Compare and decide
PRP vs PRF for hair: does the upgrade matter?
PRF is PRP spun slower, with no anticoagulant, so it sets into a soft gel that releases growth factors more slowly. For hair, we use PRP as the base and offer PRF as an add-on. Either way, you’ll start with 3 sessions 4 to 6 weeks apart, then maintenance.
PRF is often described as an upgrade. So far, the hair studies don’t show that it outperforms PRP.
What changes in the centrifuge
Both start the same way: a few tubes of your blood, spun so the platelets concentrate. Platelets carry the growth factors that act on stem cells in the follicle, prolong the growth phase, and build new blood vessels around the hair, per Stevens and Khetarpal’s 2018 review.
For PRP, the tube has an anticoagulant and spins faster. You get liquid plasma with the platelets concentrated in it, easy to inject across a thinning area at a steady pace.
For PRF, there’s no anticoagulant and the spin is slower. The sample starts to clot and forms a fibrin matrix that releases growth factors more slowly as the gel breaks down, per Shrestha and colleagues’ 2024 review. It has to be injected soon after spinning, because it’s setting in the tube.
So it’s the same blood, with two ways of spinning it. Other claims about PRF concern what the slower release does, and that’s where the evidence is limited. For the full course, the PRP hair restoration page covers the appointment, the schedule, and what a session feels like.
What the studies show for hair
PRP has the larger body of data. A 2023 systematic review of 27 controlled trials with 1,117 subjects found PRP versus saline increased hair density by a mean of 25.6 hairs per square centimeter at medium-term follow-up, per Cruciani and colleagues. The same review rated that evidence as low quality and concluded “there is limited evidence showing benefit of PRP for treatment of alopecia.”
So PRP probably adds density in thinning areas. The trials are small and uneven, though, and it isn’t a cure.
The hair data for PRF is still limited. In one case series, 11 women with female pattern hair loss had three monthly injectable PRF sessions and improved hair count, volume, and thickness at three and six months, per Sharma and colleagues in 2024. A 2024 review found five clinical studies with a significant effect in pattern hair loss, then said there is “no consensus regarding the preparation of PRF” and that larger studies are needed to “confirm the benefits of PRF over PRP,” per Shrestha and colleagues.
Eleven women in a case series isn’t comparable to 1,117 subjects in controlled trials, and that’s the gap in evidence between the two.
In facial aesthetics, where PRF has been studied more, a 2025 review found the few PRP-versus-PRF studies all favored PRF, with small samples and no standardized protocols, per Davies and Miron. The senior author founded a PRF company. That doesn’t make the findings wrong, but it’s relevant context for claims that PRF is superior.
PRP and PRF, what differs
| Feature | PRP | PRF |
|---|---|---|
| How it is spun | Faster, with an anticoagulant in the tube | Slower, no anticoagulant |
| What you get | Liquid plasma with concentrated platelets | A soft fibrin gel that must be injected soon after spinning |
| Growth factor release | Quicker, from the liquid | Slower, as the gel breaks down |
| Used for hair here | The base of every session | An add-on when the nurse recommends it |
| Evidence for hair | 27 controlled trials in a 2023 review, rated low quality | Five clinical studies in a 2024 review, plus a case series of 11 women |
How we use PRP and PRF at Arlington Heights
PRP is the base of every hair session in Suite C. PRF is the add-on, spun from the same draw, and the nurse suggests it case by case.
The visit runs about 45 to 60 minutes: the blood draw, 10 to 15 minutes to spin, then 15 to 20 minutes of scalp injections with topical numbing. Adding PRF doesn’t change the length of the visit much.
Keeping to the schedule has a large effect on results. The protocol proposed in the Cleveland Clinic review is monthly sessions for the first three months, then every three months through the first year, and it notes that three monthly sessions followed by maintenance every six months “have also been effective,” per Stevens and Khetarpal. A network meta-analysis found efficacy rose with more sessions and shorter intervals, per Gupta and Bamimore. Missing your second and third visits would affect your results more than skipping PRF. We’ve also written up how many PRP treatments you need for hair and what a course looks like visit by visit.
Aftercare is the same for both: wait to wash your hair until the next day, avoid heavy sweating or swimming for 24 to 48 hours, and keep taking minoxidil or finasteride if your doctor prescribed them. PRP plus minoxidil beat either one alone in a six-study meta-analysis of 343 people, per Xiao and colleagues. We don’t prescribe either drug, so your doctor will manage those.
Where PRF is most useful
Under the eyes, PRF is the base treatment. A 2025 systematic review of 14 studies found PRF was associated with improvements in skin texture, wrinkles, and crepiness, while PRP showed stronger evidence for pigment, per Sollitto and colleagues. The gel also gives a short-lived plumping under thin skin that fades over days to weeks. That’s useful under an eye, but it doesn’t matter on a scalp, where volume isn’t the goal. If crepey under-eye skin is your main concern, read about PRF under the eyes instead.
Questions to ask before you pay extra for PRF
Ask what PRF adds to your plan specifically, not in general. Ask how many sessions the quote covers, because one session of anything rarely shows a difference. And ask whether the person recommending PRF over PRP can name a hair study that compared the two. As of this writing, there’s no head-to-head hair trial to cite. You can ask us all three questions at your consult.
Your questions, answered
Is PRF better than PRP for hair?
It hasn’t been proven yet. PRF releases growth factors more slowly, which sounds better on paper, but the hair evidence is a handful of small studies and no head-to-head trial against PRP. A 2024 review said larger studies are needed to confirm any benefit of PRF over PRP, while PRP has 27 controlled trials behind it, rated low quality. The schedule you follow matters more than the choice between them.
Does PRF cost more than PRP?
Usually, because it’s a second preparation from the same draw and the kit and time go up. The bigger cost drivers are the number of sessions, how much scalp is covered, and whether maintenance visits are bundled. A single session with or without PRF is a start, not a course. We take a small non-refundable deposit that comes off your treatment, and Affirm, Afterpay, and Klarna are available to help spread out the cost.
Can I get PRF without PRP for hair?
In studies, yes. The 11-woman series used injectable PRF on its own, three monthly sessions. At Arlington Heights, PRP is the base of a hair session and PRF is the add-on. At your consult, the nurse will recommend what makes sense for your scalp.
Is PRF the same as EZ Gel?
No. PRF is your plasma spun slowly, without an anticoagulant, and injected as the soft gel it forms. EZ Gel is a brand name for a plasma gel, a thickened preparation of your own plasma combined with PRF, sold as a short-lived filler alternative for the face. It isn’t a hair treatment.