Platelet-rich plasma therapy has made headlines, often because it is favored by elite athletes to help them recover from injury.

How does it work?

Platelets are blood cells with several roles to play in the body. One is to promote blood clotting so that a person does not excessively bleed when they are cut. Another is to contain proteins in the blood that help wounds to heal.

Researchers theorize that by injecting areas of inflammation or tissue damage with high concentrations of platelets, it can encourage wounds to heal.

A small blood sample is taken from the person being treated and put into a centrifuge or other specialized device that spins at high speed. This process separates platelets from other blood components. The concentration of platelets is then injected into the area of the person’s body that needs to be treated.

Because the injection contains a high concentration of platelets, which can be from 5 to 10 times more than the untreated blood, doctors theorize that the platelets will speed up healing.

In hair restoration, ACell is combined with PRP (platelet rich plasma) and injected into the scalp. The application of ACell and PRP causes miniaturized hair follicles to become healthier and larger, producing more robust hair growth. ACell activates follicular progenitor cells (adult stem cells) and PRP is loaded with growth factors that promote rapid angiogenesis and localized cell growth. Effective for both male and female pattern hair loss, ACell + PRP has also regrown hair in alopecia areata, eyebrowhypotrichosis and other patient cases with non-hereditary hair loss.

The nutrient rich plasma (PRP) is extracted from the patient’s blood and then concentrated before being reintroduced into the scalp for hair loss. These vital platelets contain growth factors that activate and rejuvenate cells in the body.

The concentrated platelets in PRP contain tremendous amounts of bioactive proteins, which include the growth factors PDGF (platelet derived growth factor) and VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor). These growth factors initiate and accelerate tissue repair, and, according to experts have also been shown to have positive effects for hair loss. This safe therapy has been around for decades and used successfully in the science of healing wounds and injuries.