Questions

Although PRP works for various types of hair loss, the most common type is pattern hair loss, also known as androgenetic alopecia, in both men and women. Other common types are post-stress hair loss, postpartum hair loss, and hair loss as a side effect of hormone therapy.

These types of hair loss most often cause hair follicles to transition to states where they are dormant (asleep) or miniaturized (small). In rare cases, follicles are permanently lost.

To know which state your follicles are in, we perform a scalp exam with a trichoscope, a handheld tool used to see follicles at a microscopic level. That tells us whether a follicle is still viable. If a follicle is no longer alive, PRP cannot bring it back. If a follicle is alive but dormant (asleep), PRP can reactivate it, and if a follicle is getting smaller, PRP can restore its size. That is why results are strongest in areas of thinning or areas that recently became bare, and less so in areas that have been bare for years.

Hair loss can also have medical, nutritional, or dermatologic causes that may need treatment beyond PRP, including thyroid abnormalities, iron deficiency, other vitamin deficiencies, and primary dermatologic conditions such as dermatitis. That is what the medical scalp exam at your first visit is for: we make sure we understand the full picture and treat every aspect of your hair loss correctly

Yes. Female pattern hair loss usually shows up as diffuse thinning: the part widening, the ponytail getting thinner. It can become more difficult to style hair or even grow it to a desired length, and it is less likely to cause a receding hairline. PRP reverses the underlying follicle miniaturization and reactivates dormant follicles.

The protocol and the timeline for results are the same for everyone. At your consult we also screen for postpartum, perimenopausal, and post-stress hair loss

PRP can be used both for treatment and for prevention of hair loss, however, results are most visible in areas of thinning

We draw your blood, spin it in a centrifuge, then inject the concentrated plasma into your scalp. The process takes about 45 minutes to an hour

Platelet-rich plasma is not a standardized product.

Research indicates plasma should have at least a 5x increase in concentration of platelets than your blood to be effective.

A review of 33 commercial preparation systems found platelet concentrations ranging from 0.52× to 9.7× baseline — only ten of them reached the five-fold increase generally considered effective. Some of them produce plasma less concentrated than the blood it came from.

We use the EmCyte PurePRP double-spin system, which reaches the target platelet concentration, with 78 to 81% platelet recovery. The entire process is overseen by a board-certified physician who also injects the plasma every treatment — not a technician, not a nurse injector

Yes. The only thing being injected is your own plasma, with anticoagulant that keeps it from clotting. Nothing else is added to it. Patients monitored for years in research settings have reported no notable long-term risks.

Like any injection there's a small risk of minor bleeding or superficial infection, however we use standard universal precaution to prevent those from happening

Not yet.PRP is not FDA approved for the treatment of hair loss, though PRP preparation systems have earned FDA clearance for other medical applications.A growing body of research supports PRP as an effective treatment for hair loss with no known long-term risks.For those reasons, PRP has been increasingly used off-label in medical settings for hair restoration and preservation

Studies show that 3 initial treatments, one month apart, are needed for visible results. After that, maintenance every 3-6 months keeps those results going

Without maintenance, effects start to wear off at the 12 to 16 months mark

Most people notice thicker strands, less shedding, and fuller coverage. Visible improvement typically starts around 2 to 3 months in

We recommend the 3 months frequency because it is the best studied. Even though some people space them out to every 4 or even 6 months, we currently offer membership for the 3-month and 4-month frequency because we don't yet have enough research to support 6 months. We continue to monitor high-quality studies comparing the different frequencies and update our practice accordingly

We recommend starting with the 3-months ramp-up because front-loading is shown to achieve the largest increase in hair count, and it does it faster. That being said, skipping the ramp-up is an option, and it might make more sense for you logistically or financially. The trade-off is slower results, starting around 6 months

There are 3 reasons that could explain it

1. The kits we use to make PRP are the highest quality on the market and probably the most expensive at about $190
2. Our procedures are exclusively done by licensed medical professionals
3. We don't use PRF (Platelet Rich Fibrin). PRF skips the need for a kit altogether, but it isn't nearly as well-studied as PRP

We continuously monitor research studies to keep our practice up to date

In the first 6 hours, don't touch the scalp or apply ice. In the first 24 hours, skip washing and workouts. In the first 48 hours, avoid swimming, saunas, direct sun, and NSAIDs like ibuprofen. In the first 72 hours, hold off on hair coloring, smoking, and minoxidil. The full instruction sheet is on our website

We accept FSA and HSA cards, but your benefits plan decides whether or not the payment itself is authorized. Hair loss is a medical condition and we ensure to document diagnosis and medical management to allow you to demonstrate that to your benefits plan if they ask for it

We are only offering scalp PRP

PRP is most effective when it's done consistently. For that reason we built a membership that makes both the scheduling and the payment clear and predictable. That way treatment results are also clear and predictable

You can pause your membership at any time for up to six months. When you're ready to resume, we'll pick up where you left off. If you cancel, you will only owe the value ($600/treatment) of the treatments you have already received, and you will not lose a payment you've already made

PRP is thought to improve transplant results by increasing survival of transplanted follicles and by keeping the native follicles surrounding the transplants healthy.

