PRP Treatment for Hair Loss in Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Written and medically reviewed by Dr Arth Shah, MBBS (Gujarat University, 2009), MS General Surgery (Sardar Patel University, 2014), MCh Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad, 2017). Gujarat Medical Council registration G-25994. Practising in Ahmedabad since 2018.
The short version
PRP uses your own blood. A sample is spun to concentrate the platelets, and the concentrate is injected into the thinning areas of your scalp. There is reasonable evidence it increases hair density in pattern hair loss – but it thickens hair that is still there and struggling, and it does not grow hair on a scalp that is already bald. It is maintenance rather than a cure: three to four sessions to start, then top-ups every four to six months, or the benefit fades. In Ahmedabad a session runs about Rs 5,000 to Rs 12,000.
PRP is the most over-sold treatment in hair loss, and that is a shame, because it does work – just not in the way most clinic pages imply.
Almost every page you will read says the same things. Natural. Safe. Uses your own blood. Stimulates dormant follicles. Minimal downtime. None of that is false, and none of it tells you the two things you actually need to know: whether it will do anything for your particular scalp, and what it costs once you include the top-ups nobody mentions in the first consultation.
So this page is written differently. It covers what the published studies show and where they are weak, the specific situation where PRP does nothing at all, how it compares against medication that costs a fraction as much, and the real first-year figure rather than the per-session one.
Some of what follows will read as an argument against having the treatment. It is not – PRP is genuinely useful for the right patient at the right stage. It is an argument against having it for the wrong reasons, which is a different thing, and it is the conversation you would get sitting in the room rather than reading a brochure.
Does PRP actually work?
For pattern hair loss, the evidence says yes – modestly, and with real limitations. Several randomised trials and a number of pooled analyses have found more hair per square centimetre after PRP than after placebo injections. The improvement is real but it is not dramatic, the studies are mostly small and short, and there is no agreed standard for how PRP should be prepared. It is not a cure and it is not a substitute for medication.
What the studies show
The research base is respectable rather than overwhelming. Trials comparing PRP against placebo in androgenetic alopecia have generally reported increases in hair count and hair density, and reviews pooling those trials have reached the same conclusion. The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery on PRP publishes a patient-facing position on it, and there is a body of published research on platelet-rich plasma for androgenetic alopecia worth reading if you want the detail.
The honest caveats, which matter as much as the finding:
- Most trials are small – typically tens of patients rather than hundreds.
- Follow-up is usually short. Six months is common; two-year data is scarce.
- There is no standard protocol, which is the biggest problem. Platelet concentration, how many times the blood is spun, whether the preparation is activated, how much is injected and how deep all vary. Two studies both testing “PRP” may not be testing the same thing – and neither may two clinics.
- It is not approved by any regulator specifically for hair loss. The devices used to prepare PRP are cleared for other purposes and the hair application is off-label. That is legal, common and often perfectly appropriate in medicine – but you should be told, and almost nobody tells you.
Where PRP will not help
PRP acts on follicles that are still alive but shrinking – the fine, wispy, colourless hairs that replace normal hair as pattern loss progresses. It gives those follicles a better environment and some of them recover calibre. Where the scalp is smooth and shiny and there is nothing growing at all, the follicles have gone. PRP cannot restore what is not there, and injecting it into a bald crown achieves nothing except cost.
This is why a lot of people say PRP did not work for them. Often it was used in the wrong place, at the wrong stage. If your thinning is early or moderate and you can still see fine hair across the area, you are the patient PRP is for. If you are looking at bare scalp, the honest answer is a FUE hair transplant or scalp micropigmentation, and no amount of PRP changes that.
What PRP is and how it works
Platelets are the blood cells responsible for clotting, and they also carry growth factors that the body uses in tissue repair. PRP concentrates them. A small blood sample is taken, spun in a centrifuge to separate the components, and the platelet-rich fraction is drawn off and injected into the scalp. The theory is that the growth factors act on the hair follicle and its blood supply, prolonging the growth phase and improving hair calibre.
