Dr. Sangeeta Varma

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a concentrate of platelet-rich plasma protein derived from whole blood, centrifuged to remove red blood cells. The resulting substance varies from person to person and from facility to facility, making it difficult to understand how safe and effective any specific use is.

Hair Loss Male Pattern Balding or Androgenic Alopecia is a rising concern. Upto 40% of men lose 40% of their hair even before they reach 35 years of age. That’s staggering! But, fortunately, we now have the technology to counter it. Let us first understand the main types of hair loss. 

Hair loss is widely categorized into two types - Scarring and Non-Scarring 

Non-scarring hair loss is reversible and scarring hair loss isn’t. Each category has multiple causes that manifest in many different ways. And it’s very important to identify exactly what the underlying issue may be. A professional diagnosis is required by certified Dermato-Trichologists. Absolutely no treatment should be administered without a thorough understanding of an individual’s medical and genetic history. 

Depending on severity, there are three unique processes to treat hair loss. Early stages of Hair loss can be easily managed with a strong foundation of medical therapy. Appropriate oral & topical medicines are administered to reduce hair falland encourage hair thickening. This is the base of our process and depending on results, can be combined with other treatments. 

The next logical treatment to enhance regrowth is PRP or Plasma Rich Platelet Treatment. This is a highly successful, and not to mention, natural way to boost hair growth. Combined with medical therapy, PRP yeilds exceptional results. Finally, there is an option of hair transplants which ensures hair regrowth when there is more than 40-50% root loss or receding hairline.

What is Platelet-Rich Plasma?

PRP is a novel non-surgical therapeutic option for patients who require stimulation of hair growth for hair loss conditions. PRP is safe and natural because the procedure concentrates the good cells from your own blood and injects them directly back into the area where it is needed. PRP involves using your own cells that are not modified or changed, and it will not be rejected by your immune system.

How does PRP work?

PRP contains special cells called Platelets, which release plenty of rich growth factors that can cause growth of the hair follicles by stimulating the stem cells and other cells in the microenvironment of the hair follicle and promote active growth phase. 

How is PRP performed? 

Blood is drawn as though you are having routine blood testing with utmost care. The blood is spun in a centrifuge machine and the PRP is separated and removed from the rest of the blood. We prepare high quality PRP by spinning down the blood cells to a high concentration with our unique well researched protocol. The PRP is then injected with very fine needled syringes into the balding areas with very minimal discomfort. The Procedure is a lunch time session, you can walk out of the session without any downtime. The sessions are performed every 1-3 months, 6-8 sessions based on requirement according to the individual case and maintenance sessions are planned accordingly. Results are noticeable in 2-6 months from starting the treatment. 

What is the cost involved?

PRP varies from clinic-to-clinic, patient-to-patient. The price is also largely dependent on the number of sitting required to strengthen the follicles. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Dermatologist.

Botox can be used to relax specific facial muscles that cause facial wrinkles, be it forehead lines or frown lines or crows lines. The procedure takes hardly 10 minutes. You may notice an effect within 3-7 days and it may last from 4-6 months.

Dermal fillers are done to fill up the volume which depletes with our growing age. They rejuvenate our skin and makes us look younger. It can be done for nasolabial lines (laughing lines), for lips, cheeks, under eyes, chin, lower jaw etc. 

Do not let stress trigger hair fall and hair damage. Do yoga and meditation for effective results against stress.

We do not need moisturizer in this season but we can keep our skin hydrated in a natural way also by consuming these foods.

Psoriasis is a chronic disease which requires a lot of changes in lifestyle along with the daily medicines. Here are some recommendations for dietary changes for psoriasis patients.

Male pattern baldness and other kinds of baldness can turn out to be a pesky affair that also eventually might have a bearing on your confidence level. A hair transplant is an excellent way of dealing with this issue. This method usually takes the hair follicles from the donor site and implants them on the scalp where male pattern balding has set in.

While this is an effective and commonly used process, it also comes with minor scars and other issues. There are many things which you must take care of, after the procedure. Here are a few of those things.

- Scars: The procedure will leave you with a few scars as you wait for the hair to grow back from the replaced follicles. There may also be a little bit of swelling or inflammation at the site of the transplant which may cause irritation. Ask your surgeon for medication which will bring down the swelling. You must make sure that you do not touch or scratch the surface under any circumstances.

- Elevation: After the procedure, as mentioned before, there will be some amount of swelling. So, it is important to keep your head in an elevated position so as to ensure that there is no extra swelling in the head. For this, you may have to sleep with your head on two pillows so as to keep the head propped up. Also, you may want to sleep or relax in a reclining chair for a few days until the swelling subsides.

- Physical Activity: Sweating will make the scar and swelling even itchier. So it is imperative that you shy away from physical activities like workouts and running. Also, you may want to stay out of the sun, or even avoid a trip to the sauna for a few days as the exposure may lead to sweating.

- Hygiene: The area around the scar and your scalp in general must be kept clean. Use mild shampoos and medication to keep the numbness and irritation at bay so that the scars get enough time to recover.

