What is a PRP Hair Restoration?

 

PRP Hair Restoration uses platelet-rich plasma (PRP) derived from your own blood to combat hair loss and thinning hair in men and women.  A PRP Hair Restoration at the Urban Aesthetix Clinic can naturally thicken existing hair and encourage the growth of new hair – without the need to undergo surgery for a hair transplant.

 

PRP has been an alternative to surgery in regenerating skin tissue in wound healing, orthopaedics, ENT, neurosurgery and maxillofacial surgery by promoting safe and natural healing.

 

PRP Hair Restoration is used to treat thinning patches on the scalp or bald patches as it stimulates dormant hair follicles, encouraging them to start growing again.

 

Blood platelets contain growth factors that stimulate collagen synthesis, skin renewal, cell growth, and tissue regeneration. Plasma contains fibrinogen, a protein that catches platelets at a wound site to form a clot. Platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) therapy is therefore a completely natural way for your skin to rejuvenate and repair since it uses your own blood and your body’s own healing powers in inducing tissue growth.

An amount of blood is drawn, just like in a blood test, and spun in a centrifuge to isolate the platelets and plasma from the other components of blood. The PRP is usually then activated with calcium (chloride or gluconate) to trick the platelets into thinking that they are in the body and the body has been injured.

The PRP is then injected multiple times in your scalp with a tiny needle, creating the equivalent of mini-wounds. Nerve blocks are used for pain free treatment. Multi-potent stem cells already in your skin therefore become activated ‘believing’ that new and younger tissue is needed. As a result, new tissue that includes new collagen is grown, new fatty tissue is produced for skin smoothness and new blood vessels (neovascularisation) are formed to increase blood flow for better quality skin.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is a PRP Hair Restoration used for?

The PRP Hair Restoration is a hair loss treatment that can help with the following:

  • Pattern baldness: to treat the pattern of receding hairline and hair thinning on your crown by encouraging new hair to grow
  • Receding hairline: to regrow hair on a receding hairline and help regain your original hairline
  • Alopecia: to significantly reduce hair loss
  • Male and female hair loss: to slow and stop hair loss, and stimulate hair regrowth
  • Hair transplant or hair restoration surgery: can also be used in combination. Hair transplantation cannot be carried out until the entire area of scalp is bald. A Vampire Hair Restoration® is therefore ideal if you have hair loss starting.

What does a PRP Hair Restoration involve?

Treatment is simple and safe if carried out by Dr Unnati, who is an experienced and fully qualified clinician, following a detailed consultation to examine the areas to treat and decide on what is best for you.

 

Dr Unnati will perform your Vampire Hair Restoration® under local anaesthetic for a comfortable treatment. The isolated platelets taken from your blood contain at least eight of your body’s own concentrated growth factors to rejuvenate skin quality and volume.

 

The treatment can take around an hour and a half, and you can resume most normal daily activities immediately afterwards.

How soon should you notice a difference?

You should start to see and feel an improvement to the treated area within three months of treatment. You will also notice a reduction in the amount of hair being shed. Your hair will start to feel thicker during the following six months. Men generally require two treatments, 3 months apart, while women often see results with just one treatment.

How long does a PRP Hair Restoration last?

The effects of PRP Therapy last for at least one to two years, with some women said to achieve permanent results.

Are there any side effects to a PRP Hair Restoration?

PRP Hair Restoration involves injecting your own blood so any side effects are usually mild to moderate.

 

The short-lived side effects associated with the injection process include bleeding, swelling, tenderness and redness which settle within a few hours, and bruising which settles within a few days.

 

There is a minimal risk of infection as the injections break the natural barrier to infection when creating a small wound in the skin. Please therefore avoid touching the area for 6 hours after treatment. You may experience some itching and discolouration at the site of treatment which should settle within a few days.

 

If you’re an overseas patient, advance booking is highly recommended in case a course of treatments is required.

When should a PRP Hair Restoration not be used/be used with caution?

 

  • While pregnant or breast feeding
  • If you have critical thrombocytopaenia (a low number of platelets in the blood)
  • If you have septicaemia
  • If you have haemodynamic instability (an unstable blood pressure)
  • If the areas to be injected are inflamed or infected

Points to consider

Any clinical procedure carries a risk of complications, which is why it is always highly advisable to have cosmetic treatments safely performed by a doctor. Dr Unnati is a GP and specialist Non-Surgical Aesthetic Physician, trained in dermatology and medical cosmetics.

 

The Urban Aesthetix Clinic follows strict guidelines in making patients fully aware of any possible cautions and complications, and in offering post treatment advice. Dr Unnati will undertake a full consultation before any new treatment can be given.