A Smorgasbord of PRP and Hair Growth News

Make sure to also read my post from last year on how well PRP works. There are quite a few studies from around the world that suggest that PRP is more than just a scam as many commentators seem to think.

The past several weeks have witnessed a huge number of news items, forum posts, videos and more related to platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and hair growth.

  • A new Italian study on PRP and hair growth was published in November in Stem Cells Translational Medicine. Results were favorable, with mean hair count increasing by 33.6 hairs, and mean hair density increasing by 45. 9 hairs per square centimeter. Point of interest: “We also observed an increase of Ki67(+) keratinocytes in the epidermis and of hair follicular bulge cells, and a slight increase of small blood vessels around hair follicles in the treated skin.”
  • At the 9th Congress for Hair Research from November 18-21, Dr. Ratchathorn Panchaprateep from Thailand presented favorable findings regarding combination therapy treatment of hair loss using PRP and Non-Ablative 1,550 nm Erbium Glass Fractional Laser. Total benefits in nine patients averaged around 17 percent increases in both hair density and hair mass. Treatment entailed two injection each month for six months in total.
  • On November 24th, Dr. Sam Lam published a video of his presentation on PRP/ACell/ATP at the 7th Annual Hair Transplant 360 Workshop that took place in Saint Louis, Missouri from November 19-22. ATP stands for Adenosine triphosphate, and it is usually administered in liposomal form via a spray during a hair transplant procedure.
  • On December 8th, the UK’s sensationalist/gossip rag Daily Mail (my favorite newspaper when it comes to hair related news) published an article on PRP injected in gel form for hair growth purposes. The Daily Mail’s articles are often quite inaccurate, but I am still glad that they give so much emphasis to hair loss news.

Overall, it seems like PRP is here to stay in the hair loss industry, especially when used in combination with extracellular matrix products such as ACell. However, as Dr. Jeffrey Rapaport told me recently, PRP will not regrow hair in totally bald areas. At best, it will make existing hair stronger, and in those who are lucky, reverse recent miniaturization.

It is important to go to an experienced physician if getting PRP treatments. I would only go to a doctor who has been treating hair loss patients with PRP for at least two years. You should also carefully check the pricing and number of treatments needed per year, as both vary significantly depending on physician. Some are very obvious ripoffs in my opinion.

109 thoughts on “A Smorgasbord of PRP and Hair Growth News”

    1. I would agree if it weren’t for all these studies from doctors who are not even offering/selling it. If you have a lot of money, worth it at least for maintenance.

    1. He seems honest. Claims it won’t help totally bald areas plus is very reasonably priced. Not as experienced as Dr. Greco, but right up there with the best. I can’t afford PRP for now.

      How was your experience?

  1. http://www.thenational.ae/uae/science/former-emirati-fighter-pilot-tackles-hair-loss-with-help-from-his-pet-parrot#page1

    I know this is none related to the blood plasma. (btw i find hair transplants, and injections to the head stupid if its temporary or could make you worse off) I feel as someone who debated it once, hair transplant doctors take peoples money who are too caught up in their depressed emotions to use their logic and see its a waste of money.

    When i seen the title i thought this would be silly, but despite it being about biogrow…i don’t know what to take from this.

    Thoughts? The concept is the same as ruxolitinib in the sense of it being a topical solution. But they never make it clear if it has the potential to regrow all hair, just seems to be a natural less harmful minoxidil. of course it has the usual “in the future blah blah”

    Let me know what you guys think? :)

    1. “Former Emirati fighter pilot tackles hair loss”
      This article reminds me of a certain “former Nasa scientist” who claimed to have found a cure to baldness : (

      The result from Switzerland and France trials sound too good to be true. If, in fact, it was, this would’ve/should’ve made a bigger impact than the JAK inhibitor news on the online community.
      Let’s wait and see.
      thanks for the article of hope.

  2. Prp is a giant scam. All I have read is that it makes your hsir a bit thicker if you respond but it can also cause massive sheds that will make you bald faster. I have read more bad reviews than good. Plus it’s expensive and not worth the money until this can grow back thick hsir in bald spots. It should not even be offered if it has the chance to cause destructive shedding. All these ht doctors are just crooks and should be whipped or stoned for taking advantage our insecurities. I pray every night jak inhibitors or cots comes out with a full blown remarkable treatment than will while out the ht business. 2016 coming up and the butchers need to go and in with cell treatments.

