What Happens After PRP for Hair Loss. The Timeline, When Results Show, and the Aftercare That Protects Them
Expect nothing visible for the first 2 months, and possibly a little extra shedding. First growth appears at around 3 months, the full result of a 3-session course at 6, and the benefit fades from 12 to 16 months without maintenance. What you do around the sessions, with medication and anti-inflammatories, matters as much as the injection.
Key points
A 2025 meta-analysis in Dermatology and Therapy of 43 randomised controlled trials and 1,877 participants found activated PRP increased hair density against placebo, with more treatments per month associated with greater gains, and PRP plus minoxidil outperforming either alone.
A 2016 study in Dermatologic Surgery measured PRP against an untreated control side of the same scalp and found significant increases in anagen hairs, hair density and terminal hair density at 6 months after the first treatment.
In a 2015 placebo-controlled trial in Stem Cells Translational Medicine, 4 of the patients who had responded to PRP reported progressive hair loss again at 12 months, more evident by 16 months, and were retreated, which is the clearest published timeline for how long a course lasts.
The 2025 meta-analysis found non-activated PRP carried more adverse effects than activated, and the largest knee PRP trial stopped anti-inflammatory drugs for 2 weeks before injection because they interfere with platelet function.
If you are about to start a course or are partway through one, message us on WhatsApp or email team@thewellnesslondon.com and a doctor will walk you through the timeline for your scalp.
Before the first session
The course starts 2 weeks before the needle. Anti-inflammatory drugs suppress platelet function, which is why the largest placebo-controlled PRP trial in the knee required patients to stop all anti-inflammatories for 2 weeks before injection, and the same logic applies to the scalp. Ibuprofen, naproxen, aspirin taken for pain and the gels that contain them are paused, with paracetamol the alternative. Blood thinners are a conversation with the doctor rather than something to stop on your own. Smoking, heavy alcohol and poor sleep in the days before affect platelet quality and are worth mentioning.
The other preparation is the foundation the injection sits on. The 2025 meta-analysis found PRP combined with minoxidil outperformed either alone, so a patient who is not yet on minoxidil, and where appropriate finasteride, should start before the course rather than after it, and a blood panel for ferritin, thyroid, vitamin D and B12 should have been done and corrected. On the day, come with clean hair and no styling products, eat and drink normally so the blood draw is easy, and allow 60 to 90 minutes.
The session itself and the first week
A blood sample of around 20 to 60 ml is drawn from the arm and spun to concentrate the platelets, with the preparation activated before injection, which the 2025 meta-analysis found gave better results and fewer side effects than non-activated PRP. Topical or injected local anaesthetic numbs the scalp, and the PRP is injected in a grid across the thinning areas over 15 to 30 minutes. It is uncomfortable rather than painful, most so at the crown and temples where the skin is tightest.
For the first 24 to 72 hours the scalp is tender, sometimes swollen, occasionally bruised, and a mild headache is common. Do not wash the hair for 24 hours, avoid heat, saunas, hard exercise and swimming for 48 hours, and keep hands and hats off the injection sites. Restart minoxidil after 24 to 48 hours. No anti-inflammatories for 2 weeks after, for the same reason as before. A scalp that becomes hot, increasingly painful or discharges after day 3 needs a same-day call, because infection is rare but is the one complication that cannot wait.
Ask us about your session on WhatsApp and a doctor will answer it the same day.
Weeks 2 to 8, including the shed
This is the period in which patients most often conclude the treatment has failed, and it is the period in which nothing visible is supposed to happen. Hair grows around 1 centimetre a month, so a follicle stimulated in week 1 has produced a hair that is barely visible by week 8. Some patients notice increased shedding around weeks 2 to 4, as follicles that were about to shed are pushed into a new cycle sooner. It is alarming and it is temporary, and it is the same phenomenon that makes minoxidil appear to worsen hair loss in its first month.