Native Follicles

The main reason transplant results can degrade over time is that transplant surgery adds DHT-resistant follicles to areas that are thinning, but the native follicles in that same area are still vulnerable to thinning because they are not DHT-resistant.

• Transplanted follicles are resistant to DHT (dihydrotestosterone, the hormone that causes thinning), and they keep that resistance even though they are moved from the back of the scalp to a new location
• Native follicles around the transplanted follicles are not resistant to DHT and are at continued risk of thinning with age. Over time, the area around the transplants can thin and result in uneven hair density

PRP can help protect those native follicles while they are still alive. It can also restore the size of a follicle that is miniaturizing (getting smaller) and reactivate a follicle that is dormant (asleep and not producing hair). Protecting those native follicles helps maintain your results for years to come.

Transplanted Follicles

PRP is thought to improve hair transplant results, which is why it is increasingly injected during the transplant procedure itself and many surgeons recommend continuing PRP after surgery.

Transplanted follicle survival rate is not 100% and surgeons do everything in their power to maximize that survival rate. Because the transplanted follicles are most vulnerable during and immediately after the transplant, a consistent approach across transplant protocols is to include the use of PRP in some shape or form to increase follicle survival rate.

This takes the form of injections before, during, and after surgery. Some surgeons even bathe the follicular units in PRP before grafting them. Several studies have shown that graft survival rate is higher when using those techniques.

While there is speculation PRP may also help transplanted hair grow faster, there is minimal research, so it is difficult to make any confident recommendations.

Your native hair follicles may still be vulnerable to DHT and can become miniaturized (thinning) or dormant (resting), over time. PRP can restore thickness and reactivate dormant follicles. Visible results are strongest in areas that have recently been thinning, which, after a transplant, usually means the native hair just behind the hairline your surgeon built and the crown

Shock loss is the shedding of hair around the surgical area in the weeks after a transplant. It is a stress response: the trauma of the procedure pushes follicles into a dormant (resting) state and the hairs they were holding fall out. The follicles themselves are still alive, which is why most shock loss grows back on its own over the following months.

Since PRP reactivates follicles that are dormant but still viable, it has the potential to accelerate the process of regrowth after shock loss. This is not an area that has been well-studied, but what we do know is that PRP is safe to use after a transplant and does not damage the grafts.

Post-surgery protocols tend to indicate around 4 weeks after a transplant, however that date varies depending on your surgeons’ protocols. Some transplant practices take on the responsibility of administering PRP during follow-up visits in their own clinics, while others direct their patients to receive it elsewhere. This is a common scenario in patients who have their transplant done overseas and need to establish care with a PRP provider when they are back home

After a transplant, maintenance is thought of as a long-term strategy rather than a pre-defined number of treatments. This is because the beneficial effects of PRP start to wear off when you stop receiving PRP treatment.

In terms of frequency of treatments, the starting point depends on what you have already had. If your surgeon included PRP with follow-up visits, you can move straight to maintenance. Maintenance frequency ranges from one treatment every 3 to 6 months. If it has been a long gap, or you never had PRP, starting with a ramp-up period when you receive PRP treatment once a month for a few months may be recommended to achieve faster results.

Most likely. To maintain your results for years, you need both your transplanted follicles and your native follicles to remain in good health. Since native follicles continue to be vulnerable to age-related thinning after a transplant, leaving them untreated could lead to miniaturization resulting in uneven density. Since PRP protects those native follicles, it helps maintain your transplant results and reduces the risk of needing a repeat transplant.

PRP is generally safe. Patients monitored for years in research settings have reported no notable long-term risks. It is also safe after transplantation when done correctly. Once your scalp has healed, the transplanted follicles can be treated as any other hair follicle, and PRP is injected the same way as for patients who haven’t had a transplant.

It is generally safe to take hair loss medications while also receiving PRP after a transplant. These treatments act on completely different pathways of hair growth and do not interfere with one another. In fact, they are largely considered complementary treatments and providers often recommend patients continue their medications and receive PRP after their transplants. Ultimately, whether and when you should take medications and receive PRP is a decision between you and your physician