  3. Christopher1 is currently trying a dabb of Tofacitinib on his temple area to see if it will grow hair on a male pattern baldness person.

    If JAK type drugs do not work then there will not be a cure for 30 years, at least. But I believe JAK type drugs will work on male pattern hair loss. I believe… that means it will not work. But I need to know either way, and Now.

    1. Why do you keep talking about Christopher1 ? Has he even made a post here in the last month? What makes you think he’s ever coming back, even if his trial succeeds? You sure are putting a lot of faith in an anonymous blog poster who you may never see again. How ridiculous.

  4. From –
    http://www.thenational.ae/uae/science/former-emirati-fighter-pilot-tackles-hair-loss-with-help-from-his-pet-parrot#page2

    “We have also done calculations and we found that people can grow between 2,000 and 5,000 hairs every month,” says Mr Al Hallami. “Of course you cannot see it in the first month or the second month, but in the third month you can.”

    Mr Al Hallami’s company, Osma Cosmetics and Laboratories, has its main manufacturing plant in Switzerland, and a secondary one in Abu Dhabi.

    “We are really happy with the product and now we can announce we have discovered the formula for human hair growth and this will have a really positive effect not just on our society, but worldwide,” he says with a smile.

    “I can say with confidence that this discovery will open the door to a future where hopefully you will not see a bald man or woman walking down the street.”

    Dear Admin, see their website also here – http://www.osma-ag.ch/

    In their website, there are lots image that proclaiming significant hair growth. Is it legit ? There are some products also and they claiming that they had undergone in vivo trials in Switzerland and France to secure Europe-wide approval with the help of Dr. Rudulf Steiner.

    1. But it’s strange that only 56% of the test participants said they would purchase this on the market and 58% would recommend this to others.

      And the there are no pictures of mpb but only hair loss in crown area.

    1. I am awaiting the results of Christopher1 results for JAK type drug.

      Then either way, that is it for me. I will either have all my hair by the end of 2016 from JAK type drugs OR I will never ever read a single thing about hair loss again.

  5. Not that I believe their product or that its not a scam but their pics actually look better than Histrogen, lmao! Now what does that say bout Histrogen:/

  6. If OSMA worked it would have been all over the news. Plus those pics are sooooo shady looking. 90% of the before and after pics are different people with different color hair and style lol. I mean come on….if you are going to scam people do some better con artist work guys lol

    1. Ya I’m agreeing with you. We often get too excited without thinking the reality. I wish if it could work. We are helpless guys, nothing will happen.

  7. All of you guys are too pessimistic, i think that setipiprant will be a game changing treatment and is few years away, add SM/replicel/histogen and i think that then we can really stop caring about hair loss and live our life fully.

    1. SETIPRANT Just stops hair loss if it works but not sure if it grows anything. Histogen is still kind of shady with no dubious pics from hitzig, replicel hasn’t shown us anything and it could fail phase 2 which they haven’t started yet. Not much to be optimistic about yet. Sm looks good bit need to see pics for that which should be late winter Feb

      1. Why do you have such faith in SM, mjones? We haven’t seen anything. Histogen, as a practical matter, has shown has more. They have actual statistical and visual data. SM has supplied nothing in the way of statistical data or visual data to give confidence. They have supplied us with encouraging words, but so has Biogrowth.. lol I hope SM is good stuff, but I am just trying to shine some light on the fact that you seem overly optimistic on one product and overly pessimistic on another. Every time you see a picture from any product, you pronounce it to look “shady.” What would be your definition on a credible picture? I am actually asking, not being confrontational.

  8. The biggest scam is that kerastem crap. I saw the results from washebik labs clinics in Europe and it’s weaker results than rogaine. Why would they even do trials to bring that crap to market. We need massive regrowth for it to be worth spending 5k on a treatment. Bring us down 3 Norwoods then that is worth clinical trials and hype. Not hair thickening or reduced shedding

    1. I would rather not do what Swiss does. His results are not great, and he makes treatment a frikken job. Poking and burning his scalp and applying grease to it constantly. Does that sound like how a man should live?

