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 PRP does depends entirely on where it goes. The evidence behind it in the scalp is not the evidence behind it under the eye, and treating them as one treatment hides the differences that matter. Each use has its own page.
Where it is used
PRP is also used in sexual wellness, where it is covered on the sexual wellness page rather than here.
One instruction that applies to all of them
PRP works by starting a controlled inflammatory response, and 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, whichever of the four you are having. Prescribed blood thinners are a different matter and are never stopped without speaking to the physician who prescribed them. The full protocol is on each treatment page.
What is true of all of them
The material is autologous. It is drawn from you at the start of the visit, concentrated, and used the same session, so there is nothing to be allergic to and nothing foreign left behind.
The result arrives slowly. PRP works by prompting your own repair response, so change follows the pace of tissue rather than the pace of an injection. Four to six weeks for the first sign, three to six months after a completed series for the fuller picture, across every indication.
Preparation is not incidental. How the plasma is separated, whether it is activated and what volume is delivered all change the result, and these details are not consistently reported in the published literature. It is the main reason results from different clinics are difficult to compare, and it is worth asking about anywhere you are treated.
Common questions
How do I know which one I need?
Usually by what is bothering you rather than by choosing a treatment. Thinning at the part or a widening center points to the scalp page. Indented scarring left after acne points to microneedling with PRP. Crepey skin under the eye and general facial texture are their own pages. If more than one applies, or if you are not sure the problem is one PRP treats at all, that is a consultation question and the honest answer is sometimes that a different treatment fits better.
Can more than one area be treated in the same visit?
Often yes, because a single blood draw yields enough plasma for more than one site, which makes combining areas more efficient than booking them separately. Face and scalp in one visit is common. What does not combine well is stacking treatments that each need the skin to recover, so the sequencing is planned rather than assumed.
Is the PRP used in sexual wellness the same material?
The material is the same, drawn and prepared the same way. The technique, the volumes and the consent conversation are different enough that it is covered separately on the sexual wellness page rather than here.
Which of the four has the best evidence?
Hair restoration has the largest body of randomized evidence, with 43 trials and 1,877 participants pooled in a 2025 review. Microneedling with PRP for acne scarring has the most conclusive, with a 2026 meta-analysis reaching the threshold where a result is treated as settled rather than provisional. Facial skin quality is supported by a smaller set of trials, and the under-eye area is the newest of the four. Each page says where its own use stands.
Does it hurt?
The blood draw feels like any routine draw. Numbing cream goes on while the plasma is being prepared, so the injections themselves are pressure and brief stinging rather than sharp pain. The scalp and the under-eye area are the more sensitive of the treatment sites. Most people describe it as uncomfortable rather than painful, and it is over in minutes.
How much time should I allow?
Between 45 and 75 minutes in the clinic depending on the area, because the plasma has to be drawn and spun before anything is done. Downtime afterwards is short but not nothing: swelling for a day or two, and bruising that is more likely under the eye than elsewhere. Microneedling with PRP leaves redness like moderate sunburn for 24 to 48 hours, so that one is worth planning a clear day around.
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.