- Food: In order to help the scar recover faster, you will need to avoid food that is too spicy as this usually has an adverse effect on the incisions and scars after any surgical procedure. These spices usually create a lot of heat and can cause further swelling, redness and other symptoms. Excessive alcohol consumption must also be avoided.

There are a number of things that you can take care of after a hair transplant procedure in order to recover faster and be comfortable until the hair growth starts. Talk to us in a private consultation for more information!

While everyone wants to enjoy a youthful looking healthy and glowing skin, the skin aging is inevitable. The signs of aging such as wrinkles, facial sagging or fine line can indeed be depressing, especially for women. Of late, the cosmetic industry has been experiencing a mercurial boom. There are many effective procedures the enhance the facial skin (skin rejuvenation, facelift, to name a few). The Thread Lifting, also known as the Thread Facelift is one such procedure that has been slowly making its presence felt. In this article, we will mainly focus on the Thread Facelift procedure, its advantages and also the associated risk.

What is the Thread Facelift?

True to its name, the Thread Facelift is a minimally invasive procedure that has been specifically designed to deal with the facial sagging and the other early signs of skin aging, thereby giving the face a much-needed lift.

Compared to the different traditional facelift surgeries and procedure, the Thread Facelift is relatively safe and hassle-free.

The Thread Facelift Procedure

1. Performed by experienced and specially trained surgeons, the Thread Facelift procedure is simple and usually takes between 1-2 hours.
2. With the identification of the target areas on the skin, the surgeon makes small incisions on the face (target areas).
3. Through these incisions, the insertion of thin threads into the face takes place.
4. Once the threads latch to the tissues of the skin, the cosmetic surgeon gently pulls back the threads thereby lifting the face.
5. This facelifting goes a long way to eliminate the facial sagging. The face also becomes smooth and rejuvenated.
6. A characteristic feature of the thread facelift is that no anesthesia is required during the entire procedure.
7. With the facelifting and the skin rejuvenation, the surgeon knots the threads. The knotted threads, however, remain hidden within the skin.
8. With no anesthesia, the person concerned is aware of all the face changes and modifications and can accordingly voice their approval about the same.

Advantages of Thread Facelift
The Thread Facelift is indeed a cosmetic genius that comes laden with benefits.

1. Anyone between 25-45 with signs of skin aging can opt for this procedure. Slightly older women (between 50-60 years) with wrinkles and other related issues can also benefit from this procedure.
2. Compared to the other facial cosmetic procedures, the Thread Facelift is relatively cost-effective leaving a small hole in the pocket.
3. A person needs to spend minimum time in the hospital or the surgical center.
4. With no anesthesia, the chances of anesthesia-related complications are absent.
5. Unlike the other procedures, the Thread Facelift leaves no signs of scarring.
6. You don't have to wait for months to see the desired results. The effects become visible almost instantaneously.

Risk Associated
While Thread Facelift comes with many benefits, there are also certain risks and complications associated with the procedure.

1. Infections may occur at the incision sites or the corrected areas of the skin.
2. In some rare cases, the sutures or knots may pop out of the skin.
3. The procedure can also trigger a nerve injury (rare).

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

PRP or Platelet-rich plasma is believed to be a good healer. Plasma is a component of the blood that helps the blood to clot. It also possesses a protein that aids in cell growth. PRP is produced by isolating plasma from the blood and then concentrating it. Injection of PRP helps damaged tissue to heal and grow. This method of treatment is extensively used to heal injuries among athletes and sportsmen. PRP has found applications to treat an array of conditions like face rejuvenation and under eyes dark circles.

Applications of PRP:

1. Hair Loss: PRP injections are injected into the scalp to promote the growth of hair and prevent the loss of hair. A research conducted in the year 2014 found that PRP can play a significant role in treating male pattern baldness.
2. Tendon injuries: Tendons comprise of a thick and tough bunch of tissues that connects the bone to the muscles. Injuries of the tendon take quite some time to heal. Doctors these days extensively use PRP injections to treat an array of conditions such as jumper’s knee, tennis elbow, Achilles Tendonitis, etc.
3. Osteoarthritis: Patients suffering from Osteoarthritis can get PRP injections to the knee for a quick relief from pain. A study conducted in the year 2015 found that PRP injections are more effective when compared to hyaluronic acid injections that are used in the traditional treatment of osteoarthritis.
4. Acute injuries: PRP injections are extensively used by sports doctors to treat acute conditions such as knee sprains, pulled hamstring etc. At times, doctors use it to repair a ligament that has torn while performing a surgery.

The process of PRP injection:

1. The first step involves extracting blood from the patient. The amount of the sample drawn could depend on the site of the injection. A scalp injection requires around 8ml of blood to be extracted.
2. The extracted blood is then placed into a centrifuge so that the blood components can be separated. This process takes around 15 minutes.
3. A medical practitioner then extracts the plasma from the sample and injects it into the targeted site.
4. Imaging techniques such as ultrasound are used to pinpoint the exact affected area. This helps to inject the plasma into the area where it is needed.

What is the cost involved in PRP injections?
PRP is seldom covered under insurance. Most medical insurance companies consider it an experimental treatment and hence refrain from financing it, with all costs being borne by the patient. The cost of the procedure varies depending on the type of condition PRP is being used to treat.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!