  9. Now we have a football (soccer for you Americans) player who claims to have the cure for baldness. David Luiz, the Chelsea player, is scared shitless of losing his hair like his father. Not to worry though, apparently there is a cure somewhere in Brazil by injecting some cells from your hips into your scalp and voila!
    This is beyond a joke

    1. baldness is really a scary monster isn’t it? even a guy with terrible hair like this David Luiz wants it more than nothing. lol.

  10. Yes mjones, setipiprant should only stop hair loss but this would be an awesome result, i’ve heard in a german forum that it is working fine topically, if it works we can go for a little ht and then just keeping all with seti. So i think that if one of these product (SM, replicel etc), only one, works better than rogaine in regrowth, we’re fine guys.
    Anyway thanks admin for this blog, i’m reading it from Italy and is the best place to get fresh news!

    1. Something that stops hair loss, I mean really stops!, is a cure.

      What most of us want, in fact, is more than a cure, is reversion!!

  11. I’m posing this question to admin but anybody else is free to answer. I always hate to speculate but what chances do you realistically give in there being a new treatment that even approaches the effect of a cure by 2020?

    1. Mman, what for you want an answer that will be a guess?

      And how can we, anybody, give you a “realistic chance” of something that nobody knows.

      You’re asking something impossible, you know.

      You say you hate speculating but ask a speculation, how is it???

      c’mon on, be reasonable.

      1. You got a good point. I know it’s impossible to know but I just wanted to gauge everybody’s feeling towards it. Just looking to see if everybody really believes it will happen.

  12. I’m not an expert in Fda trials etc so guys when do you think Kythera will release seti? Their Fda request was submitted in september

  13. Ddog haha I know I totally sound skeptical. A good before and after picture should first be the same person. 2nd the hair should be same length and style and color. 3rd the hair should be really short in both pics and head should be in same position under the exact same lighting. This should be standard procedure for a reputable company.
    As for samumed I just have a good gut feeling about them. That’s all. I agree we should def see pics and stats before getting excited

    1. hopefully legit pics though, nothing that would be unacceptable in a high school science class as proof. That pic actually made me more pessimistic on histogen than anything , and I’d really like to meet that surgeon who took that ONE pic just to head butt him.

  14. Well, fundamentally, if the hair is healthier, it is going to change color. I don’t know about you guys, but my hair was darker before I started thinning. The hair looked like the same style to me in all of the Histogen photographs.. There was more than one person. It was thicker in all. The lighting did not look that different to me. I think people are just so jaded. I can’t blame you though. I can’t imagine dealing with this for 12 years. You are still very lucky compared to most, Mjones. You are nearly 40 and have quite a bit of hair, which means you have a weak case of mpb. That is legit. Some people have no hair by 23. If I can make it to near 40 and still be a Norwood 2-3.. I would be very happy.

  15. PRP is a pure scam. HT docs boosting diminishing profits in an increasingly competitive HT market. Uninformed and desperate hair loss sufferers paying thousands on a supposed treatment that doesn’t work for everyone and cannot grow hair on a bald scalp.

      1. Other people noticed that it looked thicker, especially the person who cuts my hair. I didn’t tell anyone about it, so that is good. My hair also did feel thicker after, and seemed to be more manageable. No complaints.

  16. I am tired from waiting, as it seems that we are closer to the solution we are getting far from it. All these companies should merge to form a huge one that at least will identify the solution maybe without making its formula.

  17. Hello admin. Thank you for what you are doing. The updates about new upcoming treatments are really helping me to have a more positive outlook on the future. It is by far my favourite forum. From a fellow hairloss and ht sufferer.

        1. Ht docs are crooks with no soul. Plus the surgery itself is barbaric and looks gross as shit! It should be illegal to do this on people. How do people go to work with top of head all bloody and donor area shaved up. F that . Everyone should ban this surgery. Cole should make ht 100% off cuz it sucks ass. You are better of putting 10 to 20 aside on a down payment for a E class coupe benz and pull ass that way then butcher your head yo only gain crap density and silly looking hairline of lifeless looking hair.

