dr feller, i appreciate you taking the time to address all these questions.. 600 bucks is quite 'do-able' IMO, i believe thats the cheepest ive seen this treatment offered... meaning you are taking the OPPOSITE approach to that of your FUE cost thank you.

I'm watching this PRP treatment with interest. I would be interested, but would like to see some documented evidence before going ahead with it.

Aside from androgens, I think inflammation is a big part of the MPB process, so it sounds good and I may take you up on PRP treatment in the future, and look forward to your documenting of PRP as a possible worthy development in the fight against MPB.

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My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Feller

Dr Feller Jan '09 1800 grafts

Dr. Feller,

Will this work for the front of the head as well, of course assuming the individual has hair or are you looking at this from the crown perspective?

Cacti,
I know Dr. Cooley uses PRP for his actual surgeries, but I've always felt that transplants grow so well on their own that the benefits of doing PRP during surgery were marginal. I chose to offer PRP to surgery patients 2 weeks to 1 month BEFORE surgery to begin the process of neovascularization.

Lost,
I realize that my PRP prices are pretty low, but some of that is due to the temporary discount I am getting from my supplier. When his generosity runs out, the price will go up by about $150 to $200, but that's it. I have no interst in making PRP a major aspect of my practice, surgery is rewarding enough. My goal is to keep the price low enough to attract as many people as I can afford to do for the low price. This way I can collect as many data points as possible to find out how effective PRP truly is for various types of thinning.
My FUE prices are actually quite reasonable. Charging much less than $10 per FUE graft is simply untenable from a business perspective and something must be sacraficed for it-usually it's the benefit of a trained staff and/or lack of microscopic inspection and preperation of FUE grafts before re-implantation.

Petchski,
I will document the results of my PRP patients on the forums. Dr. Greco has some very impressive results, but they're not MY results so I don't rely on them. It will be a great day indeed when I can show off the results of a few of my own PRP patients. If the results are poor or cosmetically insignificant, you can be sure I'll blast PRP right on this forum, but I STRONGLY believe PRP is going to come through. Laser treatments don't pass the "laugh test", but PRP comes from a real sound and solid scientific basis and is in so many ways...eligant. Best of all, it's safe.

Greenmud,
I don't discern one area of scalp from another. All share the same physiology and therefore I expect the same results from all areas assuming, of course, the physilogy of that patient is ameniable to PRP in the first place.

Dr. F

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Feller Medical, PC
Great Neck, NY

Dr. Alan Feller is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians

Providing Hair Transplants and Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Treatments

Any pics from the procedure yet? I know no results yet, but just some post-op pics?

Dr. Feller,

I'm not sure if you addressed this or not, but just like one must stay on Propecia and Rogaine to continue to receive their benefit, will patients need to return for subsequent PRP treatments? Or is PRP a "one and done" treatment program? Or because it's still experimental, are you working to discover this?

Thanks for keeping the public informed of your use of this procedure.

Best wishes,

Bill

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Managing Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog and the Hair Loss Forum and Social Community

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To learn about how I restored my hair, view my my hair loss website.

Remember, true beauty radiates from within, not from the skin.

I am not a medical professional and my words should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own.

Bill,

My understanding from reading various topics on PRP is that the treatment is a maintainance treatment like all other hair med treatments ie you need to continue the up keep to continue to maintain any benefits from them.

I believe that Dr. Feller recommends patients undergo two or three treatments within an 18-month period. For those who respond well, one brief treatment every six months should be all that's required.

Hope this helps and maybe the Doc can confirm or correct me.

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Consultant for Dr. Feller, Coalition Member and Dr. Lindsey, Coalition Member.

See my results --->>My Hair Loss Website

I am not a medical professional and my words should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own. "Research-Research-Research"

Dr. Feller,

So if someone is on PRP does that mean they will keep their native hair. Would this be a good alternative to using Rogaine or Propecia for those who just want to hold on to what they already have?

Dr. Feller,

We haven't spoken about this specifically, but I do own a needle-less injector. I used it from '95-'02 to inject kenalog (steroid) into hypertrophic scars or keloids. It works very well on earlobe keloids, particularly on patients afraid of needles.

I recall reading that it actually blows the medicine into the skin/scar at 30mph. When I first bought the device (I had learned on one during my fellowship and had to buy a new one for myself) I tried it on my hand. OUCH.

I had a combination of a bloody spot on my left hand dorsum and lidocaine sprayed around the "target".

Unless newer ones are better and gentler, I can not imagine that it wouldn't completely destroy platelets upon impact with the skin; and no significant growth factor would reach deeper where it is needed.

I am anxious to see how the system works for you and your patients. Congratulations.

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

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William H. Lindsey, MD, FACS
McLean, VA

Dr. William Lindsey is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians

Dr Joseph F. Greco04-08-2009, 08:13 PM
Can the infusion of platelet rich plasma (PRP) help to reverse or slow the process of Androgenic Alopecia?

I just posted the study we did on my blog so you can read the results of the study. It demonstrated that the treatment group increased hair diameter when compared to controls at 4 months and 8 months. All we can do is slow it down. I will be posting a video of the patient demonstrated in the study soon and he is now at 13 months. We plan to do another session.

Does this therapy actually reverse hair follicle miniaturization and ???wake up??? dormant follicular stem cells?

It does in Alopecia Areata where this occurs. This is also demonstrated in the study.

Hello Dr. Greco I think we all have many questions for you.

Does this treatment work as well or better then Propecia?

We are not saying that this therapy should replace any FDA approved therapy and it was never intended to replace any therapy. We have been utilizing PRP cellular therapy the past two years in surgery and noticed increased density sooner which prompted the study on non transplanted hair.

That being said, it is an adjunctive option for hair surgeons to utilize in surgery, especially in the vertex or crown of young patients both male and females who are thinning.

Non-surgically, we recommend it 1- in conjunction with FDA therapies, 2-in those patients that may have noticed a reversal after being on approved therapy or 3- for those patients who had side effects to Propecia or Rogaine.

Do you have to be on any medication for this to work?


No

When will it it be available?

It is available now in surgical procedures and I know Dr Cooley is using it. I have a number of hair surgeons scheduled to visit and we will share our experience with them. Any hair surgeon who understands PRP processing is able to use it.

What is very important to understand is that ???not all PRP is the same???. It can be processed differently with higher concentrations of platelets and growth factors. If the PRP is not at a therapeutic level it will not work as well, so someone not skilled in processing may use it and not get the same results. Additionally, if it is used in a non surgical application and used on someone who has more extensive hair miniaturization or someone who is older it will not work as well, similar to Propecia.

We are only beginning to understand how it works in hair applications and caution must be taken and realistic expectations must be given to patients. The most important thing about this therapy is that it is safe because it is your own cells, there is no downtime and it can be used in combination with other therapy.

How many people have you treated and what were the results.

Over 300 the past two years. My partner Bob Brandt is the real guru in PRP. In the past 12 years his company has done over 28,000 PRP procedures in almost every application other than hair. It is with this background that we are studying the effects of growth factors in hair restoration.

Does it work on everyone who still has some hair?

No. Unfortunately Paul, there is no silver bullet yet.
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