H.L. Greenberg, MD

In my clinic we start treating with Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) every month for 4 months then every 6 months.  PRP is popular and has been used for years, but there are multiple PRP systems in place and you want to make sure that the PRP used on you is from a company with a proven track record of extracting the PRP and leaving the Red Cells and White Cells out of the PRP injected into your scalp.  Other options- hair helmet, supplements, vitamins, hair growth shampoos, and FDA Approved Rogaine- see a board certified dermatologist to make sure that there is no underlying medical reason for hair loss.  Good luck.

Smoking is not a healthy behavior, but I am unaware of its effect on platelets or PRP treatments.  Some physicians have patients stop smoking prior to surgery.

Hair loss needs to be evaluated for a medical cause initially. Once medical issues such as thyroid, anemia, nutritional deficiency or other autoimmune disease have been ruled out, the more common causes such as male pattern loss can be entertained.  Propecia/finasteride is an oral FDA approved treatment for hair loss, as is Rogaine for men.  PRP is FDA cleared for hair loss, but would not be my 1st option in most hair loss cases.  In general PRP aka platelet rich plasma consists of a series of 4 injection sessions spaced 1 month apart followed by every 6 month treatments.  Make sure the PRP tubes used are cleared for the purpose of reinfection and that you are getting good PRP without RBC's or WBC's. Good luck!

I'm a big fan of utilizing multiple mechanisms of action to treat hair loss- beginning with searching for an underlying cause: thyroid, anemia, kidney disease, nutritional deficiency and then treating with hair growth shampoos, minoxidil, supplements, laser and PRP.  Good luck!

We use the Eclipse system in my practice to regrow hair using your own platelet rich plasma.  There are a number of systems that are available- ideally, whichever system is used to obtain your PRP separates out the platelet rich plasma from the red cells and the white cells which will not help in terms of the growth factors utilized by PRP to stimulate hair growth.  Find out the system being used and consider switching to a different system if no results.