I've left a review elsewhere about PRP for hair restoration I had at Dr. Scott Shapiro's office but am leaving one here too. Dr. Scott didn't know there was a RealSelf site, so when I told him about it, he asked if I would mind leaving a review here. My reviews aren't normally this long, but I'm doing this because I am a woman, I am suffering from hair loss, and I know how much it affected me personally, so I am trying to be thoughtful and give you as much of the good and bad as I can about my experience I have Hashimotos and was seeing Dr. Scott for my thyroid. I've had 2 "Vampire" or PRP procedures because my hair was falling out like crazy because of Hashimotos. (I also found out I was iron and ferritin deficient, so that could be part of it). Anyway, I had tried every concoction out there from mail order hair growth treatments, minoxidil, olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil.....the whole natural gamut , which I do believe in, but nothing was slowing the loss. I want to say first of all, that Dr. Scott is my favorite doctor I've ever been to. He isn't like other doctors who are rushing through the appointment without knowing anything about you. My first appointment with him, he already had notes written on my lab work and specific questions he wanted to ask ME. That was a new experience - big time, from any doctor I had seen in the past, including my GP, endocronologist and my ob/gyn. (sorry, I got off on thyroid rabbit trail). Anyway, my hair loss started getting better after thyroid meds were straightened out, but it was still shedding quite a bit and was upsetting to me. He suggested I try the PRP injections and microneedling because of the results he had seen. I was a nervous about having needles put in my head, but the thought of going bald hurt worse. The staff went out of their way to make me feel so comfortable, and they are always so professional but friendly and down to earth. I took my bottled water, they turned on my favorite station, and started with putting numbing cream on my head. Before the cream, they did take pictures of my scalp and hair. While my head was numbing, they drew my blood to separate out the growth factors/platelets. About 30 minutes of numbing and he started injecting. It wasn't terrible, but I gotta say, it was more painful than I was expecting. His nurse used a great "tapping" technique and ice to distract, and that was nice. I'm going to say the pain was 5.5 out of 10. He did say he could numb it with lidocaine, but long term studies didn't show how the lido might interfere with the growth factors from the platelets. He was almost done, so I powered through. The actual procedure didn't seem to take more than 10 or 15 minutes, after all the blood spinning, etc. My head was numb most of the rest of the day. I even gave it a baby wash that night - but barely. My head was a little sore afterwards and I'm gonna say it was still a little tender on day 7 or so. I have to say, I wasn't expecting a miracle but, i'm not kidding. On the 3rd morning after my injections, my hair stopped falling out. That WAS like a miracle to me. I wasn't asking God to give me more hair, just at least let it stop going down the drain. My hair brush and tub drain weren't lying. Every day I brushed my hair, the brush was less and less full. It was crazy! Now h e had told me that usually men need 3 treatments for best results but most women, it was 1 or 2 treatments. For best results, the 2nd treatment should be about 10-12 weeks after the 1st, which is about the time the 1st injection was supposed to START kicking in, but, like I said, mine kicked in at day 3. My hair stopped falling out and I had good new growth for about a year and a half, so naturally I didn't go for my 2nd injection. Fast forward to about 10 months ago I went into a bad flair, with other autoimmune issues, and I knew the exact day I noticed my hairbrush with a little more hair in it. It started getting a little worse every day. We discussed at my thyroid appointment and he explained that when your body is fighting other diseases, all its resources go to the -most important parts first. Apparently my body doesn't think the hair on my head is important lol. I was not on prescription anti inflammatories every day, but was taking them about 4 days/week, but was taking anti inflammation supplements every day. He drew blood and sure enough my iron levels were dropping again and my inflammation markers were high. He made a plan, to get my iron levels up, take supplements to build my immune system, and start slowing down my anti-inflammatory meds for a couple of weeks prior to my treatment, for best results. So now we are at my 2nd treatment. 2.5 years later. First, I opted in for the numbing injections of lidocaine, after he numbed my head with cream. I was MUCH more comfortable the 2nd time around than the first. No pain at all other than needle pricks for the lido block. I have to say, that the week before my 2nd treatment, I had a couple of bad pain days, and took indomethacin sp? and on the other two days, took tumeric , curcumin - a combo supplement. These are anti-inflammatories and interrupt the wound healing process - which is what these injections and microneedling does.....is imitate an actual wound, to send the body rushing all of its nutrients to that area. Because I opted in for the lido block, I didn't have to have near as much numbing cream all over my scalp, just where he would inject - so that was nice for after the procedure, getting the gunk out. What I did NOT tell him, was that I had snuck in some anti-inflammatory meds/supplements the week before and 3 days before my treatment. I didn't see the miracle at day 3 like I saw before, but I would say my hair loss started slowing down around day 14 and continued to slow, but I didn't see the new growth as much as I did the first time. The loss slowed for SURE, and I did have hair growth, but not as much as the first time. I don't know if it was the flair I was having, the fact I sneaked in anti-inflammatories, or the lido-injections or what, but I have seen big enough increases that I'm going to give it ONE more try - this time, with a package of two injections(you do get a price break if purchasing 2 or 3 up front) - i figured this would force me to not la la along my way and forget the basics of good diet and doing exactly what he says to prep for this up front. I'm going for some IV vitamin therapy treatment at his office, before this round, and I am going to follow the letter of the law this time, for what he tells me I need to do to prep for best results. (Thank you dear Lord for Care Credit or i could not do this). I know if I let the hair loss go too long, the follicle becomes dormant. The best chance to salvage is as early as possible when you notice it. I hope I haven't gone too long. He assures me I haven't, but time will tell. I am scheduled to start my IV therapy when I'm back from vacation, and I'm already doing all my good supplements. I'm going to schedule when I get back and go clean eating, good nutrients and all that stuff for about 10 weeks before my next treatment. I am still deciding if I want to go the lido-block route or not. any thoughts are appreciated. I will try to report updates as I go along. Even though my results weren't like they were the first , I TRUST Dr. Scott. He didn't scold me for having sneaked around the rules for anti-inflammatories, but he did give me the chin-down "look over your glasses" look, when I did 'fess up. It ended with smiles and hugs and a plan. He really empathizes. He is always studying the latest treatments and I would not consider going any where else. Rating? 5 star, just do it. I'd probably be bald by now if I hadn't. Thank you, Dr. Scott and everyone on the staff for making this the best experience possible. I have no qualms about doing this again. I promise I'll do it right!
Sometimes you don't realize that some things in your life could be better. You just think that all the things that happen to your body over time are just part of getting older and you have to accept them. I recently had Viveve treatment at Dr. Scott Shapiro's office in Indian Trail NC. The procedure was about as uncomfortable as a regular gyn visit. I didn't notice much difference at first but over the next few months I noticed an overall healthier feeling. I had not realized that the skin was thinner and with less elasticity until the effects of the Viveve treatment started to take effect. Now I have a more toned and velvety feeling. Sex is definitely more enjoyable. I would highly recommend booking an appointment with Dr. Scott to discuss the details. His office staff are wonderful and very "down to earth" and Dr. Scott is very caring and easy to talk with about anything
