PRP (platelet-rich plasma) is a nonsurgical hair-loss treatment that involves injecting platelets, extracted from your own blood, into your scalp to restore thinning hair.
Research shows that PRP can be an effective treatment for stress- or age-related hair loss and alopecia areata, a disease that causes hair thinning in young, otherwise healthy people.
PRP hair restoration is considered a safe and less invasive alternative treatment option than hair transplant surgery, and the doctors who perform it say it can stimulate the follicles and slow the rate of hair loss. In some cases, it may even help regrow hair.
Platelets in your blood contain growth factors, or the cell-signaling proteins that orchestrate the body’s tissue rejuvenation and healing systems. Plasma is the fluid in blood that carries the platelets, along with red blood cells and white blood cells.
Some studies suggest that PRP may help increase stem cell proliferation to aid in healing.
During a PRP hair restoration procedure, the doctor separates platelets from your blood, processing them to concentrate the growth factors.
Injected into the scalp, PRP increases blood flow to the hair follicles, stimulates some new hair growth (though not in every patient), and lengthens the anagen (active) growth phase of existing hair, to slow hair loss.