#how is bulimia more normalized than trichotillomania is

[anatomiau]

i am(/was) the quintessential bulimic even now i still have the bulimic spirit inside me but bulimia is such a weird disorder to have it feels like something some woman would’ve developed in the 1800s and then been super documented in history because of how weird it is

[olivia-crains]

Sharp Objects

Episodes: Vanish, Dirt, Fix, Ripe

Content below may be triggering for some, please read with discretion.

Examining tiny hairs became my daily hobby. I would always attempt to remove the tiny white bulb from each eyebrow or eyelash I pulled.

I had two groups of friends in middle school, one set who did nothing but make fun of me and really appealed to my critic voice, and the other group who were kind and loving and adored me. I am sure you can guess which group I hung out with more often. Christ, you’d think I would have learned by now. These girls would write notes to me in class threatening to kill my cat, they would go into gruesome detail about how they would do it and where they would bury him. My boy was only about a year old and he was my world, this ‘friend’ befriended me because I was the new kid at this school and had a photo of my cat in the front pocket of my binder. She used the very thing I loved so much to hurt me. This would grow to be a frequent occurrence with all the toxic individuals who have entered my life. The picking began that year, while taking our end of grade tests, the note passing session fell around the same time as well. I hate seeming like I was an easy target and like a pitiful little baby, I had no problem sticking up for myself and becoming defensive, but it is as if they and everyone else knew I would take their insults and words to heart and lash out at myself in the process, it is as if no one took me seriously. My vulnerability has always been used against me though it is my favorite attribute that I embody. So, following the threatening cat letter, I told my Mom and she in turn told my teacher, though I told her not to. The girls were obviously scolded and were told to apologize to me and they did and I forgave them and all was dandy! Me teacher took a liking to me after that happened, she stopped me in the hallway and said to me one afternoon “You know that saying, sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me? Well, words are worse.” I have never forgotten that, and thinking back on that now, I would much rather someone shatter my skull than harm my heart with words; the most powerful weapon of all.

My palm is still pulsating from my grip on my favorite pair of scissors. I used to use them to cut out photos of the cast of LOST and carefully pin them on my wall, they are children’s scissors, a rather hideous blue color, I once was detained at the Colorado airport for having them in my backpack. These scissors have traveled with me for well over a decade now, always handy, for whatever need may arise.

Is there anything more vulnerable and heartbreaking than hearing an adult refer to their Mom as ‘Mama’? It is the southern staple, it is what I call my own Mama, a spark of my inner child latching on to this tiny, yet, oh so powerful word.

Everything is a sharp object, a person who self harms spends time scanning rooms. When you vow to not keep the ‘normal’ tools in your home, you sometimes have to get creative when you are desperate. Using the end of a tube of lotion, safety pins, knives, caps from various household items (toothpaste, prescription bottles, etc), the blades of your blender screaming your name, end of a lightbulb, end of an iPhone charger, etc. Anything can work as long as you press hard enough. The thoughts and perceptions are the ammunition; the cutting itself is the therapy.

I chipped my front tooth on a glass bottle a few months ago, it is sharp and jagged, but barely noticeable. As an anxious habit, I tend to rub my thumb nail against the sharp part of the tooth and drag my thumb up and down repeatedly throughout the day, my cuticles are worn and bruised, my nail has white lines, jagged and uneven all over. I wish I picked up skills as quickly as I pick up gross habits. I always must be doing something, whether it is biting my nails, digging my car key into my stomach while socializing, cutting words like ‘fat’ and ‘never’ on the inside of my thighs, purging until my throat is stinging and raw, picking and picking, punishing me for being me.

I am always particularly drawn to destructive characters, not their behaviors or habits, but their strength. It takes a brave person to keep living when everything inside of them is frothing with hate. The damage is outside of ourselves, though we take it out on ourselves, no matter the issue, no matter the severity, we take it out on ourselves. Amy Adams perfectly conveys what it is like to have destructive thoughts and painful memories rumbling inside of your skull at all times, instead of taking it out on other people, which tends to be the more common practice, she takes it out on herself. Why is it that I can care for such characters so deeply but cannot care about myself? I think it is because my issues are weak comparatively, that is what the message on the jumbotron flashing across my insides reads.

