What is PRP?

Platelet Rich Plasma, also known as ‘PRP’ is an injection/micro needling treatment whereby the clients own own blood is used to rejuvenate the treatment area such as the face or scalp for hair loss.

A fraction of blood (5-20ml) is drawn up from the client into a vacuum sealed tube. This is a relatively small amount compared to blood donation which can remove 500ml. The blood is spun in a special centrifuge to separate its components (Red Blood Cells, Platelet Rich Plasma, Platelet Poor Plasma and Buffy Coat).

Diagram B – Centrifuge in action

Once spun for adequate time within the centrifuge, the blood components should have separated. See diagram above. We are looking to extract the platelet rich plasma from the tube.

To give you an idea, in a tube of 10ml blood, you will be able to extract roughly 2ml of PRP. This is what is injected into the treatment area.

When PRP is injected into the treatment area it causes a mild inflammation that triggers the healing process. As the platelets organize in the treatment area, they release several enzymes to promote healing and tissue responses including attracting stem cells and growth factors to repair the damaged area.

As a result, new collagen begins to develop. As the collagen matures it begins to shrink causing the tightening and strengthening of the damaged area. When treating injured, aged, or damaged tissue, this can induce a remodelling of the tissue to a healthier and younger state.

The full procedure takes approximately 45minutes to an hour. Generally, 2-3 treatments are advised; however, more may be necessary for some individuals. Each treatment should be 4-6 weeks apart, or, until the treatment area has fully healed if taking longer than 4-6 weeks.

Touch up treatments may be done once to twice a year after the initial group of treatments to boost and maintain the results.

PRP’S safety has been established for over 20 years for its wound healing properties and its proven effectiveness has extended across multiple medical specialties including cardiovascular surgery, orthopaedics, sports medicine, podiatry, ENT, neurosurgery, dental and maxillofacial surgery (dental implants and sinus elevations), urology, dermatology (chronic wound healing), and ophthalmology, cosmetic surgery.

PRP’s emergence into aesthetics and skin rejuvenation began in 2004 in Europe, Asia, Australia, South America and in countries such as The United Kingdom, Japan, Spain, Portugal, and Argentina to name a few. Areas typically treated for aesthetic purposes and skin rejuvenation include Crinkling skin around the eyes, cheeks and mid face, neck, jawline, chest, and décolletage, back of hands and arms, lips, and to stimulate hair growth on scalp.

Almost all skin tones show that PRP is safe and effective because your own enriched plasma is used. BENEFITS of PRP: Along with the benefit of using your own tissue therefore virtually eliminating allergies, there is the added intrigue of mobilizing your own stem cells for your benefit.

PRP has been shown to offer overall rejuvenating effects on the skin including improving skin texture, thickness, fine lines, and wrinkles, increasing volume via the increased production of collagen and Elastin, and by diminishing and improving the appearance of scars. The most dramatic results to date have been the crepey skin problems in areas such as under the eyes, neck, and décolletage.

It is not designed to replace cosmetic surgery as there are some cases where those procedures would be more appropriate. Other benefits to PRP treatments include minimal down time, safe with minimal risk, short recovery time, natural looking results; no general anaesthesia is required.

The risk of contamination with other person’s blood is zero, because it is your own blood. The results are nature’s own fountain of youth offering firmer healthier skin.

The pain can be from mild to moderate. Topical anaesthetic can be put onto the area of treatment to minimise the pain and discomfort; however, this doesn’t always guarantee the best results on the area.