Platelets carry the growth factors the body uses to repair tissue. A small blood draw is spun in a centrifuge to separate and concentrate them, and that concentrate is placed where repair is wanted. The material is autologous, meaning it came from you, so there is nothing to be allergic to and nothing foreign left behind.
What it treats
Why anti-inflammatories undo it
PRP works by starting a controlled inflammatory response. Anti-inflammatories suppress exactly that response. Ibuprofen, naproxen, fish oil, vitamin E and flaxseed oil stop three days before treatment and stay stopped for three days afterwards. This is the most important instruction on this page, because it changes how well the treatment works rather than how comfortable it is. Prescribed blood thinners are a different matter and are never stopped without speaking to the physician who prescribed them.
What the trials show, and what they do not
This is the best-studied use of PRP. A 2025 systematic review pooled 43 randomized controlled trials across 1,877 participants. Activated PRP increased hair density compared with placebo, and reduced recurrence.
The same review found that PRP did not significantly improve hair thickness. That distinction matters and it is not a technicality. More hairs per square centimeter is a different outcome from thicker individual hairs, and if you are expecting the second you should know that the randomized evidence supports the first.
One further finding is worth stating because it is about how the treatment is done rather than whether it works. Activated PRP performed better, and non-activated PRP was associated with a higher frequency of adverse effects. Preparation is not an incidental detail here, and it is one of the reasons results reported across different clinics are hard to compare.
Timing matters more than it does elsewhere
PRP supports follicles that are still alive. It does not bring back follicles that have already gone, and no injection does. That makes hair the one PRP indication where waiting has a real cost, because the window is defined by what is still there rather than by how you feel about it. Early to mid stage loss is where this treatment has something to work with.
Before anything is injected
Hair loss has causes that are not pattern hair loss, and several of them are treatable in ways that have nothing to do with the scalp. Thyroid disease, iron deficiency, and medication effects all present as thinning. Bloodwork comes before treatment, because injecting a scalp for a year is a poor way to discover that the problem was ferritin.
What a session is like
- Blood draw
- A small draw from the arm, like a routine blood test.
- Processing
- 10 to 15 minutes in the centrifuge while numbing works.
- Sensation
- Pressure and stinging. The scalp is the more sensitive of the treatment areas.
- Session length
- 45 to 60 minutes start to finish.
- Onset
- Change in shedding first, usually by 6 to 8 weeks.
- Full result
- Growth assessed at 3 to 6 months.
- Cadence
- 3 to 4 sessions, 4 weeks apart, then maintenance.
- Downtime
- Scalp tenderness for a day or two. No visible marks.
Before, during and after
This is the protocol we follow. Open any of these to read it before booking, or again the week of your appointment.
Common questions
Will my hair actually get thicker?
The randomized evidence supports increased density, meaning more hairs in a given area, and it does not show a significant effect on the thickness of the individual hair. Those are different outcomes and people often mean the second when they say the first. Density is what improves, and denser hair does read as fuller, but it is worth being clear about which of the two the evidence actually supports.
Does PRP replace finasteride or minoxidil?
No, and it is usually used alongside them rather than instead. Pattern hair loss is a process that continues in the background, and PRP does not switch that process off. People who hold their results best are generally the ones doing both, and what that combination should look like for you is a conversation at consultation rather than a default protocol.
Why can I not take ibuprofen around PRP?
Because PRP works through a controlled inflammatory response, and anti-inflammatories suppress it. Ibuprofen, naproxen, fish oil, vitamin E and flaxseed oil should stop three days before treatment and stay stopped for three days afterwards. This is the single most important instruction for any PRP treatment, because it changes how well the treatment works rather than just how comfortable it is. Prescribed blood thinners such as apixaban, rivaroxaban, warfarin, clopidogrel or aspirin taken for cardiac reasons are different and should never be stopped without speaking to the prescribing physician.
Why do I need bloodwork for a hair treatment?
Because several common causes of thinning are internal and are missed if you go straight to the scalp. Thyroid dysfunction, low ferritin and medication side effects all present as hair loss and all have their own treatments. Finding one of those changes the plan entirely, and finding it before a year of injections rather than after is the difference between treating the cause and treating around it.
Is it too late if I have been thinning for years?
It depends on what is still there rather than on how long it has been. PRP works on follicles that are alive but underperforming, so scalp that has been smooth for a long time is unlikely to respond. Examination, and imaging where it helps, is how that gets assessed. If the honest answer is that there is not enough left to work with, you should hear that rather than be sold a series.
Who should not have PRP?
PRP is not performed in anyone with an active cancer or a history of blood cancer, in anyone with a platelet or clotting disorder, or where there is active infection, rash or an open wound in the treatment area. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are also reasons to wait. Because the treatment depends on your own platelets, anything that meaningfully affects them affects the result, which is part of what gets reviewed at consultation.
This page is for general education and is not medical advice. It does not establish a physician-patient relationship, and it cannot account for your individual history, medications or skin. Suitability for treatment is decided at consultation following examination.