Most people — men and women alike — will experience hair loss at some point in their life. If you find the process of losing your hair embarrassing, the good news is that Graper Harper Cosmetic Surgery has a couple treatment options available that work well on patients who have lost their hair due to genetics, stress, chemical exposure and menopause.
PRP (platelet rich plasma) hair restoration and repair is a non-invasive procedure that involves injecting your own blood with enhanced platelet counts back into your scalp to stimulate hair growth. Hair transplant is a surgical procedure that borrows follicles from an area with thicker growth and moves it to another location. Here Dr. Robert Graper and Dr. Garrett Harper describe these treatments in more detail.
“Liquid Gold” PRP Hair Restoration and Repair
PRP therapy has proven effective on many patients to not only prevent further hair loss, but also regenerate hair growth where the hair has disappeared. The general idea is that the presence of more platelets helps to activate the cells around your dormant follicles and start resprouting hair.
Although your blood is mostly composed of liquid, it also consists of small bits of red cells, white cells and platelets. Rich in proteins, platelets allow your blood to clot, making them an essential component of healing. For PRP therapy, our PRP expert draws your blood and begins centrifugation, which is a process that involves pulling out the red and white cells and putting in a higher concentration of platelets into the plasma. Afterwards, this plasma “Liquid Gold” is put back into your own body to allow the platelets to do their good work of stimulating cells and healing the body.
At Graper Harper Cosmetic Surgery, we rely on ACell MatriStem, which utilizes acellular material to activate blood vessel and new tissue formulation. We mix this substance with your own PRP before injecting it into your scalp. Once combined, ACell and your plasma should maximize the results. To maintain your results after your initial treatment of 3 to 4 sessions, we recommend having a PRP treatment one or two times each year.
Hair Transplant
Hair transplant surgery involves harvesting stable hairs from one area of the scalp — usually the back where hair is the thickest — and carefully grafting the hairs to the targeted area where hair is thinning or absent. A high percentage of the transplanted hair should go on to flourish in its new location.
There are two main strategies that can be implemented with hair transplant: the FUT (follicular unit transplantation) approach, which involves taking a strip of the scalp — along with the hairs — off your head, and the FUE (follicular unit extraction) approach which removes individual hair follicles from your scalp. Usually, FUE is the preferable method since it is less painful, leaves a less conspicuous scar and works well even if you have less dense hair. However, some patients choose FUT because it can secure more hair follicles and the procedure is quicker and less expensive.
Some patients who undergo hair transplant choose to add the PRP “Liquid Gold” treatment to enhance and strengthen their results.
To schedule a consultation to discuss surgical and non-surgical solutions for your hair loss, please call the Graper Harper Cosmetic Surgery team at 704.375.7111.
