Cosmetic Question: What is PRP, and should I have it to make my filler last longer?
Cosmetic Answer: This is an excellent question and a controversial one.
PRP stands for platelet rich plasma. You may have heard it referred to by its trademarked name, the Vampire face lift. Here is what you need to know.
Platelets are tiny blood particles that make our blood clot. They are full of growth factors and cells which make our body heal and grow.
Platelets are found in our plasma, the yellow serum that you see when you scrape your knee. It is the part of the blood that does not have red cells.
PRP concentrates are made by taking a blood sample and spinning it at high speed in a centrifuge. At the end of this violent spinning, the blood has visibly separated into layers. In the yellow plasma layer is a thin white layer. This is the PRP, plasma containing lots of platelets. Out of 30 ccs of blood, there are 2-3 ccs or less of PRP.
There are claims that PRP will improve the results of your filler injections. The vampire face lift combines hyaluronic acid fillers with PRP injections. Is the marketing or does PRP really work? The web sites I have seen look impressive. However, trusting claims can affect your pocket book, because PRP injections cost more than filler, from 50% to 500% more.
And there is no peer-reviewed research showing that this works, although these claims have been made for several years. So… I did a test on myself. I had PRP prepared in the standard manner from my blood and I had 3 sites injected. One with just PRP, one with just filler and one with PRP with filler. I expected the PRP+Filler to look better and last longer. It didn’t.
PRP alone vanished in 2 weeks. Filler alone is still visible 2 months later. PRP + filler lasted only 6 weeks. So, until we have good scientific studies showing if and how PRP improves your filler results, I suggest just having more filler if you want better filler results. Skip the PRP for now.
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Copyright E Morgan August 2014