There is a clear general explanation of the preparation on the Johns Hopkins Medicine site if you want the underlying science rather than the marketing version.
Why no two PRP treatments are the same
“PRP” describes a category, not a product. The concentration of platelets achieved, whether the sample is spun once or twice, whether the preparation is activated before injection, the volume used, the depth of injection and the spacing of sessions all differ between clinics. A treatment at one clinic and a treatment at another, both called PRP and both priced differently, may not be comparable.
This is why outcomes vary so much, and it is worth asking about rather than assuming. Reasonable questions: what system is used to prepare it, what platelet concentration it achieves relative to your baseline, how much is injected, and how many sessions are planned. A clinic that can answer those has thought about it. A clinic that cannot is buying a kit and following the instructions, which is not the same thing.
Hair fall or hair loss? They are not the same thing
Most people arrive describing hair fall – clumps in the shower, hair on the pillow, more in the comb than there used to be. That is shedding, and it is often temporary. Pattern hair loss is different: the hairline recedes or the crown thins gradually over years, and the hair that remains gets finer. The two have different causes and different treatments, and PRP is aimed at the second.
If this is what you are seeing | It is probably | What helps |
Sudden increase in shedding, all over, no pattern – often after illness, fever, surgery, childbirth, crash dieting or major stress | Telogen effluvium – a temporary shedding phase | Usually resolves on its own in three to six months once the trigger passes. Investigate for iron deficiency and thyroid problems. PRP is not the first answer here. |
Gradual thinning at the temples, hairline or crown over years, hair getting finer | Androgenetic alopecia – pattern hair loss | Medication first, PRP as an adjunct, transplant when there is a defined area to fill. |
Diffuse thinning over the top with the hairline preserved, in a woman | Female pattern hair loss – see female pattern hair loss | Investigate for iron, thyroid and hormonal causes first. Medication and PRP both have a role. |
Round, well-defined bald patches with a sharp border, appearing over weeks | Alopecia areata – autoimmune | Dermatology assessment. Not a PRP or transplant case while active. |
Thinning where hair is pulled tight – braids, tight buns, extensions | Traction alopecia | Stop the traction. Early cases recover; established ones may need a transplant. |
If your problem is shedding rather than pattern loss, basic blood work comes before any treatment – ferritin, thyroid function and vitamin D at minimum. Spending on PRP while an untreated iron deficiency drives the shedding is money badly spent, and it is a common mistake.
Who PRP suits
PRP suits people with early or moderate pattern hair loss who still have visible fine hair across the thinning area, people already on medication who want to add to it, and people who have had or are planning a transplant. It suits nobody with a completely bald area, and it is not the right first step for sudden shedding.
Male pattern hair loss
The largest group. PRP works best in the earlier stages – a thinning crown or a receding but not bare hairline, where miniaturising hair is still present. Used alongside finasteride and minoxidil rather than instead of them, it is a reasonable addition. Used alone in place of medication, it is an expensive way to get a smaller result.
Female pattern hair loss
Women lose hair differently – diffuse thinning across the top, usually with the frontal hairline preserved – and PRP has a genuine role, partly because finasteride is not routinely used in women of childbearing age and the medical options are narrower. It is also the group where investigating for iron deficiency, thyroid disease and hormonal causes matters most before starting anything. See female pattern hair loss.
After a hair transplant
PRP is often offered around the time of a transplant, on the reasoning that growth factors may support graft survival and reduce the temporary shedding of surrounding native hair. The evidence for this specific use is thinner than for PRP in pattern loss generally, so it should be described as a reasonable adjunct rather than an established one. It is more clearly useful in the years afterwards, to help maintain the native hair around the transplanted area – which is a job medication does better and cheaper, but the two combine well. See FUE hair transplant.
Who it does not suit
- Anyone with a completely bald area. Covered above, and it bears repeating because it is the commonest wasted course.
- Anyone whose problem is sudden shedding with an untreated cause – investigate first.
- Active alopecia areata or scarring alopecia – these need dermatological management.
