I TRIED PRP & MICRO-NEEDLING AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED
PRP has been around for a long-time, in fact, it can be traced back as far as 1970 when doctors began to study the role of platelets in blood clotting and wound healing. Fast forward to 2013 and Kim Kardashian posting about her new facial using her own blood really brought it into the forefront of anti-aging and with a cool new name, ‘The Dracula Facial’. Since the hype it kind of just stayed but wasn’t the ‘new best thing’. So why now? Well, for years doctors have said I should try it but I was always put it off because I have a phobia of my blood being taken. However, I’d recently noticed that my eye area had become a little creepy and a doctor had said this could help.
So, I went along to The Skin to Love Clinic in St Albans to chat with Nurse Natalia and found out that there are two ways to administer PRP and that can either be with a canula injecting in certain areas over the face or with Micro-needling. I decided on the latter as I know how good alone Micro-needling can be for pore refining, pigmentation, and collagen so teamed with my own platelets I knew I’d be getting a great treatment. Also, platelets (the 1st P in PRP!) are the first responders to trauma in the body so they work their magic in helping you to recover quicker from the micro-needling - by adding the platelets into the mix, your skin will be responding as though further trauma has happened and stimulate your regeneration processes, boosting the impact of your micro-needling treatment, as well as helping you to recover from the micro-needling
There was a recent study on just micro-needling which said, "Histological examination of the skin treated with 4 micro-needling sessions 1 month apart shows up to 400% increase in collagen and elastin deposition at 6 months postoperatively"; bear in mind that 1 session doesn't mean a 100% increase, this is an accumulative result. So, one treatment will be enough for a nice glow and to stimulate some collagen synthesis for 3 to 6 months post treatment. Great for a boost, and particularly good as a 'preventative' for those in their 20s and early 30s but the real long-lasting results come from a course of treatments to get those accumulative results. Natalia advised me that 3 sessions would really benefit my skin and can help with concerns like:
§ Acne scars
§ Age spots
§ Wrinkling
§ Sun damage
§ Scarring caused by injuries such as burns
§ Hyperpigmentation
My blood after its been separated. The yellow is the good stuff!
After Natalia had taken my blood and how did I cope with this? Well, I was actually ok, the first time I was a bit faint but by the 3rd treatment I didn’t even notice it – Natalia is so gentle and quick - she then put the blood in the centrifuge whilst she prepped my skin. You can have numbing cream on but I decided not to and it wasn’t that bad as far as the pain was concerned. Once my skin was ready Natalia rubbed a small amount of PRP in my skin and then micro-needled over adding more PRP over the top… she then did this over the whole of my face and neck. For my lips I decided to have some of the PRP injected into them, this is great at boosting collagen, giving them more moisture and their vibrancy back. For this my lips were numbed. I’ve had filler in my lips before which I didn’t find too bad but this did sting quite a bit but still totally bearable. The great thing about Natalia is that she is quick, gentle and is really lovely at giving you breaks whenever you need.
What I noticed about this treatment is that every time was different as far as pain and recovery. The first time it didn’t hurt at ALL and I wasn’t that red and by the morning back to normal. The 2nd and 3rd were a little more painful and I was red the next day. However, nothing that make-up couldn’t cover.
This is one of the best treatments I have ever tried. After just one session my skin was GLOWING and much plumper.
Straight after treatment
I have to say that my overall experience with The Skin to Love Clinic was amazing. They are so professional and with little touches like calling you the next day after each appointment to make sure everything was ok really made me feel at ease and that they know what they are doing – a must when it comes to aesthetic procedures.
When will I see the full results?
It can take a few weeks to show results, as it takes the body time to produce collagen and heal itself. In two to three weeks, some visible improvement is typically noticeable, and in 4 to 6 weeks marked results in pigmentation and texture improvement become more apparent.
A course of a single (or pay as you go) session is £380 for micro-needling with PRP. A course of 3 sessions is £1,050 at The Skin to Love Clinic.
Go to www.theskintoloveclinic.co.uk for more information on PRP and their other services.
