PRP Facial Rejuvenation
Platelets and associated proteins are rich in growth factors that promote cell replication, regulate normal cell metabolism, enhance blood vessel growth and create an environment of healing and repair in the treated area. Combining PRP with microneedling, also known as a PRP facial, significantly increases the quality of results compared to microneedling alone.
What is PRP? How does it work? PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) comes from your own blood. Platelets contain granules that contain multiple growth factors. These growth factors can attract stem cells to the area of treatment resulting in improved blood flow and an environment of healing that can enhance the results of microneedling.
What can I expect from a PRP with microneedling, or PRP facial, treatment? PRP with microneedling improves skin texture, skin irregularities, acne scars, surgical or traumatic scars, fine lines, pores and mildly tightens the skin by stimulating collagen in the dermal layer similar to CO2 lasers and Retin-A. PRP with microneedling (PRP facial) stimulates more collagen than microneedling alone.
Am I a candidate? Any skin type is a candidate for PRP with microneedling, also known as PRP facial. Individuals looking to improve fine lines, skin texture, scars, skin thinning, laxity or pore size are good candidates for the procedure.
How many PRP facial treatments do I need? We recommend 3-6 treatments depending on the desired outcome. Scar improvements, such as acne scarring, can take closer to 6 treatments whereas skin tightening and texture treatments can take as few as 3. The treatments are performed a month apart. During your consultation, we can advise you how many treatments would be right for you!
Is PRP with microneedling better than CO2 laser? They are different. PRP with microneedling produces collagen in the dermal layer similar to a fractionated CO2 laser treatment. It also improves fine lines, creates tightening, reduces pore size, and improves appearance of scars; however, PRP with microneedling usually requires 5-6 treatments, each about a month apart, to get similar results to a fractionated CO2 laser treatment.
PRP with microneedling doesn’t have much downtime (usually a few hours) and can be performed in the summer without sun avoidance. Fractionated CO2 laser does a better job of improving brown spots and treating deeper lines and wrinkles than PRP with microneedling but there is usually about 7 days of downtime with the laser treatment and sun avoidance is recommended for 4-8 weeks.
PRP with microneedling is great for busy individuals who can’t take time off of work and/or avoid the sun but want to improve their skin dramatically.
Do PRP with microneedling treatments hurt? Topical anesthetic is applied to the area treated for 15-20 minutes prior to treatment and this eliminates any discomfort associated with the PRP with microneedling or PRP facial treatment. The only other discomfort experienced is that of the needlestick to draw the platelets. This is performed by our experienced medical assistants or registered nurses and not by the aesthetician performing the treatment.
When will I see results? Improvement in skin texture will be noticed almost immediately after a PRP with microneedling (PRP facial) treatment. Scars and skin tightening results take closer to 3 months since it takes our bodies approximately 3 months to make collagen.