- People on anticoagulants, or with a platelet or bleeding disorder, active infection at the site, or uncontrolled systemic disease. [VERIFY the clinic’s full contraindication list – the current page includes “Beta Blocker”, which is not standard and appears to be an imported protocol.]
- Anyone who cannot commit to maintenance. A single course with no follow-up will fade. If the budget only stretches to four sessions and nothing after, medication is the better use of the money.
Benefits, stated accurately
PRP can increase hair density and improve the calibre of thinning hair, using a preparation made from your own blood with no foreign material and no drug. Sessions take under an hour, there is essentially no downtime, and it can be used alongside medication, before a transplant, or after one. Those are the real benefits and they are worth having – they are just smaller than most pages imply.
- It uses your own blood, so there is no allergy risk to a foreign substance and no systemic drug effect.
- No downtime worth the name. You can go back to work the same day.
- It combines with everything else. Medication, a transplant, and topical treatment all sit alongside it without conflict.
- It suits people who cannot or will not take finasteride, which includes most women and some men who have had side effects or do not want a daily tablet.
- It can improve the calibre of hair that is thinning, which changes how the whole area looks even without new hairs appearing.
The session, step by step
A PRP session takes about forty-five minutes to an hour from arrival to leaving, most of which is preparation and waiting. The injections themselves take ten to fifteen minutes. It is done in the clinic with no anaesthetic beyond a numbing cream, and you drive yourself home.
Step 1 – Assessment
Examination of the scalp, staging of the pattern, and – importantly – identifying which areas still have miniaturising hair and which do not. Photographs from standard angles, which matter more here than in most treatments because the change is gradual and hard to judge from memory.
Step 2 – Blood work, first time
Baseline blood count, and where shedding rather than pattern loss is suspected, ferritin, thyroid function and vitamin D. [VERIFY the clinic’s panel.] This is also where a treatable cause gets picked up before you spend on injections.
Step 3 – Blood draw
A sample is taken from your arm, much as for any blood test. Typically 10 to 20 ml depending on the area being treated. [VERIFY the volume drawn.]
Step 4 – Preparation
The sample is spun in a centrifuge to separate red cells, plasma and the platelet layer. The platelet-rich fraction is drawn off. This takes ten to fifteen minutes and you wait in the clinic while it happens. [VERIFY: name the system used and whether it is single or double spin – Section 10 above explains why this is worth publishing.]
Step 5 – Numbing
A topical anaesthetic cream is applied to the scalp and left for twenty to thirty minutes. Some clinics also use a cooling device or vibration during injection. It reduces the discomfort considerably and it is worth asking whether it is offered.
Step 6 – Injection
The preparation is injected into the scalp at multiple points across the thinning area, at the level of the follicles. It feels like a series of quick stings and pressure. Ten to fifteen minutes.
Step 7 – Afterwards
No dressing. The scalp is tender and may look slightly red or bumpy for a few hours. You leave and carry on with your day. Aftercare instructions and the next appointment date.
How many sessions, and then what
- The usual starting protocol is three to four sessions spaced four to six weeks apart. That is the part every clinic tells you. What follows is maintenance every four to six months, indefinitely – and that is the part most pages leave out, even though it determines both whether the treatment works long-term and what it actually costs.
Recovery
The maintenance nobody mentions
PRP is not a course you complete. It is a treatment you continue.
The benefit from an initial course fades over the following six to twelve months if nothing further is done. Follicles that improved go back to where they were heading. This is not a failure of the treatment and it is not a clinic trying to sell you more – it is how PRP works, and the trials showing benefit are trials of ongoing treatment rather than of a single course.
The practical consequence is that the number you should be comparing against other options is the first-year total and the annual cost after that, not the per-session price. The cost section below gives both, which is unusual – almost every page in this market quotes a session price and lets you do the arithmetic later, or not at all.
It also means PRP is a decision about a commitment rather than a purchase. If you are not going to keep it up, and you have pattern hair loss, medication is a better use of the same money.
Downtime
Essentially none. The scalp is tender for a few hours and may look slightly red or show small bumps at the injection points, which settle by the next morning. Most people go straight back to work. Avoid washing your hair, strenuous exercise, alcohol, saunas and direct sun for the rest of the day, and skip harsh chemical treatments for about forty-eight hours.
