What happens in a consultation about hair loss?

In her latest medical article here, renowned GP, Dr Sandar Hlaing, walks us through a typical hair growth treatment process. 

What are the main types of hair growth options available?

There are many different types of hair growth treatments that we can offer, but I offer three major types. The first is called platelet-rich plasma (PRP), where we take your blood, spin the blood in the centrifuge, take the plasma out, and then we would inject it back into the scalp.

This regenerates the hair cells to grow new hair. The second option is called exosomes. These exosomes are chemical messengers, which will stimulate the growth factors and the stem cells. The other thing we can do is we take your DNA, send it to the lab, and we can actually formulate a personalised tonic.

What happens in a consultation about hair loss?

In an initial consultation regarding hair loss, we would ask our client what is bothering them, how long the problem has been bothering them, and how much hair is being lost as well. So, we look at the texture of the hair, nature of the hair loss, their diet, their lifestyle, their medical problems, and any medication that they might be taking. The initial consultation for a hair loss will take up to about 40 minutes.

How is the treatment plan decided?

There are different types of hair loss treatments, and we do decide a few different factors. For example, for a young person, I might just advise a platelet-rich plasma, because their blood is relatively disease-free, they are still young, and they will have a lot of stem cells in their blood.

For an older person who has medical problems, if they are on a lot of medications, I would advise them to use the exosome, because their plasma level may not be as good.

Hair loss treatments target the hair cells and hair follicles. It’s important to note that patients need some hair follicles left for a hair treatment to work. If a patient’s hair follicles have already died, we may not be able to stimulate it.

We stimulate them by using a platelet-rich plasma or the exosomes. It takes about three treatments for all of the hair treatments, platelet-rich plasma or exosome to work.

When will patients see the results of hair growth treatment?

It usually takes at least about six weeks for three treatments to start seeing some sort of result.