A recent article in the September issue of the Journal of Drugs and Dermatology completed an analysis of 25 studies on Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy to identify patient and protocol related factors that may contribute to the efficacy of PRP Therapy[i]. As we have discussed before, one of the issues with PRP Therapy is that there is no standard protocol and practitioners and offices can all perform it very differently, which can greatly affect the results. The 25 studies that were reviewed by the authors of this article also had different protocols and participant demographics, which allowed them to evaluate many potential factors.
One particular factor that was noted in the article and really stood out was that the authors felt that based on the studies they reviewed the sex of the patient played a role in the effectiveness of the PRP therapy. Interestingly enough, the authors found that in the studies they reviewed, the effect of Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy was greater in women than in men, which had not been previously reported. While the article does not go into why women may have superior results to men, it is important to note that androgenic alopecia presents differently in women than it does in men.
Men tend to have gradual thinning that affects the crown and frontal areas of the scalp that leads to complete bald areas. On the other hand, women tend to have more diffuse thinning in those areas and rarely develop complete bald areas, which means there are hair follicles to rejuvenate and repair. PRP therapy is a great treatment, but it is not going to grow hair in areas the follicles are completely inactive and the best results occur when there is existing hairs available to reverse the miniaturization, repair, and thicken, which is why women are often such great candidates.
The article pointed to a few other factors that it felt were associated with improved efficacy of PRP therapy, including the number of treatments, activating the PRP therapy, and utilizing a double spin centrifuge, all factors we take into account in our treatments at Medi Tresse. With our Optimal Platelet Concentration™ Therapy, we even take it one step further to measure the patients baselines platelets to better ensure we can reach the optimal platelet concentration as outlined in numerous other studies on PRP therapy.
PRP Therapy can be a great treatment option for women experiencing androgenic alopecia, however you need to make sure that you are being treating by a hair loss expert that can make sure the treatment is right for you and has a PRP therapy protocol that is routed in the latest research on PRP therapy and hair loss treatments. At Medi Tresse, our practitioners are experts in PRP therapy and have performed thousands of these treatments for many different types of hair loss and our Optimal Platelet Concentration™ Therapy was developed based on the latest scientific research.
[i] Gupta AK, Bamimore M. Platelet-Rich Plasma Monotherapies for Androgenetic Alopecia: A Network Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression Study. J Drugs Dermatol. 2022;21(9):943-952. doi:10.36849/JDD.6948
