I am so grateful

Treatment Provider

Provider Review

• 9 Jul 2017

I saw him for PRP for hair loss. I came to him after recommendations on this site. It was the best decision I have made since my hair loss occurred/started 3 years ago. In just two weeks I see a great difference. I wasn't expecting to see a difference for 3 months!!! I rarely leave reviews but am only leaving a review because I want others who have suffered the way I did with hair loss to come to this option sooner than I did. I would be happy to even speak to anyone who is considering going to him with more details about my experience. I feel like this sounds like a "fake" review but I assure you it is not. I feel a bit shy to add photos but if you go to Dr. Rapaport maybe in a few months he will have photos of me among his clientele! Just tell him I'm the one who goes to the Brooklyn-based nutritional response therapy woman who helped me with thyroid issues. (And, if you have thyroid issues, or female hormonal issues, ask him for that referral as well-- I think maybe one of the reasons I'm having such a good and immediate response is that I've already have my medical situation vis-a-vis hormones and thyroid set in place through seeing her.) As a background, I'm 35 years old, and my hair loss started 3 years ago when I went off birth control for a period of time. I have PCOS in the "low-estrogen" version (thin person with PCOS). I think the trauma of losing the estrogen source coming from the birth control pills sent my body into a sort of trauma or traumatic response and tons of hair fell out, going from a person with normal hair (not particularly thick, just normal) to visibly thinning hair, alarmingly thin in the beginning. And, for background, the estrogen-loss I think triggered a genetic potential for female hair loss- it's something that runs in the family on the maternal side (mom, maternal aunt, grandmother have all dealt with it, and have all had the same set of PCOS/thyroid issues). Anyway, when I went back on the birth control the hair loss stopped, but it never came back to how it was- it remained visibly thinning or very thin hair. The nutritional response testing person helped quite a bit actually with making it a bit better than it was at first, by giving me supplements to help my thyroid (if you have access to the NY area, and you have thyroid issues, go see her! do it! Inner Fire Integrative Health, Diane Paxton.. feel free to ask me about my experience if you have questions), but the hair still never came back to what it was. Anyway, I had basically accepted the situation and felt good about myself, when I stumbled upon this site and these reviews. I live right near Dr. Rapaport and it's an all-natural treatment- it just puts into your body something from your body. It didn't seem logical that it could hurt, and the other reviews -- and pictures-- really seemed to indicate results. If it doesn't work, I figured, I am okay with how I am and I am willing to give it a go and make a try. Even if the money is a loss, I will know I have tried it and I won't regret not trying it. I really had very low expectations, despite the other positive reviews, because it has been a painful process accepting the thin hair as it is, and I wanted to make sure I wasn't disappointed. Anyway. I saw Dr. Rapaport. I really trusted him, and I have to say I am suspicious of doctors. When my hair loss first started, I saw some more dermatologists who wanted to prescribe medications that I didn't feel were good for me, and that I didn't think I could keep doing long-term (like Rogaine, can't do it) or even harmful (like some of the pill-based medications). I already have two weak organ systems (PCOS and thyroid), and I don't want to add more stress to the system. I think at that time PRP for hair loss wasn't well-known, Dr. Rapaport said it has only been going on for about 3 years. Anyway the reviews here said Dr. Rapaport was "no [RS bleep]" and he truly is, he just looks at you sort of honestly and says, "yep, this is the situation, here's what we can do." He didn't try to sell me anything else, I sort of tested him by asking "so, what about my skin?" and he said, well it looks fine. Even though he was professional and no-nonsense, he seems really invested and aware of how traumatic hair loss can be for women- I asked him why prices were so low compared to some people in the city, and he said "you know we want to keep prices low, for some people even the prices as they are are hard to afford". He seemed to really have compassion for the situation. And he was medically professional- he checked in about my hormonal and thyroid situation, and made sure I was under the care of someone that was handling the problem. And sadly he seemed to know how the standard medical response for subclinical or borderline hypothyroidism (just hand some T4 Synthroid) for some doesn't full fix the problem, and for some it can even harm or make the hair situation worse (that was my experience-- thank god for Inner Fire). So, overall, I trusted that he wasn't lower priced because he's low quality, but because he's not in some crazy business to squeeze every dime out of people, and wants to be able to offer this to people who need it. I had done a lot of research beforehand about this treatment and talked to him about it. He's definitely willing to explain. I asked him about FDA approval and why there wasn't any, and I encourage you to talk to him about this as well if it's an issue for you, his replies were extremely knowledgeable and made lots of sense. By the way, from the research I did on PRP on pubmed beforehand, and in all the cases where PRP is compared to other substances -- not for hair loss, but for other regenerative processes- PRP is better than other substances like Hyaluronic acid or what have you. Check it out. And his reason for not using ACELL made tons of sense- if it can sometimes cause Shock Loss, the danger outweighs the risk. If you are the one person with thinning hair who goes for treatment and then gets more hair loss, what a trauma. It's not worth it. And finally, did you know PRP is being used to potentially regenerate ovaries? Clinical trials going on right now. PRP really is a regenerative substance - if it works in joints and ovaries, it makes sense that it can work in hair. So I did the research, I trusted the doctor, I was okay with any outcome. The process itself wasn't too painful but I felt really out of it for about 3 days. I needed to rest, I could feel that there was like a sense of woundedness in my scalp, and I needed really take it easy for a week. I'm glad I did, I'm glad I gave my body the time and space to focus on healing that area. According to medical guidance on PRP for joints that I could find, it's best not to take anti-inflammatory herbs or supplements in the week after the procedure since the inflammation is what triggers the regeneration. So, I stopped supplements that lower inflammation, like turmeric and what have you. Like I said, I wasn't expecting real results till the 3 months mark. It's been 2 and a half weeks and I'm seeing results. I am so grateful. It was worth it. I'll keep an open mind to see how it goes after the next treatments- I did 3 vials and I'll repeat monthly for 3 to 5 times, and then work with Dr. Rappaport on maintenance regime. But, even just as it stands now, worth it. I hope others benefit. Good luck. Many, many thanks to all those who reviewed Dr. Rappaport on Realself.com, who gave me the guts to try it.