Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy | Dr. Joseph Greco Ph.D. Answers Your Questions

[iwannakeephair1674]

Hey all,

I just got in from having my 2nd PRP treatment performed by Dr. Greco in Clearwater, Florida. I was extremely satisfied with the results from the first procedure having some new baby hairs sprouting out with reversal of miniturization and overall estimated increase in thickness by more than 10%. (1st PRP treatment was done June 23, 2009)

Dr. Greco has truly pioneered and embraced this new technology and I can promise everyone here that the future improvements and possibilities of PRP are being looked into and it is an extremely exciting time for hair loss sufferers. I have uploaded pictures of my hair directly after the treatment at:

http://www.hairtransplantcommunity.com/iwannakeephair1674/

I had Dr. Greco focus heavily in the frontal hairline and bi-temporal region, where it is know that hair is the most stubborn to treat. As my pictures show, there is no need to worry about this treatment causing any damage and that there is very little evidence that a treatment was performed at all. I can assure everyone that no one would know anything was done the next day following your treatment because all the evidence would be gone!

I would like to thank Dr. Greco and his staff for yet another pleasant experience and I am a firm believer that this treatment does work. This technology is extremely exciting to me because how cool would it be to have the results of something like Propecia without ever being on Propecia? I can also promise it can ONLY get better!

I will update more soon,
-Destin

[Phatalis]

Apologies, if I'm repeating an earlier question. I'm new to the group and was hoping to get some guidance on doctors in the Washington DC / Northern Virginia area that are performing PRP treatments. thanks MG63

I'd like to know this as well as I live in the same vicinity.

[Dr Joseph F. Greco]

Hello Dr. Greco,
Are there any updates on PRP, like more patient photos or videos you can share with us? I just watched Spencer Kobren talking to one of your patients on his radio show and this technology sounds super exciting!!

Hello Blowmeup. Yes, I just posted an example of a Bio surgical combination on grecohairblog.com where the patient had hair transplantation in the frontal two thirds and PRP injected in the crown and no grafts in the crown. You can see his result after 11 months and one session. I took these photos when he returned at 11 months for a PRP only session. Note in the crown if hair is thinned out like it was in the initial photo it does not grow to the length that it has in the after photo.

Yes, we are doing a new additional step in processing that increases the the percentage of captured platelets higher than just when only a centrifuge is used. Centrifuges generally capture 80% of platelets in a given unit of whole blood. We actually did this on Destin who visited me yesterday.

[Dr Joseph F. Greco]

Dr. Greco,

Sorry if this has been already asked, as I don't want to waste your time but what are the reasons that this procedure does not work on the hairline? I understand this is a new procedure and it's probably still unknown...

I'm 23 and have most of my hair thinning in the front hairline for now... about to get on Propecia to hold me down. I'm moving to Florida in the next year or two and will pretty much be a guinea pig for this as of right now it sounds like the most promising procedure currently.

I will also basically pay any amount of money to fight my hairloss.

Phatalis great question and I wish I had the answer but with all therapies the frontal hairline is the most resistant to therapy besides moving hair. It is the nature of AGA. We do treat the frontal hairline as a preventative therapy and I see some reversal, but nothing like a hair transplant result.

[Dr Joseph F. Greco]

I'd like to know this as well as I live in the same vicinity.

Sorry I do not know anyone in that area doing this therapy. JG

[Buckerine11]

Hi Dr. Greco,
One question/concern I have about the PRP procedure is the variability of platelet count in the healthy population. The normal range is 150k-450k/ml. Therefore, for any two people that opt for this treatment, it's possible that they are getting a 3x difference of platelets injected into their scalp. Since we don't know for the certain the mechanism of action of this procedure, it's also possible that there is a threshold of platelets, where any amount of platelets below would not yield any positive results. I think this platelet count variability may be a key contributor to the difference in efficacy that we are observing with this procedure.
What are your thoughts about this?
Thanks.

