Exosomes for the scalp: the newer option for thinning hair, explained plainly

Cells talk to each other by releasing tiny packages called exosomes. Each one carries proteins and genetic signals that tell neighbouring cells what to do: repair, grow, calm down. Laboratory-grown exosomes, purified and standardised, can deliver those signals to a scalp where the follicles have gone quiet.

How it differs from PRP

PRP uses your own platelets, which carry growth signals of their own. Exosomes are made in a laboratory, so the dose and content are the same every time and there is no blood to take. Some people prefer that; some prefer that PRP is entirely their own.

• PRP: your own blood, three sessions to begin, well-established.
• Exosomes: a standardised product, applied with microneedling, newer, with promising early studies.
• Together: PRP for the follicle, exosomes for the scalp environment around it. This is the combination the clinic uses most for stubborn thinning.

What an appointment involves

The scalp is cleansed and numbed. A fine microneedling pass opens the surface just enough for the solution to reach where it is needed. The exosome serum is applied and worked in. About forty minutes in all, with a tender scalp for a day.

What the appointment involves

The scalp is cleansed and a numbing cream applied for fifteen to twenty minutes. A microneedling device with fine, short needles then passes over the thinning area, opening channels just deep enough for the solution to reach the follicles without drawing blood. The exosome serum is applied and worked in as the needling continues, so it travels into the channels while they are open. Forty minutes, a tender scalp until the next day, and no visible sign of it afterwards.

Course and cost, plainly

Three sessions, four weeks apart, is the starting course, with a progress scan at the third so the change is seen rather than assumed. After that, one session every three to four months holds the ground. It is priced per session, and the course is not cheaper than PRP; the reason to choose it is the absence of a blood draw, a scalp that needs calming as well as waking, or a plateau on PRP alone. The consultation says which applies.

What to do between sessions

• No colour, bleach or chemical straightening for a week either side of a session.
• Wash gently from the next day; nothing medicated on the scalp for three days.
• Keep the vitamin and iron levels the analysis flagged in order; the treatment works on what the body gives it.
• Photographs at each visit, in the same light, so the third session is judged fairly.

Questions people ask

Where do the exosomes come from: grown from cells in a laboratory, purified and standardised, with nothing from another person in them. Do they work for everyone: no treatment does, and the scan at the third session is how each person finds out for themselves. Can I have them with PRP: yes, and for stubborn thinning that pairing is the one the clinic uses most. Do I need to keep having them: one session every three to four months holds the result, and stopping simply lets the scalp return, slowly, to where it was.

• A hair and scalp analysis first, so there is a baseline and a reason.
• Three sessions a month apart as the fair trial.
• Photographs and a scan at each visit, in the same light, so the change is measured.

The honest sentence at every consultation is the same: the research is promising and young, and the scan is the evidence that matters for you.

A hair and scalp analysis first shows density and the health of the scalp, and gives the baseline every later scan is compared against.