Have you been considering the benefits of a facial, but want to give your skin an extra boost at the same time? ALC Med Spa in Gurnee, IL, is able to use the powerful benefits of PRP treatment to support the health of your skin. Here’s how it works.
What Is the Difference Between a PRP Treatment and a Regular Facial?
The Nutrients in Your Own Blood Are Used To Heal and Support Your Skin Health
If you haven’t heard of PRP treatment, you may know it by its other name – a vampire facial. Don’t worry, you won’t leave our office with fangs and an unnatural aversion to garlic and sunlight!
The reason PRP treatments are sometimes called a vampire facial is due to the fact that a sample of your blood will be taken and processed. After processing, the powerful platelet-rich plasma layer in the blood is used during your facial so you can benefit from its numerous, completely natural healing properties.
What Can It Be Used For?
Crow’s Feet and Dark Circles
Eyes are really hard to find good treatments for. The skin of the eyes is so thin and delicate that finding a safe and effective treatment can lead to long, fruitless searches. PRP has the benefit of coming from your own blood, which makes it unlikely for your body to respond negatively to treatment even in sensitive areas.
This treatment can help reduce the appearance of dark circles by strengthening and gently lifting the skin under your eyes. In the same way, it can smooth over fine lines like crow’s feet.
Sun Damage
Good sunshine feels great for the soul, and it can help you get a better night’s sleep and strengthen your immune system. The bad news is that spending extended time in the sun without sun protection can prematurely age your skin. Don’t think tanning beds are free of this risk either, because they can age the skin just like you were lying out on the beach.
Sun damage can lead to the skin losing its “glow” and developing uneven texture and wrinkles. PRP brings a lot of healing properties to the table and can help restore that healthy glow and reduce the signs of sun damage.
Acne Scars
The tumultuous teenage years can leave their mark on our faces in the form of acne scars. If you find yourself feeling self-conscious about acne scars, or other small scars such as surgical scarring, PRP may be able to help.
We combine our PRP facials with microneedling. Together, this treatment not only strengthens existing skin, but it stimulates the development of new, healthy skin cells.
Pore Size
Our poor pores go through a lot. Facial pores tend to get filled with oil, makeup, dirt, and dead skin cells. Some occasional exfoliation can help them out, but over time they can still get stretched.
Age can contribute to the appearance of enlarged pores since the skin losing some of its elasticity can make your pores begin to sag. PRP treatment combined with microneedling can help your pores firm up and reduce in appearance.
Skin Texture and Hyperpigmentation
If you are hoping to restore a uniform texture to your skin, the combined efforts of microneedling and PRP treatment is an excellent option.
The growth factors present in platelet-rich plasma can help your treated skin to regenerate itself, and both PRP and microneedling encourage the development of collagen, which helps heal and “build up” your skin. PRP therapy can also contribute to the development of new blood vessels, which will continue to provide essential nutrients to your skin for even longer-lasting benefits.
Fine Lines and Wrinkles
When the face loses some of its volume, it can cause the skin of the face to sag and for lines and wrinkles to appear. This sagging is exaggerated by a general loss of elasticity that increases as time goes by. Wrinkles also continue to develop as the cells of the face regenerate with less speed and efficiency than they used to.
With a PRP facial, you are delivering nutrients to your skin cells to help them pick the pace back up and continue regenerating with more efficiency. Stem cells, collagen, and elastin are only some of the key players here, all of which can help improve the health of your skin and decrease the appearance of wrinkles.
Did You Say Stem Cells?
Yes, we did! Unipotent stem cells are important healers in the body, and they usually are dormant until called upon. These stem cells react to microneedling by rushing to the area and offering up their healing abilities, as PRP helps create even more growth factors and provides nutrients to make the process extra efficient.
The new tissue developed by these stem cells can help your face look more youthful and have a healthy sheen.
Understanding the Process
What Happens When You Come In for an Appointment
We’re going to start off by drawing a small sample of blood from your arm. Each treatment is custom-made per client, so any time you come in for treatment your blood will be processed in our centrifuge machine. The sample will be spun around until it separates into red blood cells, platelet-poor plasma, and platelet-rich plasma.
It’s the platelet-rich plasma we’re after, since it boasts a higher concentration of platelets than you can find in regular, unseparated blood. Once we have the PRP, we’ll microneedle your face and apply the PRP onto the face, paying special attention to areas you want to put the most focus on. While the face is a very common area to be treated, we can also treat your neck or hands.
No Downtime Needed
When it comes to your appointment, from the time you come through our doors to the time you leave you can expect to spend about an hour with us. There’s no downtime associated with PRP facials, so once we’re done you can head off and enjoy the rest of your day.
How Long You Can Expect To Enjoy the Benefits
There are a couple factors that may affect your timeline. You can generally expect to enjoy positive results for up to 18 months. Depending on what your goals are, you may be happy with just a single treatment. In other cases, you may want to set up a consistent schedule so you can keep your skin looking and feeling its best.
During a consultation we can go over your skin health and what your goals are. That will help us set up a realistic timeline for you. We offer many different facial treatments, so if we think there’s another treatment that would help you achieve your goals, the good news is that PRP is very flexible and can be used together with most other treatments.
Why Does This Treatment Work?
PRP was actually first used to treat soft tissue injuries suffered by athletes, and it’s still used for that to this day! It’s also used during some surgeries and to treat osteoarthritis. When it’s injected into an injured area, it helps promote healing and regeneration. PRP has proven its worth for decades, but using it for cosmetic purposes is a new and exciting use for this already groundbreaking treatment.
When you pair the use of PRP together with microneedling, you have a match made in heaven. Microneedling on its own can offer benefits such as boosting collagen production, but adding PRP to the mix brings a treasure-trove of healing properties to the table.
How To Tell if It’s Working
Depending on factors such as your skin health, you may see results almost immediately, or it may take a few weeks. Since this treatment works with your body’s healing ability, the results will continue to appear as your skin’s health is improved from the inside out.
If you decide to seek out follow-up treatments, you may notice increasing improvement after each session. It’s important to note that if you’re using PRP facials as a way to combat aging, it won’t stop the aging process, but it can improve fine lines, skin tone, and overall skin health so you can enjoy a youthful glow.
Are You a Good Candidate?
Are you able to have blood drawn, and do you have concerns about your skin’s texture, health, or overall condition? If the answer is yes, this treatment will probably be a good fit for you.
If you’re interested in this treatment, why not stop in for a consultation? We’ll be able to go over the treatment in detail with you and help you determine if a PRP facial is the treatment you’ve been looking for.
Give Your Skin the Treatment It Craves
If you want to learn more about this treatment, or any of the other treatments we offer to support your body, reach out to ALC Med Spa in Gurnee, IL, to set up your consultation!
