If you’re looking to restore lost volume in your face, but you want a more natural approach than fillers, platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) may be the solution you need.
At YCO Facial Plastic Surgery in Encinitas, California, Mario Yco, MD, offers PRF skin rejuvenating procedures to address common facial flaws that develop during the aging process. Dr. Yco has extensive training in PRF treatments, and he can help you achieve your aesthetic goals.
Before we explain what platelet-rich fibrin is, we first have to explain what platelets are and what fibrin is.
Platelets are cells in your blood that help your blood clot. If you get a cut, platelets go to the wound and begin forming a barrier to keep the blood from exiting the wound. Platelets also contain special growth factor proteins, and they help with healing and tissue regeneration of the wound.
Platelets, however, are not strong enough to form a clot on their own. That’s where fibrin comes in. Fibrin is a protein that’s also found in your blood, and, upon activation, these proteins help the platelets stick together. They form a sticky net, and together with your platelets, they form a solid barrier to keep your blood from exiting your wound.
So how these two elements help in treating wrinkles, lost volume, facial folds, and other cosmetic flaws is that once they’re injected, the platelets start helping with tissue regeneration, and the fibrin starts helping to provide structure to fill out those areas.
The platelet-rich fibrin we use is made from your own blood. When creating PRF, we draw a sample of your blood and place it in a centrifuge. The centrifuge then spins your blood to separate your platelets and fibrin from the rest of your blood’s components.
We then refine the resulting compound and inject it into the areas that need treatment. The platelets and fibrin then bind together and form a scaffold to fill out and heal the areas that are treated.
You can take advantage of the anti-aging, skin-healing benefits PRF provides instead of using synthetic fillers or surgical procedures to enhance your appearance.
Injections of platelet-rich fibrin can treat a wide range of skin flaws without the need for invasive surgery. Based on your skin’s condition and your aesthetic goals, we may recommend PRF injections to address:
You may need 2-3 treatments to achieve the desired results.
We offer PRF injections in a comfortable, relaxed office environment. The needles we use to draw blood and reinject PRF back into your skin are very thin, and your discomfort should be minimal.
Following a customized care plan, Dr. Yco injects PRF into specific areas of your face. You may need injections in multiple places to achieve your desired results.
After your injections, you can return home and go back to your usual activities without any limitations. Any redness or irritation at the injection sites should disappear within a few days.
It takes time to see the optimal results of PRF injections. Within 3-4 weeks of your treatment, your skin should be noticeably smoother, with wrinkles and lines smoothing out and volume around your cheeks increasing.
These results will look completely natural, because treatment is completely natural and only uses materials from your own body.
One of the biggest benefits of PRF therapy is that the side effects are minimal, because we use your own blood to produce a high concentration of platelets.
If you’re looking for more dramatic results, we can perform a comprehensive skin consultation to determine if other treatment strategies, such as fat transfer injections, liquid facelifts, or facelift surgery, are a better fit for your goals. We offer several facial rejuvenation services to help you look and feel your best.
To learn more about PRF therapy and to see if it can help you, call 760-944-4211 or book an appointment online with YCO Facial Plastic Surgery today.
