The blood injection trend taking the beauty world by storm, also known as PRP, has beauty enthusiasts swooning over the rejuvenating benefits of injecting your own platelet-rich plasma back into your skin.
What is PRP?
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is blood plasma that has been enriched with platelets and contains a number of healing proteins (known as growth factors) that have the ability to stimulate healing of bone and soft tissue. In other words, it boosts the skin’s ability to rejuvenate, leaving skin glowing with a natural radiance.
The treatment has been available for years, however has been primarily used for athletes with sport injuries because of its healing properties and precise treatment application. Enter new age beauty; it’s the hottest treatment in facial rejuvenation therapy for those who are not quite ready for the scalpel.
Is PRP the lunch time alternative to surgery?
The PRP treatment can be applied in multiple areas, however most commonly the under eye and facial skin area. For our road test we decided to tackle the hard to treat décolletage and neck area, a delicate and often overlooked zone that can be the first visible sign of age if neglected. Aging from various environmental factors, including sun exposure, combined with physiological aging can make this area the target area lose elasticity and discolouration.
PRP increases the number of platelets far beyond the normal blood concentration to boost the skin’s ability to rejuvenate. The treatment encourages the body to use it’s own processes more effectively where processes may have started to slow, also known as aging.
In short, PRP kickstarts the bodies ability to turn back time.
Does it really work?
Rescu. Founder and Editor put the trend talk to the test, trying the PRP treatment on her décolletage and neck area. Read below to find out the nitty-gritty details of the procedure with Susi Garrett, practitioner at Face Plus.
Susi Garrett: For the PRP treatment, we took 3 vials of blood and extracted about 15 millilitres of beautiful plasma, because you want hydration. The blood is then processed using a mechanical device to separate the platelets from the rest of the blood, increasing the level of concentration over three times the normal level. This is then injected back into the skin, using mesotherapy needles. These needs are very fine to ensure there is no huge blood loss like you would with the Dermapen for example.
RESCU: What are the results I should expect to see in my neck and décolletage area?
Susi Garrett: Your skin will look plumper, any wrinkling you might have will also look a lot finer. If you have pigmentation, you will see it start to fade, so PRP is actually quite good for pigmentation as well.
For better results you should do 3 treatments, each one month apart and then come back for an annual treatment.
RESCU: Do you recommend this treatment for the neck and décolletage? What are the first signs you would notice that you would say, ‘ok it’s time to have this treatment’?
Susi Garrett: In the neck and décolletage, usually it’s sun damage. There’s not a lot you can do with neck and décolletage, especially with décolletage. You can have surficial treatments, like lasers, chemical peels, and enzymes, but PRP is using your own plasma getting it right down deep to the dermal layer.
RESCU: What does it do?
Susi Garrett: It activates the enzymes, which then excites the collagen to regenerate faster, because as we age the collagen regeneration is a lot slower. That’s why we get really saggy, creepy skin.
RESCU: What is the cost per treatment?
Susi Garrett: It’s per vile, so probably around the eye is one, around the mouth is another. Per vile the cost is almost $500. In the instance of a neck and décolletage, I took 3 vials, so about $1,500.
RESCU: About $1,500 and you’d have 3 goes of that – you’d be looking pretty fabulous after that!
Rescu. road test results and comments: