Hair restoration therapy uses stem cells harvested from patient
There’s a truism in the hair restoration community: If you notice you’re losing your hair, then you’ve already lost 40 to 50 percent.
A few years ago, a new way to rejuvenate and restore specific areas of the body became available, including thinning hair. The procedure was trademarked by Dr. Charles Runels in May 2011.
As an offshoot off the Vampire Facelift, it’s all the rage after Kim Kardashian underwent the procedure on TV. The Vampire Facelift uses platelet rich plasma, nicknamed PRP, one’s own blood, injected into the skin as a hyper-accelerated rejuvenation treatment. So, too, does this new way to regrow hair.
“It’s a controversial thing in terms of its Transylvania name, but clinically, it’s brilliant,” said physician assistant Thomas Pulice, who, after 11 years in cardiothoracic, general and plastic surgery, opened his business, Sexy Face Aesthetics, and offers the procedure. “You know how, as a kid, you fell and scraped your knee, and as it healed, you got that yellow gooey stuff around the scab? What that gooey stuff is, is stem cells.”
Heart surgeons have been doing a similar procedure for decades by injecting the chest with the patient’s own blood to promote healing the sternum. The Vampire procedure, whether for a face-lift or for hair regrowth, uses the same principle.
Pulice began performing the stem-cell hair restoration procedure in January with both male and female patients. Side effects include temporary redness, tenderness, swelling and bruising at the injection sites.
Men generally need larger areas addressed, but “women will jump through a brick wall to get it done,” he said.
“Marc,” who asked that his real name not be used, underwent the procedure.
“My hairline was receding, and I was very self-conscious about it because I’m in the entertainment business,” he said. “I wanted to keep my image together as I grew older. …The procedure, it involved a little pain. You ignore it — it’s more like a pinching — but it’s (worth it) because you think of the results. And it’s been six weeks, and each week, I see an improvement.”
The procedure takes about an hour and a half. First, the patient’s blood is drawn. The vial of blood, about 10 cc, is put in a centrifuge to separate the elements. That takes about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, the patient’s treatment area is being numbed with a topical anesthetic. When the vial is done spinning, it looks similar to a tube of oil and vinegar with a third of it red (red blood cells), and two-thirds yellow, the platelet-rich plasma. The latter is the part injected into the skin.
The patient is given an option to include a key boosting additive (a trademark secret) to the PRP to hyper-accelerate one’s follicle growth. Then the PRP is injected into the areas where hair regrowth is desired. The procedure includes using a micro needling pen to promote bleeding, a way to activate the growth factors and stem cell process.
Follow-up therapy involves using topical drops, taking supplements and, if desired, wearing a battery-powered medical cap, which uses a specific light spectrum to encourage hair growth. The medical cap is similar to a baseball cap and can be worn in public while in use, as the light is not noticeable to the casual observer.
“The convenience of the cap is superb and eliminates the need to sit in a doctor’s office three times per week,” Pulice said.
The patient undergoes two sessions, and the procedure is repeated after six weeks. Results can be seen in as little as eight weeks. The treatment process will be active for approximately a year. Some patients opt to redo it in a year, and others are satisfied after the initial treatment.
The cost for the first session runs $1,999 and the second, $699.
“Outside of a hair transplant, it’s second to none,”Pulice said. “There’s nothing else you can do to get that type of activity (hair growth). All this talk of genetics and cloning, that’s all 10 years out.”
To reach Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan, email jhogan@viewnews.com or call 702-387-2949.
