Treatment of Alopecia Areata

The latest development in the treatment of alopecia areata is the promising PRP method (Platelet Rich Plasma). PRP therapy has been used for many years in the treatment of wounds, burns and chronic ulcers, significantly speeding up the healing process and distinctly improving the quality of the scar. In recent years, it has been applied with great success in the treatment of hair loss, both in maintenance therapy as well as supplementary in combination with hair transplantation.

PRP therapy is performed with a 30G microneedle, which makes it virtually painless, and no local anaesthesia is required. The PRP treatment session lasts 30-40 minutes and does not cause skin irritation. Modern PRP therapy protocols prescribe 3-4 sessions at one month intervals, while repeat sessions are recommended every 3-6 months. Clinical response to treatment with PRP varies; it can show the first results immediately, even after the first session, but usually the results become visible after the first 2-3 sessions.

At Karachi Hair Transplant & Cosmetic Center, PRP therapy has been and continues to be applied with great success in many cases of hair loss and alopecia of various aetiologies, mainly in cases of androgenetic or diffuse alopecia in men and women. It has also been implemented with impressive results in many cases, even for universal and generalised forms in which the results of classic conservative therapies are usually poor. With PRP therapy, even cases of universal alopecia areata in young people with a long history of the disease (more than 5 years) who had shown no previous response to other forms of treatment, were treated successfully and have experienced excellent hair regrowth.

Hair transplantation is considered to have no general application in the treatment of alopecia areata, particularly in cases of universal alopecia areata where the donor site of the scalp is insufficient to cover the needs. FUE hair transplantation can, however, be applied in selected cases of localised alopecia areata. Most patients who are selected for this therapy present small, localised, well-defined area, demonstrate stability in the evolution of the damage, and have a fairly long history of alopecia areata (over one year), which excludes the likeliness of spontaneous regrowth of hair in the damaged area with relative certainty.

In this case, follicles are obtained from the donor site at the back of the scalp with the FUE method, and are transferred to the affected area. The growth of the hairs at their new location is gradually completed within 10 to 12 months and the results of the transplantation are excellent.

FUE hair transplantation should always be carried out after providing the patient with complete and detailed information about the nature of alopecia areata, and especially the fact that it may recur in the future, in the same or another region and in an unpredictable manner in terms of time, evolution, size or location. Therefore, patients should be aware that the results of FUE hair transplantation are stable and permanent, as in other forms of alopecia, provided that the damage remains stable and does not recur in the future.