When | What to expect | What to do |
Same day | Tenderness, mild redness, occasionally small bumps at injection points. | Back to work. No hair wash, no gym, no alcohol. Paracetamol if needed. |
Next day | Redness gone or nearly. Scalp may feel slightly tight. | Wash hair normally with a mild shampoo. Normal activity. |
Day 2-3 | Back to baseline. | Everything as usual. Avoid harsh chemical treatments until day three. |
Week 2-4 | Nothing visible yet. | Next session at four to six weeks. |
Call the clinic if
- Redness, swelling or pain increases after the first day rather than settling.
- There is discharge from an injection site, or fever.
- A persistent headache beyond the first day.
PRP cost in Ahmedabad, Gujarat
A PRP session in Ahmedabad typically costs Rs 5,000 to Rs 12,000, with most established clinics sitting around Rs 6,000 to Rs 9,000. An initial course of four sessions therefore runs about Rs 24,000 to Rs 40,000. The figure that actually matters is the first year including maintenance, which comes to roughly Rs 35,000 to Rs 60,000 – and that is the number almost nobody publishes.
What | Typical cost in Ahmedabad |
Single PRP session | Rs 5,000 – 12,000 |
Initial course of 4 sessions | Rs 24,000 – 40,000 [VERIFY whether a package rate applies] |
Maintenance session, every 4-6 months | Rs 5,000 – 12,000 each |
GFC session, where offered | Rs 6,000 – 12,000 [VERIFY – see Section 7.3] |
Initial blood work, first visit | Rs [VERIFY] |
Consultation | Rs [VERIFY: adjusted against treatment?] |
What a full first year actually costs
Year | What happens | Typical total |
Year 1 | 4 initial sessions, then 1-2 maintenance sessions | Rs 35,000 – 60,000 |
Year 2 onwards | 2-3 maintenance sessions per year | Rs 12,000 – 30,000 per year |
If you stop | Benefit fades over the following 6-12 months | Nil, and back to where you were heading |
What the price includes
Included | Charged separately |
The blood draw, preparation and injection | Initial consultation [VERIFY] |
Topical anaesthetic | Baseline blood work at the first visit |
All consumables and the preparation kit | Medication, if prescribed |
Post-session instructions | Maintenance sessions after the initial course |
Review at [VERIFY] intervals with photographs | GST, where applicable [VERIFY] |
Why quotes vary so much
You will be quoted anywhere from Rs 2,500 to Rs 15,000 a session in the same city. Four things explain most of it.
- The preparation system. A basic centrifuge and a plain tube costs a fraction of a dedicated closed system, and produces a different platelet concentration. This is the largest single factor and it is rarely disclosed.
- Who performs it. A doctor injecting, versus a technician.
- Volume drawn and injected, and how many injection points are covered.
- Whether it is bundled with consultation, blood work, review photographs and follow-up, or priced as a bare session.
Results timeline
Nothing visible happens for the first two months. Reduced shedding is usually the first change, at around six to eight weeks. Visible thickening starts around three to four months and continues to about six, which is when the initial course should be assessed. Photographs matter here more than in almost any other treatment, because the change is gradual and memory is unreliable.
When | What is happening |
Weeks 1-4 | Nothing visible. Sessions two and three. |
Weeks 6-8 | Shedding often reduces – usually the first thing patients notice. |
Month 3-4 | Hair begins to feel thicker. Fine hairs gaining calibre. Early photographic change. |
Month 5-6 | The clearest point of improvement from the initial course. Assess here with standard photographs. |
Month 6-12 | Maintenance sessions hold the gain. Without them it starts to slip back. |
Beyond year 1 | Ongoing maintenance sustains the result. Stopping returns you to the underlying trajectory. |
Comparing your options
PRP sits in the middle of the hair loss options – more effective than most things sold alongside it, less effective and more expensive than medication, and doing something different from a transplant. It is best understood as an addition rather than a choice.
