PRP treatment for rejuvenation and more

Are you interested what is PRP and how does it work ?

PRP has become a highly sought-after non-surgical procedure for facial and skin rejuvenation. PRP therapy is a treatment which uses the patient’s own blood platelets to stimulate new cell growth, helping to improve the complexion, skin texture and to restore lost facial volume.

The human blood is essentially made up of four components; red blood cells, white blood cells, the plasma and the platelets. The doctor take from the patient’s blood and spin it in a centrifuge, which enables the separation of the blood cells from the plasma and platelets. This is then re-injected into the skin to stimulate collagen and new skin cells. PRP harnesses the beneficial functions of the patients own platelets and therefore there is no risk of allergy or rejection of the treatment.

What is the procedure?
Depending on how many areas the patient want to get treated, a volume of blood will be taken. This is usually between 10 to 30 ml. The blood is then placed in a centifuge for around few minutes. Once the cells have been separated, the rich platelets are extracted and injected into the skin where rejuvenation is requested.

What is expected post treatment?
Most people will experience some mild to moderate swelling in the area of treatment, redness or heat, which are all common side effects and are part of the activation of the platelets. Because a volume of fluid has to be administered, swelling is inevitable. Bruising can occur and may take several days to disappear.

How soon the patient will see results?
Most patients will require three treatments at four to six week intervals. The first thing people notice is an improvement in skin turgor and elasticity. Collagen production can take up to three months to occur and the results can differ depending on the individual. Because the injected product is 100% patient’s own, factors such as smoking, stress and illness can effect results. A series of three treatments can yield results for up to two years.

Are there any reasons why some people can’t have PRP therapy?
Like the majority of cosmetic procedures, ladies who are pregnant, breast-feeding or trying to conceive are not suitable candidates. This treatment is not recommended in people on anti-coagulation treatment, autoimmune conditions, have suffered any type of cancer or who have certain implants in the treatment area. The patient’s past and present medical history, as well as the past cosmetic history will be assessed to determine the patient’s suitability.

PRP can also be successfully used to treat thinning hair and hairloss particularly male pattern baldness. It is important to start treatment early on and whether who is suitable candidate will be determined during a consultation.

PRP is very effective in the treatment of chronic tendon injuries, especially tennis elbow, a very common injury of the tendons on the outside of the elbow. The use of PRP for other chronic tendon injuries — such as chronic Achilles tendonitis or inflammation of the patellar tendon at the knee (jumper's knee) is promising. However, it is difficult to say at this time that PRP therapy is any more effective than traditional treatment of these problems.

Acute Ligament and Muscle Injuries
Much of the publicity PRP therapy has received has been about the treatment of acute sports injuries, such as ligament and muscle injuries. PRP has been used to treat professional athletes with common sports injuries like pulled hamstring muscles in the thigh and knee sprains. There is no definitive scientific evidence, however, that PRP therapy actually improves the healing process in these types of injuries.

Surgery
More recently, PRP has been used during certain types of surgery to help tissues heal. It was first thought to be beneficial in shoulder surgery to repair torn rotator cuff tendons. However, the results so far show little or no benefit when PRP is used in these types of surgical procedures.

Surgery to repair torn knee ligaments, especially the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is another area where PRP has been applied. At this time, there appears to be little or no benefit from using PRP in this instance.

Knee Arthritis
Some initial research is being done to evaluate the effectiveness of PRP in the treatment of the arthritic knee. It is still too soon to determine if this form of treatment will be any more effective than current treatment methods.

Fractures
PRP has been used in a very limited way to speed the healing of broken bones. So far, it has shown no significant benefit.