Aug 18, 2021
Dear Diary,
Well, I had a couple of very interesting hair treatments yesterday afternoon. I’ve noticed my hair has really been thinning out over the past couple of years, and I figured it was something I just had to live with. But at my initial consult, Colleen told me about a couple of therapies that could help restore hair growth, something I was definitely interested in! I started with FotonaLaser Hair Restoration with Michelle. She explained that the Fotona Laser is used for all kinds of things, including hair removal (NOT what I want for my head, but perhaps some other areas…). She also said it works to stimulate hair growth by itself, but better results are obtained when it’s used incombination with other therapies, such as PRP. I got comfortable on the table, and Michelle placed some special glasses over my eyes to protect them from the laser. Then she went to work on my head. The laser felt a bit weird, almost like warm water being poured on my head, but it didn’t hurt. We chatted about all kinds of things as she systematically laseredmy entire scalp, and before I knew it, the hour was up! Easy peasy! After saying good bye to Michelle, I went next door to see Nurse Lori for my first PRP treatment.
Lori explained that PRP (platelet rich plasma) injected into the scalp has been shown to stimulate hair regrow. Apparently, it takes a few treatments for best results. Blood is collected and spun down to separate off the platelet rich plasma, which is then injected back just under the scalp in multiple locations. The whole thing sounded just a wee bit scary, but the thought of getting some of my hair back tipped the scales. Lori expertly collected a tube of blood from my arm, then went off to her lab to prepare the plasma. After about 10 minutes, she returned and we got started. The closest thing I can think of to describe the procedure is that it was like an angry woodpecker going at my head non-stop for about an hour. It didn’t really hurt as the needle that’s used is very small, but I found the unrelenting tap tap taptaptaptaptap to be really annoying! After the treatment, I looked like I had a severe rash on my head from all the little injection sites and a really bad case of bed-head from the plasma sticking to my hair. Glad I wasn’t heading out on a date or anything! Lori told me that I shouldn’t wash my hair for several hours or even until the next morning and that my scalp might be a bit red and sore for a day or so. In actual fact, after I washed my hair the next morning, you could hardly tell anything had been done. Most of the redness was gone, and, aside from a bit of itching, my scalp felt fairly normal. So much for that angry woodpecker!