[Dr Joseph F. Greco]

Hi Dr. Greco,
One question/concern I have about the PRP procedure is the variability of platelet count in the healthy population. The normal range is 150k-450k/ml. Therefore, for any two people that opt for this treatment, it's possible that they are getting a 3x difference of platelets injected into their scalp. Since we don't know for the certain the mechanism of action of this procedure, it's also possible that there is a threshold of platelets, where any amount of platelets below would not yield any positive results. I think this platelet count variability may be a key contributor to the difference in efficacy that we are observing with this procedure.
What are your thoughts about this?
Thanks.

Wow what a great question. Yes, that is absolutely the variable with autologus ( same person) PRP and even in that one person platelet counts will vary from one week to the next.
We have developed a homologus lyophilized (freeze dried) cytokine ( GF ) rich plasma where we can control the dose of GF's, which is the future of PRP. In other words, "GF's in a bottle", pure GF's in plasma and no cells so no antigenic reaction, that has a shelf life of 2 years. All you have to do is add sodium chloride and finito, use it, no blood draw and it is a consistent level every time!
We are currently using this is vet medicine studies and not only does it work on soft tissue and wounds, but it is very effective regenerating bone for non-union fractures. Of course, this will need FDA approval as a drug and this is our intention. JG

[MG63]

Dr. Greco -- as a follow-up to the question regarding doctors in the Washington DC area that PRP. Since there is nobody in this area. Where are the closest doctors - North Carolina, Pennsylvania, MD, NY?

thanks.

[Dr Joseph F. Greco]

Dr. Greco -- as a follow-up to the question regarding doctors in the Washington DC area that PRP. Since there is nobody in this area. Where are the closest doctors - North Carolina, Pennsylvania, MD, NY?

thanks.

MG63 Dr Jeff Epstein has an office in NY you could check with his office. Best, JG

[MG63]

thanks so much.

[twentiesbalding]

Dr Greco

There has been lots of news recently about the effectiveness of PRP in a number of studies. What does this do for its use in hair loss. http://news.google.co.uk/news?hl=en&...-8&sa=N&tab=wn

[Preston]

Hi Dr Greco ,

I would just like to know if PRP is usefull with diffuse hair loss ? can it help stopping it on the entire scalp ?

Do you know of anyone doing this therapy in europe ? maybe in England ? I live in Belgium

Thanks

[helenah]

Hello Dr Greco,

One thing thats bothered me about PRP and using the patients own blood , is the presence of any pre-exisiting disorders or illnesses ( esp related to connected tissue like Hypermobility ) that might influence the overall results.

Are you aware of any complications or , worse results happening from patients using PRP who fit into this category i.e. whether its been done on scalp or on other areas like knees ?

thanks

helena

[Dr Joseph F. Greco]

Dr Greco

There has been lots of news recently about the effectiveness of PRP in a number of studies. What does this do for its use in hair loss. http://news.google.co.uk/news?hl=en&...-8&sa=N&tab=wn

We are studying the effects on hair growth in hair surgery and hair miniaturization. Soon we will initiate a double blind randomized independent study for AGA. After being in hair surgery 27 years and doing over 400 procedures the past three years and completing two research grant studies with PRP, there is a positive difference and numerous other independent studies in hair surgery indicate that.

[Dr Joseph F. Greco]

Hello Dr Greco,

One thing thats bothered me about PRP and using the patients own blood , is the presence of any pre-exisiting disorders or illnesses ( esp related to connected tissue like Hypermobility ) that might influence the overall results.

Are you aware of any complications or , worse results happening from patients using PRP who fit into this category i.e. whether its been done on scalp or on other areas like knees ?

thanks

helena

There are very few complications with PRP since it is your own cells. However, the "absolute" contra indications, which are quite rare and should be verified with patients medical histories are platelet dysfunction syndrome, critical thrombocytopenia, hypofibrinogenemia, septicemia, sensitivity to bovine thrombin. There are "relative" contraindications such as steroid injections two weeks prior, fever, recent illness, HGB <10g/dl, platelet count <105/ul, active pseudomonas, enterococcus or Klebsiella infections. To put this in perspective, we have not had any patient with hair or ortho biologic treatment present with absolute contraindications or have any complication.