First PRP treatment in New York-Dr. Alan Feller

[ebutterg]

Dr. Feller, am I right in believing that you don't use the same PRP technique as Dr. Greco? I read somewhere that you use the dermaroller only after you inject the PRP, whereas Dr. Greco does it the other way around? Do you think this improves on Dr. Greco's results?

[Petchski]

Very encouraging photos Dr F, clear improvement in my eyes.

[dakota3]

Thanks for the explanation Dr. Feller! I know it's early but do you know if with each successive treatment the hair can get thicker or does it just maintain what is achieved in the first treatment? Hope that makes sense to you. Do you have any reson to believe that this treatment is like propecia in where it loses it's effectivness after several years? Thanks!

[T.C]

This result looks very good,wether a freak of nature or not I dont know but I think if we see a few more like this it will take off big time.

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

Its hard to tell with the hair combed over certain spots but I think I see something positive

happening .

[Bill - Seemiller]

Dr. Feller,

 

I may have missed it, but how long after the treatment did this patient come in for a follow up? In other words, how far along is this patient?

 

Also, how much treatment was administered to achieve this result and where in the scalp was it injected? Do you inject it into multiple sites or a single location? How many treatments did this patient have so far and how far apart?

 

Looking at the area between the red and yellow circled area toward the right in the photos, it seems that the improved area has potentially grown in a lot.

 

Considering the length of the hair, I'd have to assume that the after photo was taken at least 6 to 8 months later? Or are the photos not real accurate as to what we are seeing?

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[hdude46]

the dates are on the photos Bill...

[Bill - Seemiller]

hdude,

 

You're RIGHT! Don't I feel sheepish for somehow missing that. I guess my eyes were so absorbed in looking for new growth that I missed the dates.

 

That said, unless the photos aren't very telling, I can't see how this patient had that much improvement in only slightly over a month. Even heathy terminal hair grows at approximately 1/2 inch per month. There appears to be hair in the after photos not in the before pictures that are at least 2 or 3 inches in length. Of course, my eyes may be playing tricks on me.

 

Any answers or logical reasoning would be appreciated.

 

Bill

[Dr. Alan Feller]

Aaron,

It looks like it might become a hot topic, but probably not in time for the next ISHRS event which is scheduled for the 22nd of this month. More doctors will have to experiment with it before it can gain recognition and acceptance.

Dr. Rassman is ever the pioneering doctor, but he made some factual errors in his post, not the least of which is that this procedure does not require FDA approval anymore than a hair transplant does. PRP is a procedure, not a medication that can be manufactured and sold. The equipment to process blood into PRP is, however, FDA registered and cleared. PRP has been in use for 30 years and it's track record for saftey is not in doubt.

 

Hdude,

I have absoutely no idea if it will lose effectiveness over multiple treatments. At least, not yet. Time will tell.

 

Abedogg,

While a license is not needed to draw blood, a licensed physician is needed to prescribe the order to draw blood and then to further process or test it. So NO, not anyone can just perform PRP. Too bad for the phoney trichology clinics in London, eh? While these seedy places can get away with using LLLT on unsuspecting patients, they can't get away with PRP abuse.

The company I use to supply my PRP equipment and kits will NOT sell to unlicensed persons.

 

Why,

I already charge $600, but that will only last as long as my discount from the company lasts. It will be back to $800 per treatment before the end of summer.

 

ebutterg,

My PRP technique is a minor variation of Dr. Greco's. It just makes more sense to me to have the PRP in the dermis BEFORE activating it. Is there a difference? Who knows? Time will tell. But I doubt there will be any difference.

 

Petchski,

Thanks for the evaluation. I'm a realist too and if you all didn't see what I saw, then I would reconsider offering PRP. But EVERYONE I've showed these results to has said that without question there is a cosmetically signfiicant change. The question is, are they flukes, or are they really due to the PRP? Time will tell.

 

Dakota,

I hope NOT, or at some point the hair will become gigantic

What has surprised me is that those who have visited me after treatment showed an increase in the thickness of ALL the hair in the treated areas not just the thinner ones. I thought PRP would only work on the miniturizing hairs. The further thickening of what I would have called non-miniturizing hairs is the probable reason for such good results so early on in the treatment.

 

T.C.

I'm cautiously optimistic, but so far, so good.