I recently turned in my apartment key to my former leasing agent, my first thought when I left the building was about that key; a sense of mourning trailing behind me. It is dull and smells of nickel, but I have always preferred it due to its specific ridges. I trace my finger across the grooves, it is ritualistic in nature, that’s always how it begins, I feel the object, allow guilt over past issues/what people think of me take hold of me, and carve. It is an instant euphoria, it’s hard to describe it, it feels like my guilt or my self-loathing is silenced for the night. My thoughts quiet, bleeding through, I always promise this will be the last time, only issue is my guilt and self-loathing are like rabbits; rapidly procreating.

Camille hides her indulgences like a child, her stunted adolescence is showcased through the candy bars and tiny alcohol bottles she continues to sneak into her Mother’s home. Addicts and individuals who partake in harmful activities tend to minimize everything and/or make excuses for themselves. Camille buys small bottles of vodka instead of a full handle. Camille softens experiences, her rape, cutting, alcoholism, she is never the victim, ever, she thinks she deserves all of this. Placing the sewing needles against the pad of a finger, no blood, no incision, just a press. It isn’t real if the dose of the destruction is untraceable.

Camille is so real, so dark, familiar. Unlovable. The only way to stop ones destructive habit(s) is to graduate to a new one. For Camille, that is alcohol. There is almost a self destructive meter that each person has. For me, alcoholism and sex addiction are the 10s, I made a promise to myself years ago that I will never get there, ever. I tend to teeter on the line at a 5/6. 1-Pulling (trichotillomania) 2- weak cuts, no depth 3-anorexia 4-heavier cutting 5-bulimia 6-bulimia and cutting. I know this makes no sense and seems appalling, but these are examples of my own personal excuses. “Well, ill never make it to a ten, well I never use razors, well ill never be a sex addict because no one will have sex with me, etc.” I am trying my hardest to level down, the only issue is there is so much darkness I have yet to punish myself for, so many memories living at the forefront, things I will never forget. Our ability to remember everything is our everlasting curse, no prince will ever break it, in a way, our worst memories are what keep our destruction alive. A buffet for the critic living inside of us.

Adora’s words slither. Whispers coated with poison, suffocating all those around her, yet her love and approval feel like antidotes. Camille will never fully heal.

Amma wraps her lollipop around Camille’s waves in her hair, the ultimate childish act. Teens are just so freaking scary, that scene is just deeply troubling and it is tough to see a grown woman sucked into a gaslighting reality. Its all about power dynamics in that toxic town. Camille seems fearful, her tone shifts to defensive, but it never works, not even on her sister who is more than a decade younger than her, people can just sense that she is an adult child. The empath. The watcher. The ultimate reactor.

Camille is timid, but she asserts such dominance when her secret is threatened to be exposed.

There is an acid stain on my porcelain tub, it sits two inches from the drain and features a light orange tint, I remember that specific night that stain was born. Its the spot I always aim for when purging; a home, a landing strip for my innards, you’re not alone here; no one is alone here. I shave sitting down in the shower because I am a weak individual who just prefers to sit or lay at all times, I notice the stain, I stick only one finger in my throat to gag, but stop myself from taking it further than that, it isn’t good, but I have to do something. Usually I will stare in the general direction of the stain and blindly shave while staring at it, my eyes shift to the drain and memories shoot out and I wish to turn the small top off of the drain and cut myself again, I ignore that and continue to shave, if only I had shorter legs.

I bet you’re sensitive, writers are sensitive. You can make people understand.

Camille is a person of senses, she is so easily triggered by her environment. She feeds off of energies; clocking everyone.

There is a moment in Vanish where Camille is driving in Wind Gap, she sees one of the town’s many murals and says quietly, but with a shake of comfort, “Hi Betty.” She later greets the mural outside of the tire store and says with a sarcastic (she finds the funny and its one of so many things I so deeply love about her, her wit is incredibly strong) tone, “What do ya know, Joe?” I have this ritual to ease my anxiety that I have been doing since I was a teenager, whenever I am feeling overwhelmed or like I wish to purge or cut, I say hello to every object in the room I am in. Hello sink, hello rug, hello shampoo, hello conditioner. I have never really given much thought to this little coping mechanism of mine, but Camille saying hello to these little pieces of her town, it made me feel less like a freak.

The yellow innards of the lemons printed on my sheets stared back at me. A perfect set of sheets for the summer, lemons have always made me happy, I tend to give fruits and other inanimate objects personalities, and lemons are just so very kind and nurturing. Mother fruit. As a child, I would constantly take the lemons from my parent’s waters at restaurants and suck on them until my tongue was numb. The blood is traceable, not much, a familiar yet distant sight to behold. The warmth of the blood slowly dripping down my inner thigh landing on one of the many lemons printed on my sheets; silencing its kindness.

