Platelet Rich Plasma therapy makes use of the fact that your body’s ability to naturally heal itself may delay or even reverse ageing. Platelets contain large numbers of growth factors, which are the proteins that promote healing of damaged tissues and skin. This therapy adds growth factors to the precise location where you wish your skin to rejuvenate itself.

Your skin cells will multiply, increasing the volume of your skin for a more youthful appearance. Choosing to have PRP therapy at Dermadoc in London, you can be confident that you will receive pleasing results thanks to the expertise of the specialist medical staff at our clinic.

What Is PRP Therapy?

With PRP therapy, platelets are taken from your own blood to allow their injection into areas of your skin that you feel conscious about. This is why the procedure is sometimes termed a “vampire facelift” or alternatively, “Dracula therapy”. Before the platelets can be injected, your blood is spun in a centrifuge to separate the platelets from your red blood cells. The collected platelet rich plasma is activated before being injected into your chosen area of skin. This fills out your skin, reducing the appearance of fine lines and skin folds.

Injection of the platelet rich plasma into your skin allows the platelets to release the growth factors they contain. These growth factors encourage the surrounding cells to plump up and they also send messages to other body cells to migrate towards the injection site. One type of cell stimulated during PRP therapy are fibroblasts, which create collagen. It is collagen that makes your skin appear youthful and as you get older, you produce less collagen, leading to the appearance of lines and wrinkles. Therapies that boost collagen production help to rectify this problem. Platelet rich plasma also stimulates pre-adipocyte cells, which become fat cells, helping to fill facial lines and contour your face.

While PRP therapy is helpful for problem areas of skin surrounding your mouth, nose and eyes, this treatment is suitable for elsewhere on your body too. For instance, this therapy is popular for the decollétage and the hands, though it can also be used for the treatment of scars all over the body and some women even have the procedure to give their knees a more youthful appearance.

PRP Therapy Procedure

After receiving a consultation from a cosmetic specialist at Dermadoc, your doctor will take a 10-20ml sample of blood, just as if you were having a blood test taken. After using a centrifuge to isolate the platelets, they will prepare your skin for the procedure. Firstly, if you are wearing make-up, they will use a wipe to remove this, before applying an antiseptic to the chosen area of skin where you will receive the injection. You will then receive a local anaesthetic to the surface of your skin, after which your skin is ready for the injection. Using a sterile technique, the platelets are introduced to your skin using a fine needle and you will receive multiple injections at several sites to improve the overall outcome of PRP therapy. Within an hour the procedure is complete.

Results from this procedure are usually noticeable after a few weeks, though after a couple of follow-up treatments, the results typically last for as long as 18 months.

Recovery from PRP Therapy

You will recover very quickly from the procedure, as thanks to the topical anaesthetic it is a very comfortable treatment and there should be no unwanted effects from this type of anaesthetic. Most people are usually able to carry on with their day as normal as soon as PRP therapy is over. You may notice that the area of skin in question is a little bruised, swollen or red around the injection site, but this will disappear within a matter of days and will probably not be noticeable to other people. However, it is important to follow the post-treatment guidelines to prevent any problems:

To discuss your suitability for platelet rich plasma therapy, call Dermadoc today.