Platelets carry the growth factors the body uses to repair tissue. A small blood draw is spun in a centrifuge to separate and concentrate them, and that concentrate is placed where repair is wanted. The material is autologous, meaning it came from you, so there is nothing to be allergic to and nothing foreign left behind.
What it treats
Why anti-inflammatories undo it
PRP works by starting a controlled inflammatory response. Anti-inflammatories suppress exactly that response. Ibuprofen, naproxen, fish oil, vitamin E and flaxseed oil stop three days before treatment and stay stopped for three days afterwards. This is the most important instruction on this page, because it changes how well the treatment works rather than how comfortable it is. Prescribed blood thinners are a different matter and are never stopped without speaking to the physician who prescribed them.
What the trials show
PRP improves skin quality. A meta-analysis pooling nine randomized controlled trials across 358 patients found greater patient-reported satisfaction with PRP than with control, and greater improvement on objective measures. Adverse events were no different from control.
The studies behind that are small, follow patients for a short time, and do not all measure the same things, and preparation methods differ between them. That is worth knowing when you read anything about PRP anywhere, because preparation is the part that varies most between clinics and it is not always reported.
What it does not do
PRP works on the quality of the skin itself. It does not add volume, it does not lift tissue that has descended, and it does not change the position of anything. If what bothers you is structural rather than textural, PRP is not the treatment for it, and that distinction is made at consultation rather than assumed.
How the result arrives
Nothing looks different the week after. The treatment works by prompting your own repair response, so the change follows the pace of collagen rather than the pace of an injection. Most people notice something at four to six weeks. The fuller picture sits at three to six months after a completed series, and it holds for as long as the underlying skin is being looked after.
What a session is like
- Blood draw
- A small draw from the arm, like a routine blood test.
- Processing
- 10 to 15 minutes in the centrifuge while numbing cream works.
- Sensation
- Pressure and brief stinging.
- Session length
- 45 to 60 minutes start to finish.
- Onset
- Most people see change at 4 to 6 weeks.
- Full result
- 3 to 6 months after a full series.
- Cadence
- 3 sessions, 4 to 6 weeks apart.
- Downtime
- Swelling for a day or two. Mild bruising at the injection sites.
Before, during and after
This is the protocol we follow. Open any of these to read it before booking, or again the week of your appointment.
Common questions
Why can I not take ibuprofen around PRP?
Because PRP works through a controlled inflammatory response, and anti-inflammatories suppress it. Ibuprofen, naproxen, fish oil, vitamin E and flaxseed oil should stop three days before treatment and stay stopped for three days afterwards. This is the single most important instruction for any PRP treatment, because it changes how well the treatment works rather than just how comfortable it is. Prescribed blood thinners such as apixaban, rivaroxaban, warfarin, clopidogrel or aspirin taken for cardiac reasons are different and should never be stopped without speaking to the prescribing physician.
Is there anything in it besides my own blood?
No. The only thing injected is your own concentrated platelets, separated from a small draw taken the same visit. Nothing synthetic is added and nothing foreign is left behind, which is why allergy is not a consideration the way it is with materials that come from outside the body.
How many sessions before I see anything?
Most people notice a change at four to six weeks after the first session, but the protocol is built around three sessions spaced four to six weeks apart, and the result you are aiming for sits three to six months after the last one. Judging it after a single session is judging it too early. If nothing at all has changed by the end of a full series, that is useful information and it changes the plan rather than repeating it.
Can PRP be combined with other treatments?
Yes, and it often is. It sequences with microneedling, with lasers and with peels, though not all in the same visit, and the order matters. What makes sense depends on what is being treated and on your skin, so the sequence is planned at consultation rather than assembled from whatever is on offer.
Who should not have PRP?
PRP is not performed in anyone with an active cancer or a history of blood cancer, in anyone with a platelet or clotting disorder, or where there is active infection, rash or an open wound in the treatment area. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are also reasons to wait. Because the treatment depends on your own platelets, anything that meaningfully affects them affects the result, which is part of what gets reviewed at consultation.
Does the result last?
PRP does not stop skin from aging, so what it builds is subject to the same decline as everything else. In practice people return for a maintenance session somewhere between six and twelve months after a completed series. How long you hold the result depends heavily on sun exposure and on what you do at home, which is why both get discussed at the same appointment.
This page is for general education and is not medical advice. It does not establish a physician-patient relationship, and it cannot account for your individual history, medications or skin. Suitability for treatment is decided at consultation following examination.