRP therapy for hair restoration involves drawing out a
patient’s own blood, processing it down so that a purified version of only the
enriched cells (i.e. PRP) is left behind, and injecting this formula into the
scalp to stimulate natural hair growth. The use of a patient’s own blood in
this form of hair restoration therapy has led to PRP being dubbed the “vampire
hair regrowth plan.”
This
minimally invasive, non-surgical process of hair restoration can be used on
patients suffering from hair loss that may either be premature or early onset,
or has occurred due to the aging process. It can be used on patients of any
gender – while hair loss or thinning does not commonly result in large patches
of baldness in women as it typically does with men, it is much more common than
many women might realize or admit.
PRP hair restoration is a very effective treatment that works
by strengthening existing hair
follicles. Part of the issue with thinning hair is that the follicles
themselves lose their hair density. While one follicle produces two to three
strands of hair on average, follicles in individuals suffering from thinning
hair may each produce only a single strand of hair. PRP hair restoration can
stimulate the follicles to boost the number of strands each of them grows.
There are
three main phases involved in the PRP hair restoration treatment process:
1. Blood is first withdrawn from the
patient, and spun in a centrifuge to separate out all its components. The
platelets are collected and stored in order to allow them to multiply. This
multiplication process also yields growth factors that will stimulate hair
growth in the follicles of the scalp.
2. The second step involves activating the
scalp with a scalp roller to readily receive the growth factors and proteins
from the PRP. Sometimes, microneedling may also be used for further activation.
3. The PRP is then injected into the
scalp for the follicles and cells in the scalp to absorb and stimulate hair
restoration.
Since there
are no additional foreign substances, and the patient’s own genetic material is
used, the chances of adverse reactions or rejection in PRP hair restoration is
very low.
Drs. Lieberman and Parikh note that PRP hair restoration can
also be combined with other hair restoration techniques such as microneedling, hair transplant surgery, and medications such as Propecia®
and Rogaine® to combat hair loss more effectively.
Depending on the cause of hair loss and the desired
treatment goals of the patient, a doctor could also conclude that another hair
restoration method may be more appropriate to treat the case. There is no
perfect, one-stop cure for hair loss, as the treatment for each is heavily
dependent on the cause or causes of hair loss.
Drs. Lieberman and Parikh would be happy to help anyone who
wants to learn more about hair loss and hair restoration, and to determine
whether PRP and/or other hair restoration treatments may be right for their
cause of hair loss. To schedule a consultation at the Bay Area’s Lieberman & Parikh Center for Hair Restoration, call (650) 327-3232 or inquire online.
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