PRP vs minoxidil and finasteride
| PRP | Minoxidil / finasteride |
Evidence base | Reasonable but limited – small trials, short follow-up, no standard protocol | Substantially stronger, large trials, long-term data |
Regulatory status for hair loss | Off-label | Approved for this indication |
Annual cost | Rs 35,000-60,000 in year one, then Rs 12,000-30,000 | Roughly Rs 6,000-15,000 [VERIFY] |
Effort | A clinic visit every few months | Daily, indefinitely |
Side effects | Local soreness only | Finasteride has recognised side effects in a minority; minoxidil can irritate the scalp |
Suits | People who cannot or will not take medication, and people adding to it | Almost everyone with pattern loss, as the foundation |
The honest summary: if you can take medication and are not taking it, that is the first conversation, not PRP. If you are already on it and want to do more, PRP is a reasonable addition. If medication is not an option for you – which is true of many women and some men – PRP becomes considerably more attractive as a primary treatment.
PRP vs GFC
Growth Factor Concentrate is a preparation variation. Rather than injecting the platelet-rich plasma itself, the platelets are processed to release their growth factors and the resulting concentrate is injected. The rationale is sensible – you are delivering the active agents rather than the cells that carry them.
It is marketed locally as faster and superior, and typically priced above PRP. The honest position is that head-to-head evidence establishing it outperforms well-prepared PRP by enough to justify the difference is limited. It is a reasonable option; it is not an established upgrade, and it should not be sold as one.
PRP vs a hair transplant
If your situation is | What fits | Why |
Early thinning, fine hair still visible across the area | Medication first, PRP as an addition | There is hair to save. Surgery is premature. |
Moderate thinning, hair getting noticeably finer | Medication plus PRP | PRP is at its most useful here. |
A defined area with no hair growing at all | PRP does nothing where the follicles have gone. | |
Bald area plus thinning around it | Transplant for the bald part, medication and PRP for the rest | The two do different jobs and combine well. |
Donor area inadequate for a transplant | Medication, PRP and scalp micropigmentation | Non-surgical options, honestly assessed. |
Sudden shedding with no pattern | Investigation first | Treat the cause. PRP is not the first answer. |
Risks and side effects
PRP is among the lowest-risk treatments in this field, because the material injected is your own. The realistic side effects are scalp tenderness for a few hours, temporary redness, small bumps at injection points, occasional mild headache, and rarely bruising. Infection is uncommon. There is no risk of allergic reaction to the preparation itself, because it came from you.
What to expect
- Tenderness and mild redness for a few hours to a day. Universal and expected.
- Small bumps at injection points, settling overnight.
- Mild headache in some patients on the day.
- Bruising at the blood draw site
- Temporary increased shedding in a small number of patients in the first weeks – unsettling but usually transient.
Uncommon
- Infection at an injection site.
- Persistent pain or scalp sensitivity.
- Vasovagal episode during the blood draw – which is probably why the source page listed beta blockers as a caution.
PRP is not offered if
- You are on anticoagulants or have a bleeding or platelet disorder.
- There is active infection or inflammatory skin disease on the scalp.
- You have an active malignancy or a blood-borne condition affecting platelets. [VERIFY the clinic’s full list.]
- You are pregnant or breastfeeding. [VERIFY the clinic’s position.]
- The area you want treated has no hair growing in it at all – in which case the answer is a different treatment, not a refusal.
How to choose where to have PRP in Ahmedabad
Six questions worth asking anywhere, including here
- What system is used to prepare the PRP, and what platelet concentration does it achieve? The largest single variable in whether it works, and the least disclosed.
- Who performs the injection – a doctor or a technician?
- Will standardised photographs be taken at baseline and at six months? Without them, nobody can tell you whether it worked.
- What is the maintenance schedule and what will a full year cost? Ask for the annual figure, not the session price.
- Should I be on medication as well? If the answer is no without a reason, ask why.
- Is my thinning at a stage where PRP will help, or am I too far along? A clinic willing to say “too far along, you need a transplant” is a clinic worth using.
