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Hair loss can have a profound impact on your self-confidence. Men and women alike struggle with varying degrees of alopecia, but Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy offers a non-surgical way to reduce and reverse hair loss. PRP treatment is a three-step process that uses the platelet-rich plasma found in your blood to promote natural hair growth in the scalp.

How does PRP therapy work?

Physicians began using PRP therapy about a decade ago to speed up the healing process in damaged joints after injury or surgery.

During the treatment, a technician draws your blood and spins it in a centrifuge to separate out the platelets and plasma. Doctors then inject the plasma, which helps repair blood vessels, promote cell growth and wound healing, and stimulate collagen production.

Doctors began using PRP in dermatology after researchers found that high concentrations of platelets in plasma cells help promote hair growth by prolonging the growing phase of the hair cycle.

Doctors inject plasma into the scalp where hair loss has occurred. They typically administer injections monthly for three months, then spread them out over about three or four months for up to two years. The injection schedule will depend on your genetics, pattern and amount of hair loss, age and hormones.

What are the Benefits of PRP?

The benefits of PRP hair restoration therapy include:

• Increases blood supply to the hair follicle
• Aids in increasing the diameter of the hair shaft resulting in thicker hair
• Helps to trigger the growth phase in the hair follicle
• Reduces hair loss and excessive shedding

Platelet rich plasma hair restoration in Salt Lake City is a first step in treating the early signs of hair loss, by triggering the healing process in the hair follicles. Dying or weak hair follicles can be restored, becoming more productive, stronger, and once against able to produce thicker, healthier strands of hair.

Are there any side effects or risks with PRP?

As PRP is extracted from your blood, there is little risk that you will react to the solution itself. You will receive many injections in the hair loss area, so, for this reason, you may experience:

• Tenderness in your scalp from the injections
• Some swelling
• Your scalp may feel itchy post-treatment
• Some minor bleeding at injection sites

Other than that, the treatment has no serious risks or side effects, and you should be back to feeling like yourself as soon as the procedure is complete.

 

PRP for hair loss side effects

Because PRP therapy involves injecting your own blood into your scalp, you aren’t at risk for getting a communicable disease.

Still, any therapy that involves injections always carries a risk of side effects such as:

• injury to blood vessels or nerves
• infection
• calcification at the injection points
• scar tissue

There’s also the chance that you could have a negative reaction to the anesthetic used in the therapy. If you decide to pursue PRP therapy for hair loss, let your doctor know in advance about your tolerance to anesthetics.

Is PRP hair treatment a permanent solution?

The first round of treatments takes a few visits to see initial results.

And after the results start to appear, you’ll still need to get touch-ups at least once a year to maintain new hair regrowth.