Platelet Rich Plasma Treatment for Hair Loss – Coveteur
Our hair is like a mirror; good or bad, hair health can be a vivid reflection of where we are and how we’re actually doing. But in the pandemic’s nascent stages, I was certain that this wouldn’t be the case for me. No matter how stressful our circumstances became, I was determined that my extra time at home would not be for naught. I figured that with more time at home to do hair masks, I had no excuse not to emerge from the pandemic with luscious curls at peak performance. I didn’t g…….
Our hair is like a mirror; good or bad, hair health can be a vivid reflection of where we are and how we’re actually doing. But in the pandemic’s nascent stages, I was certain that this wouldn’t be the case for me. No matter how stressful our circumstances became, I was determined that my extra time at home would not be for naught. I figured that with more time at home to do hair masks, I had no excuse not to emerge from the pandemic with luscious curls at peak performance. I didn’t get so lucky. For every surge, new lockdown, and harrowing episode of The Daily, I was pulling out clumps of hair in the shower (hot!!!) and not even protective styles could slow things down. Thus began my Google spiral looking into platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections.
Basically, PRP is a three-step restoration method where your blood is drawn out, platelet-rich plasma is spun and extracted in a centrifuge, then injected back into your scalp. There, the increased blood supply promotes hair growth.
It’s worth mentioning that my hair loss wasn’t COVID-induced (although that has been noted as a long term symptom), it was purely mental. Whistler-based board-certified dermatologist Dr. Jeff Donovan let me know that this type of hair loss falls into the telogen effluvium category. “This is a temporary type of hair loss and causes the patient to experience increased daily hair shedding. Once the stress levels diminish, hair grows back on its own even without treatment. The body can regrow the hair all on its own provided the trigger, like stress, is removed.”
But what’s going on at strand-level? According to board-certified N.Y.C. dermatologist Dr. Michele Green, this type of hair loss takes place when stress causes our hair to go to the resting phase of its lifecycle—this is why hair tends to look lifeless before it falls out. “In telogen effluvium,” she explains, “a significant amount of hair enters the resting phase simultaneously. This can cause excessive hair loss and hair thinning.”
As a hair treatment, PRP is one of the least invasive, most effective available and with the stress of everything taking a toll on our hair, this will undoubtedly be a year where scalps and syringes have more contact than ever before. Below, we unloaded all of our most pressing PRP questions on Dr. Donovan and Dr. Green.
How soon after noticing hair loss should I see a dermatologist?
“If hair loss persists for more than 3-4 months or is happening in very specific areas of the scalp rather than all over equally then it is important to see a specialist,” Dr. Donovan advises. “There are dozens and dozens of reasons to lose …….
