PRP Hair Treatments: Platelet Rich Plasma Injections for Hair Loss
One way to boost hair growth lies in your very own plasma—if you can endure dozens of quick jabs around your skull.
July 22, 2024
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The PRP hair treatment is one of the most effective ways to fight hair loss, and to rejuvenate dormant or thinning hair follicles. PRP stands for “platelet-rich plasma” and involves the dermatologist injecting your own plasma into your own scalp. And oh, the crunching sound it makes as that needle pokes all around your dome is really something to experience.
How Does PRP Work for Hair Loss?
This is the same technology used to heal muscles, ligaments, joints, and tendons, because of the growth factors located in your blood. In short, your blood contains plasma, which contains platelets, which themselves contain growth factors. These growth factors are proteins that can stimulate the growth of cells. (Somewhat related: Growth factors are also growing in popularity as an ingredient in skincare products; they can come from human sources, or non-human sources like snails and plants.)
So, to administer PRP, the doctor will draw your blood, then separate the plasma out using a centrifuge before filling the syringes with that plasma. When the plasma is injected into the body (in this case, around the scalp in dozens of quick micro-injections—hence the crunching that you’ll not soon forget), the growth factors help those wilting follicles to spring back into action. Studies report that this process can also increase the growth phase of the hair cycle (anagen), which typically means you have more hair on your head at any given time, and less hair spent dormant or shed between growth cycles.
The blood drawing is relatively painless, though the process of being jabbed over and over around the scalp is a bit frightening and leaves the dome numb or fuzzy for a few days.
I have received PRP a few different times, and feel like my hair has always been noticeably thicker and fuller in the 3-6 months afterwards (especially before I got my hair transplant). I have never done it as a standalone treatment, nor would I recommend you put all of your eggs in this (very expensive) basket, since PRP can cost upwards of $1,000 per session. Read on for additional reasoning; I think this is a supplemental effort for hair retention, and not your primary one.
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PRF vs. PRP
In talking about PRP these last couple years, we also need to include something called PRF in the conversation. PRF stands for “platelet-rich fibrin”, and it is a PRP advancement that, upon injection, becomes a gel inside the application site.
The PRF mixture combines with plasma to create this gel, whereas the formula mixed into standard PRP remains liquid-like. However, the PRF needs to be injected quickly in order to not gel before application; you’ve got about 8 minutes once it’s done mixing to administer it. This gel binds to your cell fibers and slowly releases over the next 6-ish months.
The primary differences between standard PRP and PRF are:
- PRP requires more blood draw than PRF, roughly 3 times as much (6 vials compared to 2, in my experiences with both)
- PRF lasts twice as long, approximately six months compared to PRP’s 3. Thus it proves that the means of delivery is most important for longevity—not the volume of blood and plasma.
- PRF is more expensive per session, though the scale and range of this will vary from one clinic to the next, and one zip code to the next. PRF remains far less available for the time being, so until it is more widely adopted worldwide (and likely replaces PRP altogether), it will remain more costly. That said, the fact that you may need fewer PRF treatments over time could make it the more cost effective option already.
Pros and Cons of Platelet Rich Plasma
Pros: On the upside, PRP technology works really well for reducing hair shed. It wakes dormant follicles and helps thicken others. Many hair transplants offer PRP on the backend of the treatment in order to supercharge those freshly relocated follicles.
Cons: On the downside, PRP is extremely expensive. It can cost in the high hundreds of dollars per session, or upwards of $1000 in big cities (and even more for the aforementioned PRF alternative). With PRP, you’re meant to get three sessions in the first few months, meaning you’re dumping a few thousand in the first 12 weeks. After that, you’re supposed to get top-ups every 3-6 months (every 6 months for PRF). And while the above-linked studies prove PRP’s efficacy, it’s a really tricky thing to measure accurately, given the variance between plasma quality, administration techniques, and the fact that most users are pairing it with other hair growth treatments.
And for what it’s worth, getting PRP is fairly uncomfortable as the dermatologist jabs the injection quickly around your scalp over and over to release the plasma evenly. I wouldn’t call it fully painful as it is just really goddamn odd. Ideally they will numb you first with small localized needlings.
And then you have to endure a fuzzy-feeling scalp for a few days; and, on the first day, you’ll have an occasional drop of plasma drip down your face—it’s hilariously disgusting.
It’s all worth the benefits, yes. But this is a list of pros and cons, after all.
My Advice on PRP
While PRP is a great thing to splurge on if you’ve got money to burn, I’d sooner tell you to invest your money in ongoing finasteride and/or minoxidil prescriptions, and even an at-home LLLT (low-level laser therapy) helmet, or LED helmets with similar benefits (laser caps can cost thousands, and LEDs hundreds, or into the thousand-range).
Heck, even a hair transplant in Turkey will cost the price of three PRP sessions in Manhattan. In a perfect world, we could all get PRP injections on the regular, but it just ain’t sustainable for the 99%. (To be clear, I’ve gotten it in relation to work, at no cost. As much as I love my hair and fight to retain it, I cannot justify this cost, and doubt I’d justify it even if I was rich.)
PRP Hair Loss Treatment: Preparation and Results
If you are able to afford PRP, then do it. Just don’t smoke or drink in the few days leading up; don’t take any steroids or NSAID anti-inflammatories in the two days prior or in the two days after, and avoid any rigorous activity as well as hair styling products in the days to follow.
Your head will feel fuzzy and numb-ish for a couple days, so don’t panic. And in about 3-6 months, you should notice a nice uptick in hair growth, assuming you were a viable candidate to begin with. Please pair this with other hair growth techniques, though—namely minoxidil and/or finasteride at the very least.
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