Your doctor: Dr Arth Shah, MS, MCh (Plastic Surgery)
PRP at Rejuva Aesthetica is performed by Dr Arth Shah, who completed his MBBS at Gujarat University in 2009, his MS in General Surgery at Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar in 2014, and his MCh in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad in 2017 – the full superspecialty surgical training pathway in India. He is registered with the Gujarat Medical Council under registration number G-25994 and has practised in Ahmedabad since 2018, the year he founded Rejuva Aesthetica.
Why it matters that this is a surgical practice
A clinic that only offers PRP has one answer to every hair loss problem. A practice that also prescribes medication and performs transplants can tell you that your thinning is too early for surgery, or too advanced for PRP, or that the cheapest effective thing you could do is a daily tablet – and lose nothing by saying so.
That is the argument for having PRP somewhere that also does FUE hair transplant work: not that the injection is better, but that the advice around it is not constrained by what is available to sell. Full range at all hair treatments.
Still to fill in
- Which preparation system is used, single or double spin, and whether it is activated. [VERIFY – the most valuable technical disclosure available on this page, and no local competitor publishes it.]
- Whether GFC is offered, and at what price. [VERIFY]
- Whether Dr Shah performs the injections personally or a trained team member does.
- The clinic’s full contraindication list – the current one includes “Beta Blocker”, which is imported.
- Volume of blood drawn, and the number of injection points typically covered.
- Whether standardised baseline and six-month photographs are routine. [VERIFY – and if they are, say so, because it is a genuine quality marker here.]
- Professional society memberships. [VERIFY]
- A real photograph of Dr Shah in the clinic. Not stock.
Link to about Dr Arth Shah and what to expect at each stage.
Book a consultation in Ahmedabad
A consultation takes about 20 minutes. Your scalp is examined and staged, the areas with miniaturising hair are distinguished from those without, and you are told whether PRP is likely to help you at this stage. If the honest answer is that medication should come first, or that you are past the point where PRP does much, that is what you will hear.
Rejuva Aesthetica – Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery Clinic 102, Himalaya Emerald, Besides IOC Petrol Pump, Near Shivranjani Over Bridge, Jodhpur, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380015 Phone: +91 74360 00990 | 079 2692 9299 Monday to Saturday, 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Closed Sundays and public holidays. |
Patients come to the clinic from across Ahmedabad – Satellite, Prahlad Nagar, Bodakdev, Vastrapur, Bopal, SG Highway, Navrangpura, Naranpura, Maninagar and Chandkheda – as well as from Gandhinagar, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot and other parts of Gujarat.
Frequently Asked Question
For pattern hair loss, yes - modestly. Several randomised trials and pooled analyses have found more hair per square centimetre after PRP than after placebo. The improvement is real but not dramatic, the trials are mostly small and short, and there is no agreed standard for how PRP should be prepared, which is why results vary between clinics. It is not a cure and it is not a replacement for medication.
No. PRP acts on follicles that are still alive but shrinking - the fine, wispy hairs that replace normal hair as pattern loss progresses. Where the scalp is smooth and shiny with nothing growing, the follicles have gone and there is nothing for PRP to act on. That situation needs a transplant or scalp micropigmentation. This is the commonest reason people feel PRP did not work for them.
A session typically costs Rs 5,000 to Rs 12,000, so an initial course of four is about Rs 24,000 to Rs 40,000. The more useful figure is the first year including maintenance, which comes to roughly Rs 35,000 to Rs 60,000, and Rs 12,000 to Rs 30,000 a year after that.
Three to four sessions four to six weeks apart to start with, then maintenance every four to six months indefinitely. The maintenance is the part most clinics do not emphasise, and it is what determines whether the result holds.
No. The benefit from an initial course fades over the following six to twelve months if nothing further is done, and the follicles return to the trajectory they were on. PRP is a treatment you continue rather than a course you complete. If you are not going to maintain it and you have pattern hair loss, medication is a better use of the same money.
No - medication has substantially stronger evidence, is approved for this use, and costs far less per year. PRP is best understood as an addition to medication rather than a replacement for it. It becomes considerably more attractive as a primary treatment for people who cannot or will not take medication, which includes many women and some men.