There is always a sting of pain hidden beneath the shadow of empathy in the eyes of the damaged. Weighted looks, like magnets, that draw you in.

In the words of the masterful Gillian Flynn,

Camille is a ballerina with a steel spine.

[moawadskininstitutes-blog]

Male Hair Loss Treatment

Male Hair Loss Treatment What is Male Hair Loss? WATCH THESE VIDOES AND READ THE ARTICLE IF YOU SUFFERING FROM MALE HAIR LOSS MALE HAIR LOSS TREATMENT PLAY VIDEO WHY DO WE GO BALD? HOW DERMATOLOGISTS DIAGNOSE HAIR LOSS MALE HAIR LOSS TREATMENT PLAY VIDEO MINOXIDIL HAIR LOSS TREATMENT MALE HAIR LOSS TREATMENT PLAY VIDEO FINESTRIDE OR PROPECIA LOSS TREATMENT MALE HAIR LOSS TREATMENT PLAY VIDEO ALOPECIA AREATA TREATMENT MALE HAIR LOSS TREATMENT PLAY VIDEO WHAT IS MESOHAIR(vitamins ,PRP and mesofat) MESOTHERAPY ,MESOLIFT, MESOHAIR PLAY VIDEO MESOTHERAPY OR MESOHAIR (PRP microinjections) MALE HAIR LOSS TREATMENT PLAY VIDEO LIGHT EMITTED DIODE (LED) OR LIGHT THERAPY MALE HAIR LOSS TREATMENT PLAY VIDEO MESOTHERAPY OR MESOHAIR (PRP microinjections) MALE HAIR LOSS TREATMENT PLAY VIDEO HAIR TRANSPLANT (FUE & FUT) MALE HAIR LOSS TREATMENT PLAY VIDEO MALE HAIRE LOSS TREATMENT AT MSI MALE HAIR LOSS TREATMENT PLAY VIDEO Everyone loses hair. It is normal to lose about 50-100 hairs every day. If you see bald patches or lots of thinning, you may be experiencing hair loss. There are many causes of hair loss. People under a lot of stress can see noticeable hair loss. Some diseases and medical treatments can cause hair loss. The most common cause of hair loss is a medical condition called hereditary hair loss. About 80 million men and women in the United States have this type of hair loss. Other names for this type of hair loss are: - Male-pattern baldness. - Female-pattern baldness. - Androgenetic alopecia. Hair has been referred to as our "crowning glory." Society has placed a great deal of social and cultural importance on hair and hairstyles.  Color, length, style, and amount have been associated with youth, sex appeal, health, and power. It is no wonder that balding, thinning hair, or a receding hairline is a severe concern for both men and women. If hairlines start to recede or hair thins, both men and women may become very concerned about that loss.  Without understanding why their hair is falling out, they may resort to so-called "magic potions," megavitamins, scalp massage, and electric treatments to encourage new hair to grow. Luckily, most causes of hair loss can be stopped or treated. Anyone troubled by hair loss should see a dermatologist. These doctors specialize in treating our skin, hair, and nails. What are the Signs and Symptoms of Male Hair Loss? Hair loss may cause gradual thinning, bald patches, or complete baldness. Who Experiences Male Hair Loss? Millions of people experience hair loss. Some people see their hair re-grow without doing anything. Others need treatment for their hair to re-grow. Sometimes, the hair will not re-grow.  To find out what is possible, you should see a dermatologist. These doctors specialize in treating diseases that affect the skin, hair, and nails. What Causes Male Hair Loss? The reasons for hair loss are many. When hair loss begins suddenly, the cause may be due to illness, diet, medicine, or childbirth. If hair loss is gradual and becomes more noticeable with each passing year, a person may have hereditary hair loss. Certain hair care practices also can cause noticeable hair loss. The following describes some of the many things that cause hair loss: Hereditary thinning or baldness (androgenetic alopecia) Androgenic alopecia is the most common cause of hair loss. It affects men and women. About 80 million people in the United States have hereditary thinning or baldness.  When men have hereditary hair loss, they often get a receding hairline. Many men see bald patches, especially on the top of the head. In rare cases, men see noticeably thinning hair. The reasons for this are unknown. Alopecia Areata Researchers believe that this is an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune means the body attacks itself. In this case, the body attacks its hair. Alopecia causes smooth, round patches of hair loss on the scalp and other areas of the body. People with alopecia areata are often in excellent health. Most people see their hair re-grow. Dermatologists treat people with this disorder to help the hair re-grow more quickly. Cicatricial (scarring) Alopecia This rare disease develops in otherwise healthy people. The disease destroys a person's hair follicles. Scar tissue forms where the follicles once were, so the hair cannot re-grow. Treatment tries to stop the inflammation, which destroys the hair follicles. Underlying Medical Conditions  Hair loss can be the first sign of a disease. About 30 conditions, including thyroid disease and anemia, cause hair loss. By treating the disease, hair loss can often be stopped or reversed. Significant hair loss can occur after an