Patients regularly come to my practices in Vienna and Baden who suffer from hair loss and are interested in PRP treatment.
PRP – Platelet Rich Plasma, also called autologous blood therapy – is an effective and at the same time very natural method to reactivate hair follicles and stimulate hair growth. However, for the therapy to reach its full potential, certain prerequisites must be met. And this is precisely where a frequently underestimated problem lies.
What happens when the foundation is missing?
PRP works with the body’s own growth factors from your blood. These factors stimulate the hair follicles, but only if the body is fundamentally capable of growing hair. If important nutrients are missing or other prerequisites are not optimal, even the best therapy cannot deliver satisfactory results.
In my many years of experience with several hundred PRP treatments for hair loss – both in my practice in Vienna and in Baden – I have observed that two factors are particularly often overlooked, even though they are crucial.
1. Ferritin – the underestimated iron storage
Iron deficiency is one of the most common causes of diffuse hair loss in women – and at the same time one that is most frequently overlooked. The reason: the reference values for ferritin (the body’s iron storage) that Austrian laboratories still classify as “normal” are often set too low for women suffering from hair loss.
Patients regularly come to me with a lab report “without a single asterisk” – so apparently everything in the green zone – and a ferritin value of 25 or 30 or even lower. From my clinical experience with very many PRP treatments performed, I know that a ferritin value below 60 µg/l is problematic for women with hair loss. Scientific literature also indicates that significantly higher ferritin values are necessary for healthy hair growth than the usual lab norms suggest.
Why do the labs report ferritin values as normal even though they are too low?
The standard values of the laboratories are oriented more toward when the iron storage is actually so completely depleted that the risk of anemia develops. However, hair loss begins much earlier. Put simply, it can be explained like this: the body is smart enough to let the hair fall out before it risks that important organs cannot get enough oxygen, which can happen with anemia.
What happens if my ferritin value is too low?
If your ferritin is below 60 µg/l, I will not perform a PRP treatment of the scalp – not because I want to withhold the therapy from you, but because it will not work sufficiently in this case. In this case, I recommend first a targeted iron supplementation, possibly also as an iron infusion, and only then the PRP treatment.
2. Thyroid – when the control system is not right
Hypothyroidism is another common and often unrecognized cause of hair loss. Since the thyroid regulates the entire metabolism – including hair growth – its status should definitely be clarified before PRP therapy is started.
3. Hormones – particularly relevant in perimenopause
Especially for women from their mid-40s onward, hormonal changes can play a significant role in hair loss. Whether additional hormonal testing makes sense, I discuss individually – it is not necessary in every case, but very informative in certain life phases.
Do these rules only apply to women?
In theory, low ferritin values or hypothyroidism are also not good for hair growth in men and can cause hair loss. In practice, however, women suffer from iron deficiency much more frequently than men. This is mainly because women lose iron every month through menstruation before menopause. And hypothyroidism is also significantly more common in women than in men.
In men, the most common cause of hair loss is so-called androgenetic alopecia, in which genetics and testosterone mainly play a role.
What women can – and should – do before their PRP appointment
I have been performing PRP treatments for hair loss in my practice for many years and have already treated several hundred patients. My standard is not just technically correct execution, but a treatment that really works – and that requires careful preparation.
So that your first appointment in my practice in Vienna can be dedicated directly to the treatment, I recommend that you have the following blood values checked in advance by your general practitioner and bring the results to your appointment:
- Ferritin (target value for PRP treatment: at least 60 µg/l)
- TSH (thyroid value)
- If needed: female hormones (FSH, LH, estradiol, progesterone) – particularly relevant in perimenopause
If these values are available – and ideally already optimized – we can start the treatment directly at the first appointment. Otherwise, the values should first be improved, whether through regular iron intake or possibly through an iron infusion.