Let’s talk HAIR! Hair health is such a topic of interest for everyone. I think on every single Instagram Live at least 3 people ask me about how to prevent thinning hair. My answer is always the same: PRP. I say this because it’s simply the most effective option on the market right now. It’s safe, natural, and it WORKS. So here’s a breakdown of how it works:
What is PRP?
It is a non-invasive treatment that takes plasma from your own body and re-injects it locally to help with targeted tissue healing and cell growth. This healing and growth can be in the form of hair follicle healing and hair growth, skin cell regeneration, and many kinds of injury (wrists, knee, etc).
Umm.. how does this work?
Here’s how it works. First, you get your blood drawn. Your physician will take 2-3 tubes of blood depending on the area they’re doing PRP. Scalp requires more, but face requires less.
After your blood is drawn, it’s placed in a sterile tube that is spun down in a device called a centrifuge. The centrifuge separates the red and white blood cells (red in color) from the platelets and the plasma (clear fluid). The platelets and plasma are what we want (hence “platelet-rich plasma”).
This plasma now has a higher than normal amount of platelets. This is because normally the platelets are dispersed throughout the blood, but after they’re spun in the centrifuge, they’re in a smaller amount of fluid at HIGH concentration.
This platelet rich plasma is now injected into the scalp, or any specific target area. It can promote your own tissue regeneration, increase collagen growth, and more.
Does it hurt?
Yes. To be as completely blunt as possible. Not everyone finds it as painful as me, but I think it’s VERY painful. I actually asked for pain medication after the first time I did it without anything. The medication helped a lot. I’d recommend taking at least Tylenol 30 minutes before your injections.
The Afer-math:
Your head is sore for about 24 hours. This pain is tolerable though. I’m always fine after a day!
Other details:
For hair growth, you need to get 3 initial treatments every 4-6 weeks. After that you can go into maintenance, with one treatment every 6 months. You can see results after the 2nd or 3rd session. It’s much easier to notice on anyone with short hair. If you have long hair, you technically have to wait until the new hair grows to the same length you currently have. But I definitely noticed improvement in my scalp! So did my hairdresser J
I’ve been getting PRP at Next Health. If you live in the LA area, I highly recommend it. Ross is the nurse who will most likely administer your treatment, and he’s wonderful. If you don’t live close enough to visit Next Health, there are many places that offer PRP. Just search around in your city :)