The second and third sessions fall in this window, typically at 4 and 8 weeks, and the 2025 meta-analysis found more treatments per month associated with greater gains, which is the evidence for keeping to the schedule rather than spacing sessions out to save money. A course of 3 sessions a month apart is the protocol most trials used, and it is the course described in our guide to PRP for hair loss. Between sessions the job is to keep taking the medication, keep the scalp clean, avoid anti-inflammatories, and judge nothing yet.
Months 3 to 6, when results appear
First visible change usually arrives around month 3. Shedding reduces, the hairs coming through at the thinning areas are finer than the surrounding hair at first and thicken over subsequent cycles, and the scalp shows through less. The 2016 study in Dermatologic Surgery, which treated one side of the scalp and left the other as a control, measured the result at 6 months after the first treatment and found significant increases in anagen hairs, total density and terminal hair density on the treated side. Six months is when a course should be judged, with photographs taken in the same light and at the same angle as the baseline set, because memory is a poor judge of density.
A course that has produced no change by 6 months has not worked, and the reasons are the same as for any PRP. A stage of loss beyond what the follicles can recover, a non-activated or dilute preparation, no medication underneath, a cause such as low ferritin or thyroid that was never treated, or a diagnosis that was not pattern hair loss in the first place. A doctor who examined the scalp at the start can usually say which, and the answer to a failed course is a different diagnosis or preparation, not the same course again. It is also the point at which alternatives such as exosome and polynucleotide products tend to be offered, and worth knowing what they are tested on.
Months 6 to 16, and when to repeat
The benefit holds, and then it fades, because the hormonal process driving pattern hair loss has not stopped. The clearest published timeline comes from the 2015 placebo-controlled trial in Stem Cells Translational Medicine, in which patients who responded to PRP were followed after the last treatment. At 12 months 4 of them reported progressive hair loss again, more evident by 16 months, and they were retreated. That is the natural history of a course without maintenance. It buys roughly a year, which matches what we see on how long results last.
Maintenance is therefore part of the treatment rather than an upsell, and the honest schedule is a single session every 4 to 6 months once the initial course has worked, judged on the scalp rather than the calendar. The medication underneath continues throughout, because stopping minoxidil or finasteride removes the foundation and the PRP result goes with it. A patient who wants to stop everything and keep the hair is asking for something no treatment for pattern hair loss provides.
The aftercare protocol, written out
Two weeks before each session, stop anti-inflammatory drugs. Paracetamol is fine. Tell the doctor about blood thinners and do not stop them yourself.
Be on minoxidil, and finasteride if appropriate, before the course starts, and have had a blood panel.
Arrive with clean hair, no products, having eaten.
For 24 hours after, do not wash the hair. For 48 hours, no heat, sauna, hard exercise or swimming, and hands off the scalp.
Restart minoxidil at 24 to 48 hours. No anti-inflammatories for 2 weeks after.
Expect tenderness for 1 to 3 days and possibly extra shedding at weeks 2 to 4. Neither is failure.
Keep to the 3 sessions a month apart. Spacing them out reduces the effect.
Take baseline and 6 month photographs in identical light and angle. Judge at 6 months, not 6 weeks.
Book maintenance every 4 to 6 months once it has worked, and continue the medication throughout.
Call the same day for a hot, increasingly painful or discharging scalp after day 3.
Our doctors put it this way. The injection takes 20 minutes and the result takes 6 months. Patients who understand that before the first session are the ones who see it through to the part where it works.
Message us on WhatsApp with your pattern of loss, what you are already taking, and photographs, and a doctor will tell you what the plan and the timeline would look like for you.
What the timeline does not include
PRP does not produce visible growth in the first 2 months, and a clinic promising it is promising something the biology does not allow. It does not stop the hormonal process, so the result fades without maintenance and without medication. It does not regrow bare scalp, and a course into a bald area has no timeline because nothing will appear. Results vary, the largest meta-analysis rates the evidence low quality, and a proportion of patients see no change at 6 months. It is not available on the NHS. Anyone who stops the medication and the maintenance and expects the hair to stay is expecting a cure, and there is not one.
