PRP Hair Restoration

Hair Transplants vs. PRP Hair Restoration

If you have thinning hair, you may assume that hair transplants are your only option. Although hair transplant surgery indeed offers excellent results, it is also expensive, time consuming and very painful – with a long recovery period.

You may be surprised to learn that there is another option that is far less invasive. “PRP” (platelet-rich plasma) hair restoration is far more affordable, and doesn’t require surgery. PRP hair restoration extracts plasma, which is rich in platelets, from the patient’s own blood. The platelets are then concentrated through a centrifuge and injected back into the patient’s scalp. This procedure is highly effective in terms of stimulating hair re-growth.

Let’s take a look at some of the differences between traditional surgical hair transplants and non-surgical PRP hair restoration.

Hair Transplants for Hair Restoration

In a traditional surgical hair transplant procedure, a physician implants hair follicles into areas of the patient’s scalp that has significant thinning or hair loss. The hair follicles are removed from a location on the scalp where hair is still growing, and the follicles are either harvested in a “strip” or individually.

The process, as you can imagine, takes a lot of time, since each follicle has to be removed and then surgically implanted to a different location in the scalp. In addition to being time consuming, it is also quite painful. Add to this, if the patient’s hair is quite thin overall, finding an appropriate amount of “donor” hair from which the doctor collects the follicles can be difficult.

Care Following Hair Transplant Surgery

Once each hair transplant procedure is completed, considerable care must be taken not to disturb the implanted hair until it fully takes root. And until the new follicles fill in and blend with the rest of the hair, the transplanted area may have the classic “doll hair” appearance.

Some Down-Sides to Hair Transplant Surgery

If a potential patient has any type of immune issues or bleeding disorders, those who are prone to scarring or who take certain medications such as blood thinners, they likely will not be accepted for hair transplant surgery.

Traditional hair transplant surgery is also time consuming. It usually takes quite a number of sessions, each of which can last several hours, to transplant the individual follicles; and it may take up to six to nine months for the full results to take effect.

Finally, hair transplant surgery is quite pricey. The national average range for hair transplant surgery is around $7,000 – with costs even higher in some larger metropolitan areas such as New York or Los Angeles.

PRP Hair Restoration

Even considering the time, pain and expense of the procedure, hair transplant surgery continues to be a popular option for people with thinning or disappearing hair. However, recently other options have been discovered that are available to a more wide number of people, are less invasive and less expensive.

One such option is known as PRP (“platelet-rich plasma”) hair restoration. PRP is an extremely effective, non-surgical alternative to traditional hair transplant surgery. It only costs a fraction of the amount of a traditional hair transplant procedure, and is therefore a viable option for a larger number of potential patients.

PRP Hair Restoration Procedure

During PRP hair restoration, the physician collects a sample of the patient’s blood, similar to a routine blood test. Using a centrifuge, the physician separates platelets from the other blood cells. The concentrated platelets contain a “growth factor” that has been shown to naturally stimulates the patient’s inactive hair follicles to begin producing hair again.

Once the platelet rich plasma has gone through the centrifuge and is collected and separated, the doctor marks the scalp, and applies the platelets topically either by micro-needling or injecting into the areas where the hair is thinning.

The procedure itself takes less than an hour, far less time consuming than the traditional hair transplant surgery, where hundreds of individual hair follicles must be transplanted. Because the platelets have been extracted from the patient’s own blood, it naturally stimulates the hair’s normal growth process.

PRP Hair Restoration Results

In a relatively short amount of time, the hair fills in the natural growth pattern, so there are no plugs or “doll hair.” Furthermore, there is no downtime, and no special care needs to be taken of the treated area.

Most patients report a marked improvement in hair volume within just a couple of months, and with follow-up treatment, the full results are apparent within a year.

Good Candidates for PRP Hair Restoration Treatment

Because PRP hair restoration treatments use plasma derived from the patient’s own blood, there are no chemicals or drug interactions that have to be considered. Therefore, it is generally safe for everyone – even pregnant or nursing mothers, and for patients with some auto-immune deficiency issues.

PRP hair restoration works for most types of thinning hair, but may not be effective if the patient has complete hair loss. And, for a patient who has previously gone through hair transplant surgery or stem cell hair loss treatments, PRP treatments can be used to enhance those results.

PRP Hair Restoration – Birmingham, MI

If you are experiencing hair loss, call our office to schedule a consultation with experienced Birmingham, Michigan plastic surgeon, Dr. Ali to see if PRP hair restoration is right for you. At the consultation, Dr. Ali will help you thoroughly understand what is causing your hair loss, and will set up a customized hair restoration plan for your unique situation. Call us today and schedule an appointment at our Birmingham, Michigan office to see if PRP hair restoration treatment is right for you.

PRP Hair Restoration Birmingham, MI Med Spa: 248.335.7200