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Thoughts on PRP?

J

JFR8

Valued member
Any thoughts on PRP?

I appreciate it’s not going to reverse my loss. But any evidence it would help maintain/improve what isn’t miniaturised beyond all hope?

In short given finasteride gave me sides, my family history means oral minoxidil isn’t advisable and I’m already on topical minoxidil, any other meds/treatments worth trying to maintain what I’ve got? As per my other thread I’m considering a HT if my Donor is suitable, but given the extent of my loss I should probably also look to step up my game in trying to preserve/improve what I’ve got.

I had a quick look and in London the prplab for example offer 4 sessions for £1k. After that I understand for maintenance you require one every 12/18 months.
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
I’ve heard of patients benefitting from PRP therapy to treat their hair loss but it’s a small percentage.
Unless you try it, you will never know if it works for you. It’s an expensive thing to try. Combined with other treatments, it may be more effective.
Have you considered topical Finasteride?
This thread is worth reading.
Topical Finasteride
 
J

JFR8

Valued member
I’ve heard of patients benefitting from PRP therapy to treat their hair loss but it’s a small percentage.
Unless you try it, you will never know if it works for you. It’s an expensive thing to try. Combined with other treatments, it may be more effective.
Have you considered topical Finasteride?
This thread is worth reading.
Topical Finasteride

I hadn't realised topical Fin was an option until I started researching HT's this year. However, given I had sides for oral Fin (albeit they went away), I'm apprehensive.

From what I've read there's little research on how much goes systemic and how long it then hangs around. From searches I can't find many people that have issues early on, but a few claimed issues after some time. My concern is I make gains and those influence any HT I have, but eventually I reach a point where the sides raise their ugly head. With oral it didn't take that long, so I suspect I am quite sensitive to it's impact on my hormonal balance. Question is, could I find a reasonable balance with topical Fin between localised benefits against systemic concentration low enough to avoid sides.

The other issues is I'm in the UK. And I havent thus far seen a reliable source that will ship to me. Again given I suffered sides from oral, I want to be sure any topical Fin I try actually has the concentrations it says on the tin and they are consistent with every application.

Yes PRP is expensive, although it appears to have come down from historic prices i've seen. Essentially, from initial research, i'm looking at £1k for four sessions then ~£250/year (price may well come down further, seems it used to be double that from historic articles google has turned up). Thats not a deal breaker if I maintained what I have. But as you say, it will sting if it turns out to be pointless.
 
J

JFR8

Valued member
I had a quick look and found some trials, for example:

PMC4622412 on ncbi (forum wont let me post links)

That's a review of a randomised control trial. And the results look promising.

But its a very small sample, I dont believe it's been significantly peer reviewed and they used "half head" as control. WRT the latter, I understand many people experience asymmetrical loss, thats certainly the case for me where the right side has progressed much faster then the left. So I wonder if they randomised which side was the control (I haven't had a chance to check properly).

Still not sure wether to give it a shot. There's evidence it works, but they are small trials with no significant peer reviewed double blind trials using a large sample. £1k is not the end of the world, but would be annoying if it went down the pan. On the other hand, given I live in London, thats equates to half a dozen bad meals out.

Part of me wishes I'd never got back into worrying about my hair :) For a few years I'd just become resigned to accepting those were the cards I was dealt. It's mainly the success of some of my cousins (albeit younger) with HT's that made me look again.
 
J

JFR8

Valued member
And another is PMC5803844, which is a meta analysis of several smaller randomised control trials.

Again the results look promising. But they raise the same concerns I have above. The cynic in me wonders why no one has invested in a large sample randomised control trial. Although I guess unlike Fin/Minoxidil, you can't patent PRP and that knocks out the big boys from investing.

If I hadn't suffered sides from Fin, I would go with that as theirs scientifically significant evidence it works.
 
M

mania

member
The results look very nice as for as the medication of taking PRP for hair loss could be very good to have such a nice results that you expected to have//
 
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