          1. That’s right, Mr. Jones! I almost fell prey to it.. but then I realized that I will keep losing hair, have a scar, and be out a bunch of money. Can’t shave it later on in life with that scar. I am really happy my buddy did it, and told me all about it, or I would have thought that it was just an ordinary procedure that people get, and is a real solution to hair loss. I have yet to find someone who did not regret the decision 10 years down the road.

        2. I don’t really think it is a bad ht. I mean it’s probably as good as it could be with the number of grafts I got. It’s just that I don’t think any ht can give the density you would appreciate. It can look good on pictures but it’s different in person.

  18. If you guys want to read…Hey guys so I don’t really know why I’m posting this. Maybe to get some advice/ point of view. Maybe it’s just for myself and warn people. (It might be a long post so bear with me). So here I go… I was 19yo when I first started to see hair coming out from my hairline in the shower (I still remember the day) I was in denial for a couple years because my hair was super thick so I didn’t really care. With time my hairline started receding and eventually my temples started to go. Thats when I stopped to deny it and started to do some research on internet. Basically all I could find was about minoxidil, finasteride and hair transplants. I was still young so I didn’t want to mess with finasteride sides and minoxidil didn’t seemed to have great results for hairlines. My gf at the time left me when I was 21 (I doubt it was because of my hairloss) then I started to feel depressed and dating stupid whores and doing drugs. Then I hit rock bottom I was pretty depressed and started to focus ALOT on my hairloss. One summer my friend (who was also balding but mor advanced then me) and I started to talk about our hair problems. He didn’t seem to care as much as I did but he told me about his uncle who had a hair transplant and was nw6. He said he was so impressed you couldn’t even tell he had it done and said that years down the road he would do it. Thats when I started to look into ht and weighing my options for hairline restoration. I was lurking hairloss forums and found out one of the best ht surgeon was in the town I was going to university. (That was in 2011) So I did my researches and deceided to book a free consultation. On the consultation day the doc examined my hair and told me I was a norwood class 2. He gave me an estimate and we talked about fut vs fue. I decided to go with fut for the following reasons: I didn’t had enough money for fue because I was a student, you can get better yields from strip and therefore better density, and at last because when planning for long time hair loss, you can get more grafts overtime from fut for future transplants. I decided to go with it. The wait was about a year. During that year my hair stayed the same a nw2 but my self confidence was crushed. I had to get drunk to speak to girls and was afraid of dating thinking everyone was grossed out by my hairloss. I didn’t talk to anyone about this not even my parents. I just told my best friend who was my room mate but I don’t think he thought I’d go through with it and said he couldn’t even tell I had hairloss. So the day came and I had surgery in 2012. The process after really sucked and I isolated myself because I felt like a monster. Then I left school and started to work full time ( I still love my job though that was the best move I ever made). Anyway when the ht grew in at around 6monts mark I was so pleased. The next year was so great I didn’t even think about it and was outgoing. I had started minoxidil and I stopped over time. My scar wasn’t really what I expected it to be because it stretched a bit. Now fast forward to 2016 and my hair receided further… I lost most of my forelock and i feel like my hairloss is starting to get very aggressive. I tried finasteride in hopes to get it to stop but I felt the common sides ( testicular pain, watery semen and was shedding like crazy) now my hair just looks weird. I started to think I should have just shaved my head and deal with it but now I feel like I would look horrible with the scar. On my way home for Christmas I stopped by the dr office for a follow up and the dr seemed in a rush. Over all he said I could get a second one in about a year and to hop back on minoxidil. He said I did well stopping finasteride after a month because of the sides. He said that people successful on it should have 0 sides. I don’t think he likes finasteride because he didn’t seem to want me to try it when I was younger. He also said that he could fix the scar with the second transplant. And that brings me to today… I just got out of his office and I’m at the airport to go see my family for Christmas. I really don’t know what to do anymore. Take what you want from it. All I know is if I could go back I wouldn’t get it. You just won’t get the density you would hope for and the balding process doesn’t stop. I was aware of it but I thought I would be fine if my hairloss progressed like my dad. Now I am like a nw3 diffuse I think. It’s been really hard for the last couple months… I started to isolate myself, I feel depressed and sometimes I wish I could just die.

    Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this. I know it might be sloppy towards the end but atleast it gave me something to do at the airport and try to get something off my chest.

    1. don’t let it bring you down, man. we all been there. you are still young. try to focus on more important things in your life. i know it’s hard but you need to do it. build an amazing physique, try to improve yourself intellectually. come on it’s not just about hair. aaand there are better treatments coming. what’s even better is that when they hit the market, you will not only have a full head of hair, but also a rock solid character knowing you’ve been through ‘hell’

  19. Fox, sorry man!! Hold on for hope! Something good is coming. You working out? You do anything cool for recreation, like snowboarding?

  20. Fox cut your hair short, like that Cesar cut George Clooney had back in thr day. Nw3 is still good. Hopefully on propecia man. The sides only last for 3 months till your body adjusts. New treatments are coming and you are low to mid Norwood so it will be best case scenario. You must get on dht blocker yo save what you have. Hit the gym and dress realky nice bro.

    1. Fox if you had a massive shed then don’t take it. I agree, I didn’t know about the shed. I noticed you said you got back from deployment. Thank you for service! Are you Army, marines? Girls love soldiers bro! You need to go out and sport that advantage. Shave your head short, get a sick tattoo and let all girls know you were in war. Plus you are jacked. Dude you shouldn’t feel depressed at all my man. Half my friends are bald and still pull mad ass and they are wimpy boys bit they have good game. You have soldier status, jacked body and nw 3 which isn’t bad. All army guys I know have a crew cut or shaved head and they always get the hot blondes. Get out there and live it up man! :)

      1. try to fix the scar and wait for a solution with us, you can decrease the scar, a plastic surgeon can help i think, but be careful . We appreciate you for your battle with hair loss, do not give up, you can use some hair fibers.

  21. Nothing else to talk about man. No new treatments to use. Nothing coming soon enough to stop further loss. Best thing to do is move on with our lives and pray something surprising comes out next year or else I’m fked

  22. I just dont think theres too much left to add Fadi. All of us on here are cursed with mpb and stuck waiting for a potential cure. I can’t see it being in my lifetime, or at least not while Im young and supposed to be living life. I got out of work today, went to the gym and busted my a** for 2 hours and when I got home I was all sweaty and took my hat off. My hair was an absolute nightmare. I picked up my clippers and was just so close to shaving my head bald. At least then I wouldnt have to deal with watching my hair recede more by the damn day. My bathroom in my apartment looks like I have 15 women living here with all the hair on the floor, on the brush, in my sink, anywhere you friggen look. And to top it off I had bloodwork done and found out Im hyperthyroid-which the doc said is speeding up my hairloss. Apparently my thyroid releases too many hormones and put my system in overdrive. So instead of each hair growing for like 2-3 years and then falling out my hair is growing for maybe 6 months then falling out. Thats why it looks to be thinning so fast and apparently how I went from an NW1 two years ago to an NW3V present day.. FML! I give up!

  23. Anyone try Shiseido Shampoo on the recommended products list?…I bought it, and it is basically as runny as water…is that normal or did I get a bad batch? It ran in my mouth and tasted like peppermint water but now my stomach hurts so I probably just drank radioactive water from Japan.

    1. Aww craap…just realized it’s not the shampoo I bought but the “hair essence”…still, hopefully it does’t make me sick…

      1. Haha guest. You should be fine. If anything maybe the radioactive agents in that shampoo will mutate your mpb genes in your body to give you back a nw1. That is probably the best hope for a new treatment. Japanese radioactive gene altering shampoo. Before after pics altered by Dr hitzig hahaha and Co founder Ken washenik lol

  24. an individual is born with hair that cannot withstand the effects of dht. In order for a cure to be created an individual must alter with their genes which would be extremly tough and maybe 10-15 years away.

    However i do believe that much better treatments will be available in the near future that will allow to slow down hairloss and verry minir regrowth.
    .

    I sure hope that more scientist do something about hairloss as not many people dont know what it feels like. It can turn a normal person crazy. And i was reading an article about a young man in england taking his life because or hairloss.