 

PGP,

I really tried to style the hair as close to the before picture as possible, but no matter how I styled it, I could not get the after photo to look as poor as the before photo. I've been looking a before/after photos for years and can tell pretty quickly when styling or length are fooling the eye, but I don't see it in these photos, and he looks even better in real life. Thanks for the comments though, I know you have acquired a good eye for before/after photos as well. Your positive review is the kind of very credible affirmation

this new procedure needs to be believed.

 

Bill,

I injected pretty evenly over the entire top of the head in multipe injections and to date I've only performed one treatment on him. I think the photos are accurate in representing the difference, but it looks even better in real life.

I think the reason he is experiecing dramatic improvement in a short period of time is because the PRP had a direct influence on the cells of the follicle causing, mostly, the non-miniturized hairs to thicken up quickly. In one month that would mean between 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch of thicker hair at the base of each hair which over thousands of hairs WOULD definitely become visible.

I dont' think your eyes are playing tricks on you. By now you have already develped a visual sense of the differences between before and after photos and you simply know when something is BS and when it's real. This is real. As you know I'm a skeptic and I'm trying to punch holes in PRP myself, but to date I simply can't do it.

[Dr. Alan Feller]

Another PRP patient chimes in:

 

http://hair-restoration-info.c...66060861/m/342100823

[marsw]

Dr. Feller these results look very promising, thank you so much for sharing them. From what I understand this treatment is usually applied in concentrated areas,how many times would one have to have this procedure done to treat the surface area of the entire scalp/head? Would it need to be spaced out over time due to the amount of blood drawn? Or could someone's entire scalp be treated with just one prp procedure?

[bash77]

All, i can say is "Yippeeeeeeeeeeeee!!" - this is really exciting news

 

Dr Fellar, could i combine a ht (for my frontal area) with PRP at the same time/a couple of days later?

 

Regrettably, i'm not a keen flyer so i would have to board the boat there and back! Great stuff - keep it up!

[Ceasar08]

Hey Dr. Feller --

I'm blown away by the photos, especially in light of the short time frame. I'm also a bit envious of the guys who have enough hair to be eligible for this treatment. So, here's my question...

 

The original goal was to thicken and strengthen the miniaturized hairs, but the treatment seems to be thickening all of the hairs. Does this mean, that to some small extent, all the hairs on our head are being affected to some degree by hormones and other processes as we age? If so, would that include even our donor hair to whatever small extent?

 

I guess what I'm wondering is, if someone could actually thicken transplanted graphs using PRP to gain an even greater cosmetic effect from their transplant. In my case, for example, I would wonder if the donor hair I had transplanted was even thicker and stronger back when I was eighteen...

 

I realize this might be a stretch, or a bit of wishful thinking on my part. I'm just hoping that this new procedure may eventually benefit those like myself who are further down the road with their hairloss.

 

Isn't it funny how, in one month, you have managed to provide more impressive photographic proof than the entire laser industry has in a period of decades? Very exciting stuff.

[aaron1234]

This is some exciting stuff. I hope that it becomes another a option against hair loss. Propecia, Rogaine, and Transplants need another teammate.

[splitting hairs]

Dr Feller,

Great work with this PRP by the way. When will it be available in the UK?

 

Also, You said that it thickens up miniturized hairs as well as non-miniturized hairs. Does that mean it isn't affecting the underlying hair loss process since it is non-selectively thickening all of the hairs?

[stilldeciding]

Dr Feller,

 

Have there been any patients as far along as the two you posted that haven't shown any noticeable improvements?

[1.8t]

Dr. F,

 

Is your clinic accepting/booking any new patients for this procedure or have you chosen to just test with a few select individuals? If you are accepting new patients, is it just as easy as giving your clinic a call and scheduling an appointment?

 

Thanks,

Michael

[miked]

Dr. Feller thanks for the pictures. Looks like improvement, but is it just me or do others feel it is time to have some clear objective evidence about what PRP is actually accomplishing here?

 

two weeks is clearly not sufficient to establish "new hair". therefore the idea that PRP is plumping up the shafts seems plausible. However, is this then a temporary condition? can this be measured "in situ" and shown to be happening objectively?

 

is there any evidence of new growth? Do we see any new emerging hairs after 2/4/6 weeks under magnification?

 

Are the PRP patients being asked to fill out a questionnaire or keep a journal to document side effects? (headaches, redness, swelling, dizziness, itching, hair loss, changes to hair color, texture, etc. )

 

Sorry to be striking a skeptical tone here, but I recall a tv news investigative report done years ago on different hair regrowth systems that implied that laser combs were somewhat effective.