illness. A major surgery, high fever, severe infection, or even the flu can cause hair loss. Your dermatologist may call this type of hair loss telogen (tee-lə-jen) effluvium (ih-flu-vee-uhm). Cancer Treatments  Radiation therapy and chemotherapy can cause hair loss. This hair loss is often temporary, but it can cause significant distress. ​ Ringworm of the Scalp  This disease is contagious and common in children. Without effective treatment, ringworm can cause balding. Trichotillomania (trick-uh-til-uh-my-knee-uh)  This medical disorder causes people to pull out their hair repeatedly. They often feel a constant urge to pull out the hair on the scalp. Some sufferers say they feel compelled to pull out their eyelashes, nose hairs, eyebrows, and other hairs on their bodies. Stress and Psychological Factors Stress: Experiencing a traumatic event (e.g., the death of a loved one or divorce) can cause hair loss. Dieting and Poor Nutrition - Weight loss: Some people see hair loss after losing more than 15 pounds. The hair loss often appears 3 to 6 months after losing the weight. This hair loss is common — the hair re-grows without help. - Vitamin A: Too much vitamin A can cause hair loss. People can get too much of this vitamin through vitamin supplements or medicines. Once the body stops getting too much vitamin A, healthy hair growth resumes. - Protein: When the body does not get enough protein, it rations the protein it does get. One way the body can distribute protein is to shut down hair growth. About 2 to 3 months after a person does not eat enough protein, you can see the hair loss. Eating more protein will stop hair loss. Meats, eggs, and fish are good sources of protein. Vegetarians can get more protein by adding nuts, seeds, and beans to their diet. - Iron: Not getting enough iron can lead to hair loss. Good vegetarian sources of iron are iron-fortified cereals, soybeans, pumpkin seeds, white beans, lentils, and spinach. Clams, oysters, and organ meats top the list of good animal sources of iron. - Eating disorder: When a person has an eating disorder, hair loss is common. Anorexia (not eating enough) and bulimia (vomiting after eating) can cause hair loss.  Side Effects of Systemic Medication - Blood thinners. - High-dose vitamin A. - Medicine treats arthritis, depression, gout, heart problems, and high blood pressure. - Anabolic steroids (steroids are taken to build muscle and improve athletic performance) may cause hair loss.  Lousy Hair Care  Your hairstyle and even some of the products you use on your hair can cause hair loss. - Products: Frequent bleaching or permanents can cause the hair to break. Regular or improper use of dyes, gels, relaxers, and hair sprays also can cause hair breakage. Dermatologists recommend limiting the use of these hair products. Less use often means less hair breakage. - Blow dryers, flat irons, and other devices: Frequent use of a blow dryer tends to damage hair. The high heat from a blow dryer can boil the water in the hair shaft leaving the hair brittle and prone to breakage. Dermatologists recommend that you allow your hair to air dry. Then style your hair when it is dry. Dermatologists also recommend limiting the use of flat irons (these straighten hair by using high heat) and curling irons. - Hairpins, clips, and rubber bands: When used to hold hair tightly, clasps, clips, and rubber bands can break hair. Bad Hairstyles Years of wearing hair in a style that pulls on the hair, such as a ponytail, cornrows, or braids, can create a type of hair loss known as traction alopecia. The following practices often cause the hair to break: - Too much shampooing, combing, or brushing (100 strokes or more a day). - I am rubbing wet hair dry with a towel. - Brushing or combing wet hair (especially people who are Asian or Caucasian). For many people, hair is more elastic when wet, which means it breaks off more quickly than dry hair. When hair breakage occurs, the hair appears shaggy or too thin. For people who are of African descent, their hair is not more elastic when wet. How Do Dermatologists Diagnose Male Hair Loss? Because so many things can cause hair loss, a dermatologist acts like a detective. A dermatologist may begin by asking questions. The dermatologist will want to know whether the hair loss happened suddenly or gradually. Knowing this helps to cut causes. A dermatologist also will ask what medicines you take, what allergies you have, and whether you have been dieting. It is essential to give the dermatologist the correct information. Like a murder mystery, the slightest clue can solve the case. Women asked about their periods, pregnancies, and menopause. The dermatologist also will carefully look at your scalp, other hair areas on the body, may pull on your hair, or remove a part of the scalp to examine it under the microscope. A blood test is necessary. Because so many things can cause hair loss, it can take time to find the cause. How do Dermatologists