What a course costs, and what an abandoned one costs
Flagship Harley Street and Mayfair clinics commonly charge £600 to £850 or more per session of hair PRP, with a course of 3 taking a plan past £2,000 and maintenance sessions every 4 to 6 months on top. Minoxidil and finasteride cost a few pounds a week between them.
The reframing is the patient who stops at session 2. A course abandoned at week 6 because nothing had happened yet has paid for two thirds of a treatment and received none of the result, since the result was due at month 6. Finishing the course, keeping the medication going and judging at the right time costs a third more and is the difference between a treatment and an expensive experiment.
Care at The London PRP Clinic by The Wellness is doctor-led and priced below flagship rates, with your exact figure confirmed at the free suitability review, and the timeline above explained before you commit rather than after.
Ask about the cost for your hair on WhatsApp and we will explain what the review covers.
The free suitability review
Every enquiry here starts with a free, doctor-led suitability review rather than a booking. A GMC-registered doctor examines your scalp, confirms the diagnosis and stage, checks the blood panel and medication, and gives one of two answers. Either you are approved for a course, with the timeline above set out and realistic expectations for your stage, or you are not approved, with an honest explanation of what to correct or start first and when to reassess.
We decline a meaningful share of the people who enquire. That is deliberate. A clinic that approves everyone is optimising for bookings, not outcomes.
Why people choose The London PRP Clinic by The Wellness
An 87 percent patient success rate across treatments.
A 32 percent average density increase reported in our hair restoration programme.
More than 187 five star reviews.
Every treatment performed by a GMC-registered doctor.
100 supervised treatments completed by every clinician before they treat a patient here unsupervised.
Frequently asked questions
How long does PRP take to work for hair loss
Nothing visible for the first 2 months, first growth at around 3 months, and the full result of a 3-session course at 6 months, which is when the trials measured it. Judge it at 6 months with matched photographs, not at 6 weeks.
Is it normal to shed hair after PRP
Yes, some patients notice extra shedding at weeks 2 to 4 as follicles are pushed into a new cycle early. It is temporary and is the same effect seen in the first month of minoxidil. Shedding that continues past 2 months should be reviewed.
How long do PRP hair results last
Roughly a year without maintenance. In a 2015 placebo-controlled trial, responders reported progressive loss again at 12 months, more evident by 16, and were retreated. A maintenance session every 4 to 6 months, with medication continued, holds the result.
What should I avoid after PRP hair treatment
Washing the hair for 24 hours, heat, saunas, hard exercise and swimming for 48 hours, touching the scalp, and anti-inflammatory drugs for 2 weeks before and after. Restart minoxidil at 24 to 48 hours and keep taking finasteride if prescribed.
How many PRP sessions do you need for hair
Three sessions about a month apart for the initial course, which is the protocol most trials used, then maintenance every 4 to 6 months. The 2025 meta-analysis found more treatments per month associated with greater gains, so spacing sessions out reduces the effect.
Can I stop minoxidil after PRP
No. The 2025 meta-analysis found PRP with minoxidil outperformed either alone, and the hormonal process continues whatever is injected. Stopping the medication removes the foundation and the PRP result fades with it.
References
Dermatology and Therapy, 2025. Platelet-rich plasma in the management of alopecia, a systematic review and meta-analysis of 43 randomised controlled trials and 1,877 participants, including dose relationship and activation findings. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13555-025-01542-8
Dermatologic Surgery, 2016. Alves and Grimalt. Randomised placebo-controlled half-head study of platelet-rich plasma for androgenetic alopecia, with 6 month density outcomes.
Stem Cells Translational Medicine, 2015. Gentile et al. The effect of platelet-rich plasma in hair regrowth, a randomised placebo-controlled trial, including relapse at 12 to 16 months after the last treatment.
JAMA, 2021. Bennell et al. RESTORE randomised clinical trial of PRP in knee osteoarthritis, including the 2 week anti-inflammatory washout before injection. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34812863/
London clinic price lists for hair PRP, accessed September 2026.
This article is for general information and does not replace a medical assessment. Follow the specific instructions of the doctor who treats you. Speak to one of our doctors before deciding on any hair loss treatment.