[Dr. Alan Feller]

Marsw,

We can do about 2/3 of the top of the head in one sitting. There is a way to do the entire top of the head in one sitting, but then the platelet rich plasma has to be somewhat diluted and I don't want to do that. So what we do is focus it in strategic areas.

 

Bash,

Depending on the size of your surgery you might be able to do PRP a few days afer.

 

Ceasar,

I don't think there is any question that there is more to hairloss than just DHT sensitivity-if not then products like Propecia and Dutasteride would have rid us of hairloss a long time ago.

Using PRP to pump up the donor area isn't a bad idea, but I'm not really considering it at the moment.

 

I did notice how the laser HT industry is 100% MUTE when it comes to transparently showcasing their results and it speaks volumes of the faith they have in their own products. By the way, LLLT cannot work as they claim it does since it is impossible by the laws of physics.

Thanks for chiming in.

 

Aaron,

My thoughts exactly.

 

Splitting Hairs,

Work is being done now to make PRP available in the UK.

 

Still,

Only two of the patients I've performed PRP on have returned to the clinic for me to see how they're doing. Another three have sent me emails saying it is making a positive difference. Thankfully, NO negative feedback yet.

 

Michael,

Always best to send photos before you come to us so we can see if you are a candidate for PRP or not. But after that it's just a matter of visiting for about a half hour.

 

Miked

None of the newscasts about LLLT EVER showed that lasers were effective. Instead, they all focused on the POTENTIAL of laser therapy and the SUBJECTIVE statements of those being interviewed. Never once did any of the laser clinics post pictures of their patients in a public and transparent format as I am doing here. Not one LLLT will come onto this site to refute the charges I've made about them for years which is that LLLT CAN'T work-this includes those doctors who are offering it to the public.

 

You have every right to be skeptical, but you'll have to stand in line behind me for skeptic of the year. I don't believe in anything unless it makes sense and I see it for myself. PRP made sense to me when I was introduced to it a few years ago. It made sense to me again when Dr. Joe Greco of Florida started treating hair loss patients with it, so I figured it was worth trying. And now that I have my own patients experiencing cosmetically significant improvement from it and am confident to the point that I can post their results online- I am even more of a believer.

 

I'm only interested in cosmetically significant results, and PRP seems to be delivering -so far. There is nothing stopping you or anyone else who is interested in performing a controlled clinical study, but I doubt anyone will bother. The reason is that there is no intellectual property, chemical product, or medication product to protect and sell to the public to justify the expense and time of a study.

 

Does PRP work for hairloss? Look at the photos I've posted and judge for yourself. From your post it seems that you already have and that you noticed an improvement. THAT assessment is FAR more valuable and compelling than ANY clinical study because the words you wrote are what all hair loss sufferers want to read: "Looks like improvement..."

[hdude46]

thanks for chiming in and answering these questions dr feller. how does one go about scheduling an appointment, especially an out of town patient who would probably have to fly in and leave the same day? also, when do u think you will have a solid sample size of photos to see if this really works. it seems like it would work best on patients who haven't experienced a great deal of loss yet. i also remember you saying something along the lines of the way it used/applied falls a little short, or something to that effect. do you think that this is something you can work on/solve in the future? benefits on the frequency of more treatments would be interesting too. thanks again dr feller.

[miked]

Thanks again Dr. Feller. As luck has it it seems that Summit Hair Restoration is only 5 minutes away from my workplace in Clearwater. I believe I will pay Dr. Greco a visit sometime soon and explore PRP options with him.

[bash77]

Thanks Dr Fellar - I will bear this in mind. Re implementation in the UK, how long off are we looking please? I know this is pending success but it would be good to have an indicative time scale if poss. Cheers again!

[bash77]

Oh, it just gets better and better!! This hair business would be such a nightmare without this forum. Thank goodness for the web!

 

Spex, can you give us a clue to location and cost please? Happy to be in the queue... (although, not to far back )

[bash77]

Splendid - cheer Spex! When everything is in place, would you mind dropping me a note with available dates and timings please.

 

Re the actual session, i'm guessing there is no variance between doctors/surgeons (this is in no way comparable to the hair operation is it). I just want to be absolutely sure!

[Winston baby]

This is good of Dr Feller to look after the UK peoples, will Dr Birmingham be trained by Dr Feller?