I’ve always had a difficult relationship with my hairline. My edges are naturally on the thinner side but between stress, a too tight hairstyle, and a bout of covid, they were on life support. After a lot of research, supplements, hair oils, and even steroid injections, I discovered platelet-rich plasma, also known as PRP.
Losing your hair can feel really embarrassing and isolating as a woman. I found myself constantly obsessing about my edges and doing hairstyles to hide them. But, I’m writing this blog to help destigmatize hair loss. It happens to a lot of women and it can be treated!
Read more: PRP results, a year and a half later
PRP isn’t a new treatment and it’s not just used for hair loss; it can be used to reduce inflammation and promote healing in injured tissues and joints. You’ve also probably seen a “vampire facial” on your TikTok or Instagram feeds at some point, which is a PRP treatment for your skin to boost collagen production.
PRP therapy for hair loss involves three parts:
- Drawing your blood.
- Spinning your blood in a centrifuge for ~15 minutes to separate it into platelet-rich plasma, platelet-poor plasma, and red blood cells.
- Injecting the platelet-rich plasma directly into your scalp to stimulate hair follicles and promote hair growth.
I didn’t just immediately jump to PRP. In 2021, I started going to GlamDerm, a dermatologist office in New York City, to get help for my hair loss. It’s easy to take advice from people on the internet — like me, a person on the internet — but it’s always best to see a dermatologist if you’re having hair loss, as it could be caused by underlying health issues.
After ruling out any hormonal issues or vitamin deficiencies, the team at GlamDerm started me on steroid injections around my hairline. These injections are commonly used to treat alopecia areata, though my thinning was caused my traction alopecia, which is hair loss caused by the constant pulling of hair from tight styles like braids, weaves, and tight ponytails. Traction alopecia can lead to permanent hair loss if not treated.
I was also put on a regimen of fluocinolone acetonide oil and minoxidil, better known as Rogaine. I stopped doing tight styles, regularly massaged my scalp with my homemade hair oil, and starting Nutrofol hair supplements.
While I did see improvement, I wasn’t getting the results I wanted and finally decided to take the plunge into the pool of platelet-rich plasma.
This is not a cheap treatment and I didn’t take the decision to do it lightly. You’ll need three treatments at minimum, spaced one month a part, which ranges in cost from $1,500 to $3,500 total, depending on where you are located. Unfortunately, unlike my other treatments, this one was not covered by insurance because platelet-rich plasma is still considered an experimental treatment for hair loss.
I went in for my first session in October of 2022. As expected, I was very nervous to get injections in my scalp. The nurse and doctor assured me the pain would be tolerable. At that point, I was willing to endure a little pain to have my edges back.
It took about 10 minutes to inject all seven syringes into my scalp. The majority was concentrated along my hairline, though I also had a few injections at the crown of my head. I’d rate the pain a five out of ten. It was uncomfortable but way less painful than my tattoo removal.
I got my final session in December 2022. I’ve continued with minoxidil, Nutrafol, hair oil, and avoiding tight styles. It’s been five months since my first session and I feel confident saying that PRP brought my edges back in a way I didn’t think was possible.
Around a month and half after my first session, I started to notice little hairs sprouting up. Hairs that once would’ve grown in really fine and wispy grew in more coarse and strong. Doctors recommend six months to see complete results.
I’m going to get a touch up treatment in April, which is recommended once a year after the initial three treatments. Overall, I would highly recommend PRP therapy for women suffering from hair loss, especially around the hairline. This treatment can be cost prohibitive, so it’s a good idea to talk to a dermatologist about other options to try first, like I did. In the end, the cost was definitely worth having my hair and confidence back.
Let me know if you have any other questions about platelet-rich plasma treatment in the comments!
Great informative article. I had never heard of this PRP treatment until I heard it from you. I agree that hair plays a big role on woman’s confidence because we can’t shave it off as men are able to so we try and find ways to help the issues we are having.
Thanks for reading!
This is great! Thanks for sharing. I’m looking into this for my own hair loss in the front of my head.
Do you have any pics for how your edges look now? How often do you go for maintenance injections?
I’ll do an update post soon. Thanks for reading!
Hi, what type of hairstyles did you wear immediately after getting PRP injection? I just had my first round and don’t know what to do with my hair since its not advised to pull, braid or straighten afterwards.
Hi! I kept it simple with just wearing my hair loose in twist outs or wash and goes.If i did wear it up or back, I kept it loose and made sure not to pull around the edges. I hope this help and good luck with your results!
Hello! This was awesome of you to do and helpful. I’m thinking of doing this myself. Regarding hairstyles..is it any other hair styles you can recommend bc I don’t have wash and go type of hair. I’ve been stumped on what to do during this treatment.
I think low loose buns or two flat twists to create a crown/halo braid style would be good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VByWghihff4