NEW YORK (PRWEB)
August 10, 2022

About three months after a person recovers from COVID-19, excess clumps of hair come out in one’s hand, stick to the back or clog the shower drain. A brush contains much more hair than normal, or hair litters the bathroom floor or a bed pillow in disturbing amounts.

Some hair loss – about 100 hairs per day – is natural and normal. When that increases to 300 or more hairs per day, something is not right. Post-COVID, if hair thins perceptibly, the condition is called telogen effluvium.

Telogen effluvium is not specific to COVID. It can happen several months after any time the body undergoes stress, such as after a high fever, the flu or another serious illness, so it’s no surprise that it happens to COVID patients. It’s also common during pregnancy and after giving birth, and certain medications can trigger it. However, since the beginning of the pandemic, the incidence of telogen effluvium has increased 400 percent. The hair loss associated with telogen effluvium occurs primarily on the head and excessive shedding can continue for many months.

Scientists have yet to link hair-loss directly to the COVID virus. Most experts agree that the stress related to contracting COVID, anxiety over the disease, job loss, feelings of isolation and depression, and changes in lifestyle due to the pandemic are the real culprits. The good news is that in most cases of telogen effluvium, hair growth and loss return to normal, but it takes a long time, up to a year.

Dr. Julie Russak’s signature Hair Restoration Therapy is a safe, nonsurgical way to stimulate hair growth. The treatment combines Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy, Exosome Stem Cell injections, diffused microneedling and topical and oral supplements. It’s a unique, clinically-proven approach that is more proactive because it delivers these regenerative ingredients into the scalp, awakening hair follicles and stimulating hair growth.

PRP Therapy

Blood platelets contain hundreds of healing proteins called growth factors, which are known for their regenerative qualities. Normally, platelets make up about 10 percent of the blood’s cellular components. In PRP Therapy, that percentage is flipped to 90 percent. When platelet-rich plasma is infused into the scalp, it encourages hair growth at an accelerated rate.

During a Hair Restoration Therapy treatment, first a phlebotomist draws a small sample of the patient’s blood, which is spun in a centrifuge designed to concentrate platelets. In essence, the red and white blood cells are separated from the platelets and plasma (clear-gold fluid), creating PRP. The concentration of platelets in PRP, and thus the concentration of growth factors, can be up to ten times greater than in normal blood.

Once the PRP is isolated, the clinician injects and microneedles the PRP into the scalp. Microneedling ensures the valuable growth factors in the PRP penetrate directly into the hair follicles, and injections allow the PRP to get even deeper into the skin. The growth factors in the PRP then stimulate stem cells around the hair follicles into an active growth phase.

In addition, non-platelet components of the blood plasma are present in lower amounts, and contains nutrients, vitamins, hormones, electrolytes and proteins that are essential to hair health. As a result, hair grows back and at a faster rate than if left only to Mother Nature.

Exosome Booster

Exosomes are a new breakthrough in regenerative hair therapy that triggers healing, cell stimulation and regeneration. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles, or small bubbles, released from stem cells. They contain genetic signals that stimulate cells, in this case healthy hair follicles.

The exosomes released by regenerative cells such as stem cells are potent drivers of repair, regeneration and healing. When hair loss occurs, exosomes signal the follicles to heal themselves which stimulates new hair growth. Exosomes contain bioactive molecules that play a crucial role in cell-to-cell communications and are vital in all cellular regenerative processes. When they are infused directly into the scalp, the result is intensive hair rejuvenation, especially when combined with PRP Therapy.

Reversing Other Types of Hair Loss

Thinning hair can result from many different factors in addition to COVID and stress, including family history, hormonal changes, certain disease and medications, scalp imbalance and more. PRP Therapy enhanced with an Exosome Booster delivers a comprehensive approach to treating hair loss in many situations. Any person who has experienced “miniaturization”, or hair thinning, is an ideal candidate for this proven hair restoration therapy. It’s customized for each patient with the goal of reactivating the hair follicles.

The protocol consists of four sessions spaced one month apart, with maintenance treatments every four to six months after that to keep hair follicles stimulated and to maintain hair growth. These in-clinic treatments are augmented by oral supplements and Russak Dermatology’s proprietary topical spray, called Hair Fortifying RX.

Hair Fortifying RX is a concentrated blend of vitamins and hair regrowth stimulants, including 10% minoxidil, which reduces inflammation around the follicle and stimulates hair regrowth on its own. When combined with Hair Restoration Therapy, the result is fuller, denser hair!

Selected by the New York Times as a “New York Super Doctor”, Dr. Julie Russak, M.D., FAAD, is a board-certified dermatologist, Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and the founder/CEO of Russak Dermatology Clinic in New York City. In addition to providing comprehensive care in cosmetic and medical dermatology through the clinic, she serves on the faculty of Mount Sinai Hospital and was awarded Teacher of the Year in 2022. Her expertise includes general, cosmetic and pediatric dermatology, skin cancer and dermatologic surgery. For more information, go to http://www.russakdermatology.com.