Please post thoughts unrelated to this subject matter in the comments section of the prior blog post.

After the second and final random number generation, the winner and runner-up are as follows:

Winner = “Robb”

Runner-up = “Emperor Alopecia”

Ironically, the person who is located furthest away from Dr. Rapaport’s New Jersey office won! In the event that Robb does not make it or if Dr. Rapaport has issues with scheduling and decides against accepting someone from outside the US (unlikely), Emperor Alopecia will take Robb’s place.

I hate rejecting people who are in the final five, but unfortunately I have to do the prize drawings in this manner for now.  I need to get a few names in the second round drawing in the event that one or more are suspicious entries, change their mind, do not e-mail me back, or if we need a backup winner in cases such as this unusual multiple session PRP treatment prize drawing.

Robb, I will send your contact information to Dr. Rapaport’s office. If you do not hear from them by early next week, please let me know.

I was surprised to get around 60 participants in the free PRP treatment prize drawing contest despite my discouraging people who reside far away from New Jersey from participating.

Instead of explaining the prize drawing winner selection procedure yet again, I prefer contest participants reading the winner selection post from the last time I ran such a contest. If you are lazy to do that or do not care about the details, I have pasted the main instructions paragraph from the above at the end of this post.

The 5 people that the random generation resulted in this time are as follows in alphabetical order (another random draw will be used to select the final winner from the below 5 once they respond):

— Emperor Alopecia (from NJ)

— Kana (from Canada — please confirm that you can make it for at least two sessions, months apart from each other)

— Michele99 (from NY)

— Robb (from the UK — please confirm that you can make it for at least two sessions, months apart from each other)

— Tom (from PA)

All 5 of you please post at least one comment in this thread using the same email you used last time and the same IP address/ computer/location that you used last time to post your comment. Also email me your full name and physical address from the same email address that you used for commenting. I will wait for two days for responses.

Update: The free PRP treatment contest ended as of November 23rd. Please see my post from that date for winner selection procedure.

Please read this post in its entirety. Unrelated comments should be made in the prior post.

Free PRP Hair Growth Treatment for one Winner

I have discussed platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatments on this blog many times in the past. There are now an increasing number of studies from around the world that conclude that PRP treatment works for treating hair loss. At the recently ended 24th ISHRS Congress, there were around ten different presentations or training sessions related to PRP, including many from doctors outside the US. Also make sure to read my post on key growth factors in platelet-rich plasma.

I therefore decided to ask USA based Dr. Jeffrey Rapaport on whether he would be willing to grant a free PRP treatment session (will probably involve at least 2 sessions) to one of this blog’s readers. To my pleasant surprise, he has agreed.

The biggest complaint about PRP from numerous hair loss forum members and blog readers is that it is a ripoff considering that there are no guarantees that the treatment will work. So now we finally have a doctor who is confident in the treatment and willing to offer one person free session(s).

Will PRP regrow hair on totally bald regions of your scalp that have been barren for many years? No. Will it make existing hair stronger or even temporarily reverse miniaturization? I feel like there is now sufficient enough evidence that this is a good possibility, albeit never guaranteed.

PRP Prize Drawing Rules

This is the second ever prize drawing that I am posting on this blog. The first one for a laser helmet was a learning and very time consuming experience for me. This one is even more difficult, but I hope to not spend as much time as before since most of you know the gist of the selection process.

1. As with the last prize drawing, please enter this contest by writing a comment to this blog post saying “I am in” or something related that is a few words long. You can add a reason for why you feel like you want the treatment, but it won’t sway me in my final decision as that is based on a random number generation. People posting double entries or irrelevant comments will be automatically disbarred from the final random prize drawing entry list. Relevant questions about this prize drawing or about the PRP procedure are encouraged. No insults whatsoever.
2. It is extremely important that if you enter, you are 100 percent certain that you can go to Dr. Rapaport’s clinic in New Jersey (US) for the treatment. You are responsible for all your non-treatment expenses including airfare, hotel, car rental and food. In all likelihood, you will have to go there for at least 2 treatments spread across a few months, so please refrain from participating if you can only go for one procedure. If possible, please add your US state or foreign country of origin in your comment. If you live outside the US or Canada, I might have to ask you some questions later since I find it hard to believe that someone would fly over to the US just for free PRP (in most countries where it is on offer, you can probably get a doctor to charge you $1,000 or so for each session).
3. If the last prize drawing was any indication to go by, there will be many people who comment for the first time just to enter the prize draw. Please try to use a legitimate e-mail address instead of a fake one (so that I can contact you), and do not use a common username such as “Mike”, “Matt”, “Jeff”, “John” etc…as those are often already used. At least add a number to such names if you use them (e..g., “Mike2016” is ok). Note that the e-mail address that you enter when commenting is only visible to me and to none of the other blog readers.
4. Dr. Rapaport will take before and after photos, and according to his assistant, they will have rights to the photos. The assistant told me that that if they post before and after photos online, they will remove the patient’s face from those photos.
5. Dr. Rapaport can change anything at any point during the process if he feels the need to do so. e.g., he can postpone at the last minute if necessary even if you purchased an air ticket (you will not be refunded), he can choose to not have you come back for a second session because he has some issue with you, he can add other products such as ACell into the mix, he can use a different injection and centrifugation strategy to other doctors and so on. In the event that you have some kind of crazy reaction on your scalp, he will not be responsible. He is doing you a big favor by offering this treatment for free. You will not be allowed to insult him on this blog in the event that you have any kind of disagreement. If you win, please contact his office to make sure you know what you are getting into as far as the procedure goes.
6. While I have never heard of PRP treatments ever causing serious injuries to anyone, getting injections into your scalp and getting blood drawn out of you are both invasive procedures. I am not responsible for any side effects and injuries you get, and I am assuming that Dr. Rapaport’s office will make you sign waivers about such issues. You are taking the risk and should do all possible research about what is involved here before deciding to participate. If you have any hypochondriac tendencies, I would think twice before participating.
7. I will wait for anywhere from 5-10 days before closing entry. Then, like last time, most likely I will pick 5 or so names at random and then narrow down to the final 1 via another random pick (after weeding out any of the 5 potential winners that seem fake or suspicious or unresponsive to my e-mails).
8. Women are encouraged to participate since many doctors who offer PRP have in the past suggested that females respond better than males to the treatment.
9. Finally, if the winning candidate ends up seeing no results, he/she will be allowed to say so in a comment on this blog, although any insults will be removed immediately. Dr. Rapaport will be allowed to respond to any comments if he chooses to do so, including with the winner/patient’s before and after scalp photos.

A Word of Warning

Please remember that a large number of people who get PRP injections to the scalp end up seeing no hair regrowth or even thickening. So you should go into this with appropriate expectations. In the past, a few people have even claimed that PRP made them shed more hair.