Alright, so I mentioned in a few entries that I was going to a facility to look into the PRP shot. That event occurred so let me share what the doctor said to the best of my memory and my thoughts on it.About the facility
First, it’s a medical spa called “The Fountain Rejuvenation Clinic” So it specializes in botox for the face, laser surgery for the face, many cosmetic and other rejuvenation concepts.
Second, it is his spa. He is the only doctor who performs procedures and occasionally has a Nurse Practitioner assist him. The spa is in a swanky neighborhood and has a pair of bathrooms with glass bowl sinks an inch thick. So he caters to the upper tax brackets as a regular thing.
About the doctor
The doctor’s name is Dr. Curtis Birchall. You meet him, and…he doesn’t look 66 years old. Which, for a white guy is a challenge. But the skin on his face is perfect, tight and blemish free. As a guy running a vanity and rejuvenation clinic he makes a good impression as his own advertisement. He will tell you that he doesn’t sell any service he hasn’t tried on himself, which I can believe after talking to him. He also was trained directly by Dr. Charles Runnels, the forerunner of the Priapus shot and has the most Priapus shots performed in the state of Ohio currently as a personal record.
All of that being said, he is a straight talker. Unlike most doctors, he doesn’t spend most of the consultation talking down to you to in order to explain things. I shared my curvature concerns and he tells me that Dr. Charles Runnels, the forerunner of the procedure, gets a lot of his business from curvature correction patients and that he is doing the same exact procedure. Platelet Enriched Plasma shots primarily. For Peyronie’s he is perfecting use of the Gainswave type ultrasound treatment. The ultrasound device is more efficient for plaque disruption than the PRP shot is even though the shot has some merit in that application. The doctor, while well trained and with a lot of medical background, has a streak of DIY in him and wants to figure out Gainswave himself. Just a tidbit I found interesting.
He gave me some advice on a supplement I could take to lower my blood pressure. He spoke on cyclists and why cyclists in this country suffer from such small flaccids and sexual dysfunction. Pressure on the central nerve running on the underside of the crotch from the nose of the bicycle seat. If you’ve ever gotten off a bike and your butt been spitting sparks, it’s because of your bicycle seat shape. Other miscellaneous medical things will come up and he is more than willing to answer pretty random questions you may have. Honestly, pretty accommodating for a doctor.
Also, he has a patient who has agreed to let the doctor use his pictures which he will only show if you ask to see them. It’s a 2 month timelapse and the measurements are done while the patient is pressurized in the pump cylinder. His patient went from 7”Non bone pressed to 7.875” Non Bone Pressed in 2 months. The doctor will say 8” and I didn’t correct him but years of looking at dick pics makes me very particular. In my opinion pumping and measuring leaves a lot of room for error and fudging measurements but I remained silent, as his picture testimonial is optional and really he “sells” the shot based on his own experience.
Also, unlike most facilities he doesn’t want to take more before and after pictures and will tell you he doesn’t take pictures of penises except in that one instance. It was odd, his reaction and body language when explaining that. Like an old school guy who has a bit of the cultural homophobia in him but I couldn’t be sure. Or maybe he just doesn’t like penis pictures.
The Service Itself
To the PRP service itself, the shot is $1800 usually and includes a pump(which can be omitted to save $100 if you bring your own pump). If you agree to a consultation it is $50 and is deducted from the cost of the procedure if you decide to move forward with it. His application of the shot requires immediate use of the pump to disperse the Platelet Enriched Plasma as quickly as possible before it sets up. He will explain that the 60cc of blood used for collection is a medical standard for any PRP shot, whether it is in the knees, shoulders or penis. It doesn’t vary on body size, nor do the injection zones on the penis. Additionally, 60cc are withdrawn from you. The actual net injections are around 10cc after centrifugal separation of the plasma and activation of it. This is where the doctor will mention the quality of his centrifuge for netting the most usable plasma. I wager the location of his facility and the raw volume of business he gets in such an affluent area is why he can afford such equipment but I digress.
His experience with his customers is that 2 months will show most gains with the shot and he doesn’t do a shot again sooner than 6 weeks at the earliest. Bringing your own pump reduces the price of the procedure by $100 and additional shots will be discounted $200 because you’ll know what you’re dealing with and own the pump already.
He recommends using the pump between 10-15HG for 10-15 minutes per day. Once daily if you are only seeking function. Twice daily, spaced out by a large portion if possible, if you are seeking size as well. Oddly enough, he also encourages you to work up to as high a pressure as you can. Several of his patients have pumped at 25HG and many manage to reach 20HG in the regiment. The doctor personally has not gotten to 20HG, too uncomfortable he will admit trying but not reaching it. My experience with high pressure pumping will be key, if pumping at high pressure is important but I didn’t expect it to be quite so relevant. I spoke with him about the pump I built and how it is designed to cycle and he even emphasizes that just holding 10HG isn’t optimum or comfortable. That cycling pressure would be the better method and most do so simply because holding a high pressure for 10 minutes is simply impractical.
I suspect the gains his patients see are highly reliant on this level of pressure and the additional resilience and recovery abilities provided by the shot. His emphasis that the shot is “like a gym membership and you have to go to get the results” is a mantra you’ll hear several times in regard to pumping post treatment daily.
The cost for the procedure comes from his hiring of a nurse just for it. Collection of the blood must be done at an exact rate of 1cc per second. Then, the centrifuge needs to be utilized a certain way to separate the platelets optimally (He will tell you about his Magellan centrifuge and how there are only 8 of his model in the state and he is the only doctor with one in his office for his own use) and most importantly the application of the activated platelets has a 3 minute window. When you add the calcium solution to the platelets to trigger them to start working, they will coagulate and ‘set up’ within 3 minutes and so the injections need to be timely as does the application of vacuum pressure to disperse the plasma as well.
Apply very strong numbing cream. Wait 30 minutes for activation. Collect the blood, separate it, activate it. Two shots at the base. Two shots around the middle of the shaft. One shot behind the glans, underneath (looked like frenulum area where he pointed on the diagram). That is the way it is done. The glans injection is for sensitivity, nerve regeneration as well as size. This is a pointed thing for me as my sensitivity has always been one of my least favorite things and increasing it was the original reason I looked into the shot.
My Verdict?
Honestly, I was pretty well set on getting the shot before. That is the truth. Listening to him talk, I watched his face for most of it. I listened to his inflection. While I was likely going to accept his service regardless to learn more about the PRP shot…I was struck by something odd. Sincerity.
Him explaining his own experience, particularly with the Gainswave experiment he’s run on himself, it just rang true in a way that people selling things generally do not ring true. I believe the guy believes in what he does. It’s hard to describe but the conversation was more organic than a simple sales explanation is all I have to say.
I’ll get a PRP shot in the next couple weeks. They have a special for March where it is $1400 so maybe I’ll book one, or two. I plan on bringing in my Plateau Breaker for the procedure as it is a pumping device with a gauge. The doctor advises he also built an electric pumping device (I did not ask for particulars but I will on my procedure day just to compare notes) for his own use when he did his PRP shots on himself. Just seems like the kind of guy you can ask these questions to.
That’s my visit in a nutshell. Nothing fancy or official. Just my impressions and what I picked up after spending $50 to consult the doctor.