Treat Male Hair Loss? Male Pattern Alopecia Once your dermatologist knows what is causing the hair loss, your dermatologist can tell you what to expect. Sometimes hair loss does not need treatment. The hair will start to re-grow on its own. In some cases, changing what you do will stop the hair loss, allowing your hair to start re-growing. Sometimes treatment can restore hair. Treatment depends on patient preference. Topical minoxidil (2% or 5% solution) is approved for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia in men. Hair regrowth is more robust at the vertex than in the frontal area and will take six to 12 months to improve. Treatment should continue indefinitely because hair loss reoccurs when therapy is stopped. Minoxidil and oral finasteride for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia are the only treatments currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Both drugs stimulate hair regrowth in some men but are more effective in preventing the progression of hair loss. Some physicians recommend the use of minoxidil after transplantation. Application to the grafted areas once per day can shorten the interval between the procedure and the growth of transplanted hair from 4 months to fewer than three months. Finasteride (Propecia) is more effective than minoxidil in treating male-pattern hair loss. This 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor blocks the conversion of testosterone to DHT. The hormone thought most responsible for the miniaturization and eventual involution of scalp hairs in male pattern baldness. Finasteride 1 mg taken orally once per day is effective in two-thirds of men. The significant benefits of finasteride are the slowing and occasional cessation of hair loss and even the potential regrowth of hairs, primarily in the back half of the head. Several benefits gain from the addition of finasteride in individuals undergoing hair transplantation procedures. First, finasteride potentially reduces the need for further proceedings, increasing hair allocation to the anterior and middle scalp, areas that do not respond to medication. Second, by potentially minimizing and even reversing the miniaturization process of hairs in the back half of the scalp (including hairs in the donor strip along the back of the head), finasteride can increase the density of those transplanted hairs, thus improving surgical results. Although uncommon, adverse effects can occur and include less than 2% published incidence of reduced libido and decreased sexual function. Alopecia Areata Treatment for adults with less than 50% of scalp involvement is intralesional triamcinolone acetonide injected intradermally using a 0.5-inch, 30-gauge needle. Maximal volume is 3 mL per session. Treatment may be repeated every four to six weeks until resolution or for a maximum of six months. Local adverse effects include transient atrophy and telangiectasia. Other therapies for the treatment of alopecia areata include topical mid- to high-potency corticosteroids, minoxidil, anthralin, immunotherapy (diphenylcyclopropenone, squaric acid dibutylester), and systemic corticosteroids. Currently, available therapies often yield unsatisfactory results, and some clinicians rely on the high rate of spontaneous remission or recommend a hairpiece or wig if reduction does not occur. Tinea Capitis If the diagnosis is not clear from the history and physical examination, a skin scraping taken from the active border of the inflamed patch in a potassium hydroxide preparation can be examined microscopically for the presence of hyphae. Skin scrapings can be sent for fungal culture, but this is less helpful because the fungi can take up to six weeks to grow. Tinea capitis requires systemic treatment; topical antifungal agents do not penetrate hair follicles. All close contacts of patients with tinea capitis should be examined for signs of infection and treated, if necessary. Telogen Effluvium Examination of the scalp in patients with telogen effluvium typically shows smooth hair thinning. The presence of erythema, scaling, or inflammation, altered or uneven hair distribution, or changes in shaft caliber, length, shape, or fragility may suggest other diagnoses. Laboratory investigations are shown if the history and physical examination findings suggest underlying systemic disorders (e.g., iron deficiency anemia, zinc deficiency, renal or liver disease, thyroid disease).  