Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is blood plasma that has been enriched with platelets. PRP contains several different growth factors and other cytokines that strongly stimulate tissue repair and regeneration. PRP therapy has applicaton in medical treatments such as treatment of injuries of nerves, heart muscle, osteoarthritis, tendinitis but also in plastic surgery.
In recent years, PRP therapy has been very often discussed whether it has benefits in thetreatment of the hair loss. Application of PRP was observed in a lot of patients and was noticed the accelerated growth of hair – hair is longer and thicker compared to the untreated area. PRP, bioactive proteins and growth stimulants are substances that our body normally uses for the self-healing process, it influences tissue repair and regeneration of hair.
To prepare PRP it is nesessary to extract a small amount of blood from the patient. It is then placed in a special centrifuge that rotates at high speed and automatically produces PRP – platelet rich plasma. The whole process takes between 15-20 minutes while the percentage of platelets and growth factors in plasma is increased by 3-10 times. During this time, it is necessary to clean the skin of the patien. The most common local anesthetic is applied so to avoid any inconvenience for the patient. Then the plasma is injected in area where hair is thinning by using a thin needle. Once this is complete, the scalp roller needs to wade through the treated area a few times in order to plasma penetrates into the deeper layer of the skin and to be absorbed evenly over the whole area. In this way, the hair follicles are stimulated to grow, forming new blood vessels which are responsible for the flow of fresh blood ,oxygen and nutrients needed for healthy growth and development of hair.
PRP therapy itself takes about one to two hours, including preparation and recovery time. Most people return directly to work after they have finished treatment. It includes three sessions – the first-basic treatment, the second -after a month and the third after three months. It works up to a year, no adverse effects were observed and can be combined with any other therapy for hair growth.
Ideal candidates for this therapy are both men and women in the early phase of hair thinning, patients with thin hair and those that have diffuse hair loss. Patients in the later stages of hair loss are not candidates for this procedure because most follicles
have already been dead and the PRP therapy they can not have any stimulative effect.
PRP therapy may be combined with hair restoration and has an important role to this procedure because platelets are essential in wound healing. After hair restoration circular lesions remains on donor area, while on the recipient area where grafts are implanted have many tiny incisions. On both these areas, platelets release a variety of growth factors that stimulate the healing process (PDGF, TGF, EGF, FGF, and IGF second). All these factors stimulate the formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) and the creation of new collagen. White blood cells, which are normally defensive cells of the body, are also stimulated, so there is no bacteria in this area. All this affects make the healing and recovery faster on both the recipient and the donor area, as well as it stimulates the growth of transplanted hair. If possible, it is desirable to combine always Neograft FUE hair transplant technique with PRP therapy.