Androgenic alopecia is the most common type of hair loss with up
to 80% of men & 40% of women developing it as they age. Men tend to lose hair from the edge of
their forehead and the top of their head while women usually experience thinning mostly across
the top of their scalp, usually noticed first as a widening part. Ironically, women also tend to
notice brow hairs becoming sparser as lower face hairs sprout more. Until recently, the only
effective treatments for hair thinning were drugs such as minoxidil and finasteride, or hair
transplants.
Recent studies show promising results for early hair loss with
regenerative treatments like injections of PRP that use the body's own growth factors to either
increase hair thickness or at least stop its loss.
Alopecia areata is an
autoimmune-related disease that causes patchy bald areas, & some studies have also shown
improvement with these treatments.
Platelets, which are cells in our blood, contain
different types of growth factors and PRP is the concentration of those platelets in plasma, the
liquid portion of blood. The effects of PRP on hair loss are thought to be due to the effects of
platelet growth factors on the hair follicles. PRP is obtained by drawing a small blood sample
& then spinning the tubes to concentrate the platelets.
For hair loss treatment
PRP injected into the scalp (and brows if desired) or applied during a microneedling treatment,
after anesthetic cream, to get down into the thinning hair follicles.
Regenerative
hair therapies are not effective if the area being treated has no remaining hair follicles, so
it's best to start early.
After an initial series of 3-6 monthly treatments, roughly
30% of patients will see an increase in hair growth, 30% won't see an increase but they won't
continue to experience hair loss in the months after treatment, and 30% won't see any
change.
Maintenance treatments are recommended every 6 months or so or more often if
desired. At Complete Medical Anti- Aging we use a combination of PRP treatments, prescription
medication like finasteride and the laser cap to ensure the most successful outcomes for our
patients.