A topical numbing cream is applied for twenty to thirty minutes beforehand, and the injections feel like a series of quick stings and pressure over ten to fifteen minutes. Most people find it very manageable. The scalp is tender for a few hours afterwards.
Nothing visible for the first two months. Reduced shedding is usually the first change at around six to eight weeks. Visible thickening starts around three to four months and is clearest at five to six months, which is when the initial course should be formally assessed with photographs.
Not specifically. The devices used to prepare PRP are cleared for other purposes and the hair application is off-label. Off-label use is legal and common across medicine and often entirely appropriate - but you should be told, and very few pages say it.
GFC is a preparation variation. Rather than injecting platelet-rich plasma itself, the platelets are processed to release their growth factors and the concentrate is injected. The rationale is sensible and it is a reasonable option. It is marketed as faster and superior and priced higher, but head-to-head evidence showing it outperforms well-prepared PRP by enough to justify the difference is limited.
Yes, and it has a particular role for women because the medical options are narrower - finasteride is not routinely used in women of childbearing age. It is also the group where checking for iron deficiency, thyroid disease and hormonal causes matters most before starting any treatment.
Probably not as the first step. Sudden diffuse shedding is usually telogen effluvium - a temporary phase triggered by illness, fever, surgery, childbirth, crash dieting or major stress - and it often resolves on its own once the trigger passes. It is also commonly associated with iron deficiency or thyroid problems. Get blood work first. Spending on PRP while an untreated deficiency drives the shedding is money badly spent.
Yes, and it is commonly offered. The evidence for PRP specifically improving graft survival is thinner than the evidence for PRP in pattern hair loss generally, so it should be described as a reasonable adjunct rather than an established one. It is more clearly useful in the years afterwards to help maintain the native hair around the transplanted area.
Essentially none. The scalp is tender for a few hours and may look slightly red or show small bumps at injection points, which settle by the next morning. Avoid washing your hair, the gym, alcohol, saunas and direct sun for the rest of the day.
No, and this is important. Platelet concentration, whether the blood is spun once or twice, whether the preparation is activated, injection volume and depth, and session spacing all vary between clinics. Two treatments both called PRP can be materially different. Ask what system is used and what concentration it achieves.
Usually the preparation. A basic centrifuge and a plain tube cost a fraction of a dedicated closed system and produce a lower platelet concentration - at the bottom of the market, what is injected may have barely more platelets than ordinary blood. Who performs the injection and what is bundled into the price account for the rest.
Yes, and that is usually the sensible combination for pattern hair loss. There is no conflict between them and they work on different parts of the problem. Using PRP instead of medication is the arrangement that does not make sense.
No. Pattern hair loss is progressive and driven by genetics and hormones. PRP improves the condition of hair that is still there; it does not switch off the underlying process. Medication comes closer to that, and even it slows rather than stops.
Usually 10 to 20 ml, depending on the area being treated - similar to a routine blood test. The draw itself takes a minute or two.
Wash normally from the next day with a mild shampoo. Leave chemical treatments including colouring for about forty-eight hours. Nothing needs to be permanently avoided.
People on anticoagulants or with a bleeding or platelet disorder, anyone with active infection or inflammatory skin disease on the scalp, and anyone with an active malignancy or a blood condition affecting platelets. Also anyone whose target area has no hair growing in it at all - not because it is unsafe, but because it will not work.
That is a different condition - autoimmune, causing well-defined round bald patches with a sharp border. It needs dermatological assessment and medical treatment rather than PRP as a first step. Some evidence exists for PRP in alopecia areata but it is not the established treatment and it should not be started before a proper diagnosis.
To keep the benefit, yes - maintenance every four to six months. That is the honest answer and it is the main reason to think of PRP as a commitment rather than a purchase. If that does not suit you, medication achieves more for less and needs no appointments.
Yes, though PRP is worth thinking about differently from surgery for out-of-town patients, because it requires repeat visits rather than one. If travelling for every session is impractical, that is a genuine reason to consider whether medication - which needs no visits - is the better primary treatment.
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