Regenerative medicine
Liquid PRF (i-PRF) treatment in facial aesthetics
Treatment areas of concern suitable for injectable liquid PRF (i-PRF):
Ageing skin
Crows feet
Fine lines and wrinkles
Frown and forehead lines
Loss of lip contour and volume
Nasolabial folds
Neck: loose skin, lines, wrinkles
Volume loss in backs of hands
What is i-PRF?
Platelet therapy options have evolved in aesthetic use in recent years. Time tested Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) was the first-generation platelet treatment modality used to promote natural production of collagen to enhance skin tone, reduce wrinkles and, over time, improve skin volume.
PRP evolved to PRF to lengthen the time the platelets could degranulate and deliver the growth factors, extending from 1–2 days up to 7–10 days. A prolonged exposure to growth factors improved outcomes.
Treatment with i-PRF involves drawing blood and placing it in a centrifuge to separate out the cell layers and provide the layer of concentrated platelets, stem cells (precursor cells that can produce cell lines responsible for tissue repair and rejuvenation), and white blood cells for harvesting as liquid PRF. This is then injected beneath the skin to provide the essential growth factors and stimulate collagen production in the treatment area of concern. The extended release of growth factors increases the promotion of new collagen.
Over time this strengthens the skin and leads to increased skin health and skin tightening. The aesthetic effects of i-PRF are not usually immediate, but would usually start to manifest after 6–8 weeks with the recommended treatment frequency.
i-PRF is completely derived from your own blood.
There are no additives.
It is completely compatible with you.
It is safe to use in pregnancy, breast feeding and in immunocompromised individuals.
It provides an alternative to Botox or fillers for anyone who chooses a natural biological skin rejuvenation product.
What are the benefits of i-PRF?
Improved skin integrity, resulting in smoother, healthier looking skin.
Reduced visibility of fine lines.
Improved skin integrity under the eyes (tear troughs), reducing the appearance of dark hollows.
Reduced depth of nasolabial folds (lines between the nose and mouth)
Reduced depth of “smokers’’ lines around the mouth.
Added volume and enhanced contour in the lips.
Improved appearance of mild acne scarring.
Improved texture and tone of the skin.
Advantages
100% natural, no additives.
Promotes collagen production within the tissues.
Minimally invasive procedure.
Treatment schedule
3 treatments spaced at 4–week intervals are recommended as start up.
Ongoing single maintenance treatments 4–6 monthly are recommended to maintain the ongoing biostimulation for skin rejuvenation.
It is important to arrive for your treatment well hydrated to optimise the yield of PRF.
i-PRF treatments are also available for
Micro-needling with liquid PRF: creates tiny perforations in the skin that can allow for better absorption of the platelet-rich fibrin.
Injection into the scalp to stimulate hair follicle health and proliferation and reduce/reverse hair loss.
What to expect
The treatment is biostimulatory, it works at a cellular level.
Outcomes are measured over weeks to months post procedure.
Aftercare for i- PRF with needle/cannula
Following treatment, the area may feel “boggy” and swollen due to the volume of liquid injected under the skin.
The i-PRF will initially gel under the skin, then progress to liquification over the next 3 days.
You may notice migration of the product due to gravity in the 1–3 days post treatment, this does not affect the outcome.
The volume effect from treatment will start to diminish over the following 2–3 days, however, you will continue to benefit from skin rejuvenation results at a cellular level.
Any bruising should resolve within 7 days.
The treated area may look asymmetrical or uneven for up to 4 days following the procedure, this is normal.
It is safe to gently massage any areas of unevenness. This will not affect the outcome.
The origins of PRF
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) was discovered in the 1980s following the observation that faster healing after surgery occurred in patients who developed a haematoma (blood clot).
Research in the 1990s determined which elements of the haematoma were responsible for the faster healing. The most important cells were found to be the platelets, which release multiple growth factors as they break down within the clot. More recently, PRP has been refined into PRF (platelet-rich fibrin), which optimises platelet numbers and integrity and can be easily used in liquid form. PRF has been shown in several studies to have superior outcomes compared to PRP.
Varying the preparation of PRF can include or exclude white blood cells which also have many healing properties and are especially effective when used in joint injections.