Telogen effluvium is usually self-limited and resolves within two to six months. Treatment involves ending the underlying cause and providing reassurance. Potentially causative medications should be stopped, if possible. Telogen effluvium may last for years if the underlying stress continues. Trichotillomania The optimal treatment for this condition is not known, and psychiatric referral may be indicated. Treatment options include cognitive behavior therapy and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, although strong evidence of a treatment effect has not been proved. Preliminary evidence suggests positive treatment effects with acetylcysteine, olanzapine (Zyprexa), and clomipramine (Anafranil). A combination of cognitive behavior therapy and medications may be more effective than either approach alone. Trichorrhexis Nodosa Trichorrhexis nodosa occurs when hairs break secondary to trauma or because of fragile hair. It affects the proximal hair shaft, although the distal shaft may also be involved. Causative injuries include excessive brushing, heat application, tight hairstyles, trichotillomania, and conditions that cause excessive scalp scratching. Chemical injuries include harsh hair treatments (e.g., excessive use of bleach, dye, shampoo, perms, or relaxers and excessive exposure to saltwater. Examples of congenital or genetic conditions that may cause trichorrhexis nodosa include trichorrhexis invaginata (bamboo hair. Rarely, trichorrhexis nodosa can be a manifestation of hypothyroidism. On examination, hairs appear to have white nodes; on closer inspection, these are shown to be fracture sites along the shaft and cortex that have split into several strands. On dermoscopy, hairs look like two brooms or paintbrushes thrust together. If the diagnosis is not precise, laboratory testing should include a complete blood count, iron studies, copper level, liver function testing, thyroid-stimulating hormone level, and serum and urine amino acid levels. Treatment includes avoiding or minimizing physical and chemical trauma. Anagen Effluvium Patients typically present with diffuse hair loss that begins days to weeks after exposure to a chemotherapeutic agent and is most apparent after one or two months. Anagen effluvium is usually reversible, with regrowth one to three months after cessation of the offending agent. Permanent alopecia is rare. What Does MSI Offer Male Hair Loss Patients? At MSI, every treatment option begins with a complimentary video-microscopic hair density test and digital documentation so that results can be calculated and monitored. Just as there are many causes, there are many treatments for hair loss. Prof Moawad recommends treating hair loss early. Early means before you lose a lot of hair. Hair loss is harder to treat when a person has a lot of hair loss.  One or more of the following treatments may be part of your treatment plan. MSI Skin Care Products Nowadays, two drug molecules (5% minoxidil solution and finasteride) are used to stabilize hair loss and promote hair regrowth. These molecules stimulate, through various mechanisms, an increase in the diameter and length of preexisting fine hairs. Finasteride can also be given orally. We are proud at MSI to have formulated topical medications that effectively stop hair loss, and eventually, regrowth of hair loss. Mesotherapy or Mesohair (vitamins injections) Techniques used in mesohair treatment for hair loss are derived from mesotherapy. It is an effective treatment for hair loss both in men and women. A tiny amount of active ingredients of minoxidil, finasteride together with all vitamins and trace elements are injected via computerized mesogun into the mesoderm of bald areas. This helps to make mesohair faster as well as potentially less painful when compared with manual injection. The most recent available treatment of both hair preservation and restoration is the newly introduced combination of mesotherapy, infrared technology, and oxygen therapy with or without platelet-rich plasma or (PRP) done only at the MSI hair care unit.   It gives an excellent result in both Androgenic and pseudo androgenic alopecia. Using a specialized cocktail, your scalp is given vitamins and essential growth factors that improve blood circulation, which will restore your hair loss. Platelet Rich Plasma or PRP Injections Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is cutting-edge therapy in the field of cosmetic enhancements. Although the procedure is relatively new in aesthetics, PRP has been recognized as an effective treatment in sports injury, diabetic ulcer treatment, and orthopedics, to name a few. Read More on PRP. The hair follicle has a very complex biologic structure, and the growth of the hair process is regulated by specific growth cycles. Many growth factors play a fundamental role in the life-long cyclic transformation of the hair follicle functioning as biologic switches that are turned on and off during the different phases, controlling the active phase and promoting apoptosis to induce catagen and telogen. The main growth factors involved in the establishment of the hair follicle are vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), insulin 1-like growth factor, and fibroblast growth factor (FGF). Platelets release large amounts of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGFaa, PDGFbb, and PDGFab), transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ1 and β2), EGF, and VEGF. Read the full article