PRP – Is it really any good?

I know honest doctors who use PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma injections) but many of these doctors are unimpressed but they may be doing it because patients want it and there is considerable hype on the internet that this does wonders for hair loss. We’ve heard “universally good results,” and “very effective in my hands” comments from doctors doing PRP; however, PRP has no standardization and it has been around for more than 25 years without any absolute proof such as a clinically valid ‘Double Blind Study’ with objective measurements. What we hear among many of the doctors offering it are glowing comments and some even say “I’ve seen a tiny handful of impressive visual results” but is this really true? Most good results occur when PRP is used in combination with finasteride, minoxidil, etc., which is an important variable, scientifically and something to keep in mind if you are considering PRP.

PRP is a VERY profitable business for the doctors who offer and perform it. How popular would it be for doctors pushing it if it were not so profitable? Would they believe in it as much as they do now? When a person spends a few thousand dollars getting their PRP treatments, they often rationalize that they are better, after all, it cost a great deal. But it would be good to be able to tell a patient who had PRP that their hair bulk was checked with the HAIRCHECK instrument and “You Mrs. Jones, had a 30% increase in your hair bulk since I started your PRP treatment”, but the HAIRCHECK test doesn’t seem to be offered to these patients. I ask, Why Not?

You can tell from this post that I am not a fan of doing something for my patients that I don’t believe in, nor something that I can not see or measure by some objective measurement. So, I don’t offer PRP to my patients.

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