PRP: Using your own Plasma as an Anti-Aging Serum

Have you heard about PRP, or platelet rich plasma, and are you curious to know what all the fuss is about? Well, let us explain why we love PRP at Accent on Skin and why this treatment may be a great addition to your cosmetic medicine treatment plan.

What is PRP Treatment?

PRP, is a great cosmetic treatment for naturally rejuvenating the skin and repairing those tell-tale signs of ageing. The treatment involves re-injecting your own platelet rich plasma into your skin, delivering an abundance of growth factors that stimulate your body’s normal healing response, helping you to achieve skin rejuvenation.

PRP stimulates collagen and elastin production which thickens and tightens thinning skin, effectively smoothing wrinkles and fine lines. It significantly increases collagen within the skin, making it a great treatment for improving overall skin texture and tone.

PRP is perfect for treating those difficult to treat areas, such as the delicate under eye area where our clients often notice the first signs of ageing but where other options such as laser can’t be used.

How Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) works?

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an ever-expanding treatment modality that continues to demonstrate considerable promise in the field of cosmetic medicine. PRP has long been used in a variety of medical settings, including cardiac surgery, oral surgery, orthopedics, and plastic surgery, and it continues to develop as a versatile treatment within cosmetic medicine. PRP is an autologous serum (meaning it’s made from your own body’s serum) containing high concentrations of platelets and growth factors.

The clinical application of PRP is based on using, the increase in the concentration of growth factors, that are released from the concentrated platelets and the secretion of specific proteins. All of which are able to ramp up the healing process at a cellular level within the skin. It is used to restore natural beauty by stimulating and enhancing the natural rejuvenation process of the skin, leading to a significant improvement in overall skin condition and youthfulness.

The numerous growth factors contained within PRP promote neo-collagenesis, angiogenesis, and overall proliferation of stem cells and soft tissue re-modelling. PRP is easily obtained from your own whole blood, making it a safe, in-clinic procedure. Top evidence-based dermatologic indications for PRP include hair restoration and skin rejuvenation, as well as improvements in acne scars. Moreover, combining PRP with other treatment modalities, such as laser therapies, micro-needling, dermal fillers, and autologous fat injections has demonstrated synergistic effects, enhancing overall cosmetic outcomes.

How does PRP help your skin rejuvenate?

The use of PRP with micro-needling is increasingly popular in cosmetic medicine. Micro-needling treatments create small holes in the skin, which act to enhance uptake with PRP penetrating deep into the dermis to make real improvements in the skin structure. This improves wound healing and shortens recovery time, as well as reducing post treatment erythema and melanin index of treated areas. Trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL) and inflammatory hyper-pigmentation are also found to be significantly lower when combining PRP with dermal needling.

Our clients who have PRP treatments notice, improved skin elasticity, firmness, improved tone and texture, a decrease in fine lines and, improvements in both acne and traumatic scarring. Studies have demonstrated increases in, collagen bundle density measurements and dermal elastic fibres as notable benefits within the dermis, following PRP treatments. When PRP is used in combination with other therapies, such as laser treatments, micro-needling, and hyaluronic acid fillers, further improvements in skin appearance are achieved.

Hair loss Treatment with PRP

PRP has demonstrated significant improvements in hair growth when treating androgenic alopecia. PRP growth factors promote hair regrowth by stimulating stem cell differentiation of hair follicles, inducing and prolonging the proliferative anagen phase of hair follicles, as well as activating anti-apoptotic pathways, and promoting angiogenesis to increase perifollicular vascularization and the survival of dermal papilla fibroblasts.

A wide array of studies indicates that PRP is a promising treatment for thinning hair. Both male and female pattern hair loss, as well as alopecia areata, can be improved with PRP.

While some studies reveal minimal improvement in hair restoration, it is suggested that inadequate treatment protocols have been used. A series of treatments with PRP is necessary for significant improvement of hair density. It is recommended you undergo a series of monthly injection treatments until improvement seen, then follow with maintenance treatments every 3-6 months going forward

How do we get your Platelet Rich Plasma for treatments?

The best part of PRP is that it’s using your own blood – it’s natural and plentiful, with no concerns with allergic reactions or rejecting treatment, as its your own body producing the PRP.

There are a number of commercially available PRP systems and kits. At Accent on Skin we use RegenKit® PRP system. The process involves a simple blood sample taken by venepuncture to obtain 10mL whole blood, which is combined with an anticoagulant agent. We then put this tube into a centrifuge to be spun down. Centrifugation separates the whole blood sample into three layers: red blood cells (RBCs), platelet-poor plasma (PPP), and our important “liquid gold” PRP layer. We carefully withdraw the separated PRP layer and put aside for your treatment. PRP comprises hundreds of bio-active proteins, including growth factors, peptides, and cytokines that stimulate healing of skin and soft tissues.

What is the procedure of PRP?

We put anesthetic numbing cream on your treatment are for 60 mins prior to your treatment. The PRP is either injected directly into specific areas (such as the delicate eye area) or alternatively can be micro-needled directly into your skin with Dermapen4.

Your skin will look red, and feel slightly swollen and hot immediately following the PRP treatment. This will gradually improve over the next 24 hrs. We recommend you keep out of the Sun and avoid active skincare products (such as retinols, AHAs and BHAs) over the next few days while the initial healing takes place. Results from PRP take between three to four weeks to appear but are long-lasting, typically lasting 12 to 18 months after an initial series of 3-4 treatments.