PRP Hair Treatment

PRP stands for platelet-rich plasma. A small volume of your own blood is drawn, spun in a centrifuge to separate the platelet-rich fraction, and injected into the scalp at the level of the follicles. Because the material comes from your own body, there is no donor matching and no foreign substance involved.

The aim is not to create new follicles. PRP works on follicles that are still present but miniaturising — the thinning, shorter, finer hairs that appear before an area goes fully bald. Where follicles are already gone, PRP has nothing to act on, which is why candidate assessment matters more than the technique itself.

A session is an outpatient appointment and does not require general anaesthesia.

1. Blood draw. A standard venous sample is taken, as for a routine blood test.
2. Centrifugation. The sample is spun so the platelet-rich plasma separates from red cells and platelet-poor plasma.
3. Preparation. The platelet-rich fraction is drawn off for injection.
4. Scalp anaesthesia. A topical or local anaesthetic is applied to the treatment area.
5. Injection. The plasma is delivered across the thinning zone in a grid pattern, at follicle depth.
6. Aftercare. Most people return to normal activity the same day; washing and strenuous exercise are usually deferred briefly.

PRP suits scalps where miniaturised follicles remain. Early to moderate pattern loss, diffuse thinning and post-transplant support are the situations where it is most often proposed.

It is not a substitute for surgery on a fully bald area, and it is not the right first step where hair loss is being driven by something else — thyroid disease, iron deficiency, a scalp condition or a medication. Those causes are investigated first, because treating them may change what the scalp needs.

An in-person or video assessment establishes which of these applies. A plan quoted without seeing your scalp is a package, not an assessment.

PRP is delivered as a course rather than a single appointment, with an initial block of sessions spaced weeks apart, followed by maintenance. The exact number depends on the pattern and how the scalp responds, and it is set at assessment rather than in advance.

Change is gradual. Shedding usually settles before any visible thickening, and the earliest visual difference tends to show in texture and density of existing hair rather than in new coverage. Photographs at fixed intervals are the only reliable way to judge progress — perception at the mirror is unreliable over weeks.

These are complementary rather than competing. A transplant relocates follicles into an area that has none; PRP supports follicles that are still present, including the native hair around a transplanted zone.

Used alongside surgery, PRP is generally aimed at the health of existing hair and the surrounding scalp. Used on its own, it is a maintenance approach for scalps that are thinning but not yet bald. Which of the two — or both — makes sense depends on donor supply, the stage of loss and what you want the result to be in ten years, not only now.

Compare the surgical routes on our FUE hair transplant and DHI hair transplant pages, or see current hair transplant pricing in Turkey.

Further reading

General background on hair loss and its causes is published by MedlinePlus (US National Library of Medicine), the NHS, and the American Academy of Dermatology. These are independent sources and are not affiliated with this clinic.