Platelet rich plasma is a form of therapy known as regenerative medicine. It’s a revolutionary treatment for a number of problems, both medical and cosmetic. PRP has the ability to regenerate your tissues using your own body’s healing mechanisms.
At IVY Infusions, located in Greenwich, Connecticut, our team offers PRP therapy to help you rejuvenate your face and skin. Leading our team is Sasha Beatty, who’s a family nurse practitioner, specializing in med-spa treatments.
What is PRP?
Platelet rich plasma, also known as PRP, is a type of treatment that uses your body’s platelets to heal and regenerate your body’s tissues. To understand PRP, you have to first understand the components of your blood.
Your blood is made up of different components — the solids, which are the red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, and the liquid component, or plasma. In PRP, only the plasma and platelets are used.
When you think of platelets, you likely think of clotting factors, which allow you to stop bleeding relatively quickly. But platelets are more than just that. In fact, platelets contain important growth factors that help to speed up your body’s natural healing response.
How the platelets are acquired
PRP is a pretty simple procedure that we do in the office using minimal tools. To start the process, our team draws blood from your arm into a tube. The tube is then taken to a machine called a centrifuge.
We place the tube of your blood in the centrifuge and turn on the machine. The centrifuge spins the tube of blood very quickly, allowing the whole blood to separate from the plasma and platelets.
Once it’s separated, our team removes the vial of blood from the centrifuge and carefully extracts the plasma and platelets into a syringe. It’s then prepared for injection into your skin, through either microneedling or traditional injection.
How we use PRP for aesthetics
PRP is a versatile treatment that’s used in all types of medical practice. However, at IVY Infusions, Ms. Beatty uses it for aesthetic purposes. Because PRP uses the all-important growth factors in your platelets, our team has the ability to help you with problems like:
- Uneven skin texture
- Scars from acne
- Fine lines and wrinkles
- Loss of hair
- Loose, sagging skin
- UV damage
- Stretch marks
So how is this possible? The growth factors contained in your platelets are made to heal an area where they’ve been called to clot blood. By harnessing these factors in concentrated numbers, the PRP stimulates the tissues in the area of the injection to begin healing or regeneration.
In the case of hair loss, the growth factors stimulate your body to produce more hair cells, which continue to multiply until you notice new and improved growth. Though it doesn’t happen overnight, the growth proteins continue to stimulate your body to create new cells and heal any damage.
The same goes for aging skin. The PRP is injected into areas where your skin is sagging or you have wrinkles. The platelets immediately go to work, healing and regenerating cells under your complexion to improve your appearance. Within a few weeks, you’ll notice less noticeable wrinkles and a fuller, more even complexion.
When you need a more youthful look, Ms. Beatty takes the time to discuss your options, including PRP therapy. The benefit to this treatment is that there’s no downtime, and it’s minimally invasive.
If you’d like to learn more about how PRP can help you, call our office in Greenwich, Connecticut at 203-397-6865, or book an appointment online today to speak with our team.