PRP is not one treatment. It is a category of preparations that vary so widely in quality that calling them by the same name is, frankly, a disservice to the patient. If you have completed three or four sessions at a Gurgaon clinic and seen nothing meaningful in the mirror, the most likely explanation is not that PRP doesn't work for you. It is that what you received was probably sub-therapeutic.
This article is the technical context most clinics will never put in writing.
What PRP Is Supposed to Deliver
PRP therapy for hair works by concentrating the growth factors stored in your platelets — PDGF, VEGF, IGF-1, EGF, TGF-β, FGF — and depositing them at the follicular niche. These signalling proteins reactivate dermal papilla cells, prolong the anagen phase, and improve perifollicular blood supply.
The single biggest predictor of whether this happens is platelet concentration in the final injectate. The IADVL 2021 consensus on PRP for androgenetic alopecia recommends a target of 1.0 to 1.5 million platelets per microlitre — roughly four to seven times your whole-blood baseline. Gentile's 2015 randomised controlled trial (Stem Cells Translational Medicine) demonstrated significant density gains at a mean concentration of 1.48 million/μL.
Below that threshold, follicular activation simply does not occur reliably. The growth factor payload is too low to cross the biological signal-to-noise barrier.
What Most "PRP" in the Market Actually Is
A large number of clinics — including some that price aggressively — use single-spin gel-separator tubes. These are convenient, fast, and cheap. They are also notorious for delivering platelet yields below your own baseline blood count. Technically, that preparation is platelet-poor plasma, not PRP. Marketing it as PRP is a category error.
| Variable | Why It Changes Your Outcome |
|---|---|
| Single-spin vs double-spin | Double-spin concentrates platelets 4–8× baseline; single-spin gel kits often yield <1× |
| Anticoagulant used | ACD-A preserves platelet viability; EDTA damages platelets and inflates raw counts artificially |
| Centrifuge calibration | Calibrated RCF (g-force) matters more than RPM; uncalibrated machines destroy α-granules |
| Time from draw to injection | Growth factor activity peaks within 10 minutes — delay beyond 30 minutes degrades the preparation |
| RBC and leukocyte contamination | Red cells release inflammatory mediators that damage the follicle; leukocyte-poor PRP is preferred for scalp |
| Volume delivered per cm² | Under 0.05 mL/cm² leaves zones untreated; coverage matters as much as concentration |
"Almost every patient who walks in saying PRP didn't work for them has either had a sub-therapeutic preparation or an unaddressed underlying cause — most often ferritin under 40, vitamin D deficiency, or untreated DHT activity. The platelets get blamed for a diagnosis that was never made."
— Dr. Guneet Bedi, MD DDVL Gold Medalist, House of Aetheria
The Other Reasons PRP Fails — Even When the Kit Is Good
Concentration is necessary but not sufficient. The four other failure modes we see in patients arriving for a second opinion:
Wrong patient stage. PRP stimulates living follicles. It does not resurrect dead ones. A Norwood V–VII scalp with empty follicular ostia is not a PRP candidate — it is a transplant candidate.
Insufficient session count or spacing. The Evangelista meta-analysis (2022) showed a statistically significant correlation between treatment frequency and density gain. Two sessions spaced eight weeks apart is not a course of PRP. It is two sessions.
Unaddressed medical causes. Low ferritin (below 30–40 ng/mL is clinically relevant, regardless of what the lab range says), thyroid dysfunction, vitamin D deficiency, B12 deficiency in vegetarian patients, untreated seborrhoeic dermatitis. PRP cannot out-signal a nutrient gap.
Injection technique. Depth must reach the dermal–subdermal junction at 3–5 mm. Surface wheals do nothing for follicles.
What High-Concentration PRP Looks Like at House of Aetheria
Our PRP and GFC-PRP programme is built around a few non-negotiables. We use a double-spin closed system with ACD-A as anticoagulant. The preparation is verified visually for clarity (no RBC contamination) before injection. Volume and grid coverage are mapped on trichoscopy, not by eye. The full course is four to six sessions, spaced four to six weeks apart, followed by maintenance every four to six months — the protocol with the strongest evidence base.
Where appropriate, we offer GFC (Growth Factor Concentrate) as an alternative — an acellular preparation that delivers a cleaner, less inflammatory injection for patients sensitive to PRP or those wanting fewer sessions. Read GFC vs PRP — the honest comparison before deciding which is right for you.
Every protocol begins with a trichoscopy-led assessment and the relevant blood work — ferritin, TSH, vitamin D, B12 — because we treat the cause, not the symptom. This is part of our hair restoration programme in Gurgaon.
Five Questions to Ask Any Clinic Offering PRP in Gurgaon
- What is the target platelet concentration per microlitre in the final injectate?
- Single-spin or double-spin? Open system or closed?
- Which anticoagulant — ACD-A or EDTA?
- How many sessions are recommended, and over what interval?
- What pre-treatment blood panel do you run before starting?
If a clinic cannot answer the first three, you are not being offered medical-grade PRP. You are being offered a procedure with the same name.
Ready for an Honest Assessment?
If your previous PRP course did not deliver what you were promised, the right next step is a trichoscopy-led consultation rather than another round of the same treatment. Dr. Guneet Bedi, our consultant dermatologist, and the hair team at House of Aetheria, Sector 65, Gurugram will examine your scalp, evaluate the relevant blood work, and tell you exactly what changed — and what would need to change for results to follow.
Ready for high-concentration PRP done properly? We assess before we recommend. Book a Consultation →
