If you’re experiencing hair loss in the UK, you are likely to have heard about platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections as an effective treatment. Platelet-rich plasma is used in many different medical settings, yet is particularly useful in treating age-related hair loss. If you are losing your hair and looking for an effective treatment, platelet-rich plasma injections are a great option – and are easy to incorporate into your lifestyle.
What Are PRP Injections?
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy has been used effectively in treating sports injuries (torn tendons, for example) for decades. Many athletes, such as Tiger Woods, use PRP injections for sporting injuries. Recently, however, PRP therapy has been discovered to be effective in rejuvenating the scalp and promoting hair growth. This has positive effects on the thickness and number of hairs, often reversing the effects of age-related hair loss in men and women.
How Does PRP Therapy Work?
By injecting a concentrated amount of platelets into a person’s scalp, clinics are able to kick start the body’s natural collagen production and optimise follicles that have been underperforming. The sessions are simple and pain-free. During your platelet-rich plasma injection session, a small amount of blood is taken from your arm and put in a centrifuge. This is then spun at high speed until the platelet-rich plasma has been separated from the red blood cells. The plasma is then injected into your scalp. You will be invited to come back around a month later to repeat the process until the desired result is achieved, usually after three or four sessions.
What Are the Benefits of PRP Injections for Hair Loss?
One of the main advantages of PRP over other hair loss treatments is that platelet-rich plasma therapy uses your body’s own cells, so there is no danger of allergic reactions or rejection of the cells. There is no drowsiness and no adverse reactions to any drugs. The treatment is literally just taking something from your own body and injecting it in a different part of your body. There may be some slight soreness on the scalp afterwards but nothing that can’t be managed by over-the-counter painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen.
Who is Eligible for PRP Treatment for Hair Loss?
PRP injections are suitable for both men and women who experience age-related hair loss.
Androgenic alopecia, or male-pattern baldness, responds very well to platelet-rich plasma injections, reversing hair loss in many cases. The treatment works best on hair loss on the top of the head.
Platelet-rich plasma therapy for women is often offered for hair loss after pregnancy or during the menopause. Please note – platelet-rich plasma injections are not recommended for hair loss that occurs due to illness or as a side-effect of other treatments, such as chemotherapy.
How Much does PRP Teatment Cost?
Platelet-rich plasma treatments in the UK can cost anything from around £250-£500 per session. PRP London Clinic charges £275 for each PRP treatment for hair loss. Many clinics run special offers, seasonal discounts or three-for-two packages. Most clinics recommend at least three sessions, initially, to be taken one month apart. Then, once you have started to see results, you can go down to a maintenance dose of one session per year. This means that although it might seem expensive, PRP treatments for hair loss work out to be a relatively low-cost answer to the problems of age-related hair loss.