Plastic Surgery for Hair Restoration?
If you’re noticing thinning hair as a result of androgenic alopecia, your first thought is probably NOT that you need plastic surgery for hair restoration.
While some plastic surgeons do provide hair transplant procedures and grafting for patients who are bald, it’s not ideal for thinning hair. Plus, the procedure is complicated.
For patients struggling specifically with androgenic alopecia (or even those with early hair loss), however, a plastic surgeon who offers PRP therapy is a great option.
So What Exactly Is PRP?
PRP stands for platelet-rich plasma.
What’s so special about PRP? Well, it’s the part of your blood that contains white blood cells and platelets. Any time you have a wound, it’s the platelets that rush to the rescue to stop the bleeding and encourage collagen growth. Platelets are natural healers.
When researchers began to understand platelets’ powers of healing, they theorized that extracting concentrated platelets from the blood and then injecting them into damaged areas of the body might just accelerate healing. Their theory ended up being spot on.
As such, PRP therapy has been utilized by orthopedic doctors since the 1980s to treat athletes struggling with injured ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Based on the success of these therapies, plastic surgeons soon got on board. They now use this therapy in applications from cosmetic procedures to hair restoration.
The PRP Therapy Procedure
It’s believed that PRP injections not only trigger natural hair growth, but they maintain it by increasing blood supply to the hair follicle and increasing the thickness of the hair shaft.
PRP therapy is a three-step process which typically requires three treatments that are 4–6 weeks apart. The treatments are exacting and meticulous, and require anesthetics. They must also be maintained every 4-6 months.
What can you expect in a PRP therapy procedure?
First, when you enter the plastic surgery center, blood will be drawn from your arm. The blood is then placed into a centrifuge for around ten minutes. This will break it down into three different fluids – red blood cells, platelet-poor plasma, and platelet-rich plasma.
The platelet-rich plasma is then drawn up into a syringe and to be injected into parts of the scalp where increased hair growth is required. And because you’re using your own blood with PRP therapy, there’s no risk of getting a communicable disease.
It really couldn’t be any easier.
Could You Benefit From Plastic Surgery for Hair Restoration?
Plastic surgery for hair restoration is not as strange as it sounds.
As mentioned above, those who have the most success with PRP hair restoration therapy are patients with androgenic alopecia. In men, this is thinning of the hair along the top of the head. In women, it appears as a widening part.
It has also been effective for patients who are experiencing early hair loss. If this sounds like you, the best course of action is to set up a consultation with a board-certified surgeon who can determine if PRP is right for you. So contact us today!