    Love your work admin, God Bless

  25. Yes altering your dht genes will be the cure but F THAT. I will never mess with my genes and end up a vegetable or a mutant. I think we will get more than minor regrowth for our next treatment. Next treatment will be cell based so it will be better than minox or propecia. I would regrowth to take you back up 2 norwoods.

  26. One little mistake in altering your genes and u are dead. F that! Any who gene therapy is like 100 yrs away and they still won’t be able to fix baldness by then. Maybe christiano will start her trials then while she is a cyborg lol

  27. Oh I just read that they can grow vaginas in a lab. I bet that vagina has hair on it. This is crazy and they still can’t grow a scalp follicle. This is why I have my conspiracy theories guys. When I read scientific advancements like this and they still don’t have a new treatment for baldness

  28. I meant commercially available. I know they are studying it since 2001. They won’t be doing this for hair loss anytime soon

  29. Hey guys i will try the biogrow treatment for 3 months if i see any change in hair grow i will update you as soon as possible. Im currently in dubai. I will get the medicine in next week.

  30. You guys hear about that Wen hair product sold on TV that is causing massive hair loss to women’s hair. Crazy that manufacturer is still selling that shit. Everyone will try and make any hair loss treatment for a buck whether it works or not or makes you lose hair even faster. Well everyone is suing them now. Be careful with that biogrow crap.

    1. Once I see real before after pics of jak working for mpb with amazing regrowth I will literally bust a nut in excitement! Lol

    2. Do you think JAK inhibitors (or any other proven new treatments) would work on someone who had a transplant? Would a transplant have destroyed vellus hair and therefore treatments could not reactivate them?

      1. There’s no reason to think JAK inhibitors will do anything to help MPB.

        JAK inhibitors work to treat auto-immune alopecia. It’s a completely different mechanism of action. In auto-immune alopecia, hair follicle stem cells are deactivated because the immune system treats them as foreign bodies. It’s essentially an allergic reaction.

        The reason JAK inhibitors have such a remarkable effect on auto-immune alopecia is because as soon as you stop the immune system from attacking its own follicles, very quickly the body can restore function of follicles, so you transform an almost completely bald person (or rat) to have a full head of hair in a short space of time.

        People are deluding themselves over JAK inhibitors because it has impressive before and after photos, generally the people who are as negative and bitter about hairloss are desperate enough to be starry eyed about a “miracle cure”.

        Seriously aging of hair follicles is too complex a process for any simple molecule applied topically to somehow cure it.

        MPB is caused by a genetic susceptibility to DNA damage of hair follicles via androgens. It’s fundamentally not an immune problem (though chronic inflammation from scalp infections might exacerbate DNA damage of follicle stem cells).

        It’s impossible to completely eliminate the presence of androgens in a persons body without killing them, so in genetically vulnerable people hair follicles will continue to miniaturize even if you block a significant percentage of DHT (although they will minaturize much more slowly, practically halting hair loss in some cases).

        Of course we have DHT in our bodies for a reason, so blocking an important hormone is less than ideal. Even topical administration of 5a reductase inhibitors will lead to some side effects and require daily use.

        Long term the only real “cure” cure is getting rid of the genetic vulnerability through gene therapy or genetic engineering.

        Cloning of non-vulnerable hair follicles is most likely the most promising medium term “cure”, providing an unlimited supply of DHT resistant hair follicles for transplant.

        Short term there, cell and growth factor based therapies like Histogen, Replicel, PRP (but not necessarily any of those specifically since they’ve not presented good evidence yet) will probably be the next big advance, which should at least reach the efficacy of minoxidil/finasteride.

        Some form of collagen or autologous fibroblast injection is also another potential near-term treatment, since collagen levels seem to play a role in signalling cell senescence in follicle stem cells.

        While these don’t address the underlying susceptibility to DNA damage, they can restore stem cell function enough to counter-act a great deal of function. Since their mechanism of action more fundamentally addresses cell function, they also reduce the need for daily treatments, and can take the form of monthly-yearly treatments.

        It’s impossible to tell yet which of these near future therapies will be effective since companies are very reluctant to release trial data that would show the therapy as useless since it would end all investment into the research. It’s likely the majority of them will be useless or too costly for the benefit, but the underlying principle of manipulating growth factors and cells is sound and should be the next generation of treatments.

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