Platelet rich plasma (PRP) is an advanced aesthetic treatment that leverages the natural healing properties of your body’s blood cells. Chevy Chase Facial Plastic Surgery uses platelet rich plasma to rejuvenate the skin, reduce the appearance of acne scars, and restore thinning hair, among other therapies.

Platelets are one of several components that make up the blood in your body. The growth factors inside these platelets typically respond to injuries and inflammation. By concentrating the platelets into an injectable solution, CCFPS can deliver a treatment of highly enriched growth factors precisely where you need it.

Patients choose our practice for cosmetic care in part because of our expertise and specialization. Nearly all of our treatments and procedures focus on the face, head, and neck, and our medical director, Dr. Jennifer Parker Porter, is a board-certified specialist in facial plastic surgery. CCFPS is committed to aesthetic improvement and rejuvenation, and we rely on modern, proven, and effective techniques like PRP to support our patients’ goals.

Your Options With Platelet Rich Plasma

Depending on your needs, injections with platelet rich plasma can help with wound healing, promote more youthful and cosmetically appealing skin, and protect and nourish hair follicles to prevent thinning. We invite you to learn more and to schedule an appointment with our practice.

Facial Rejuvenation and Scar Healing

Over time, your skin can become pigmented and sun-damaged due to environmental exposure, aging, and genetics. Acne can also cause scarring that detracts from a smooth and clear complexion.

Our practice provides patients with platelet rich plasma injections to improve the tone and texture of their skin. Growth factors in the treatment promote wound healing and collagen turnover, which can also significantly diminish acne scarring.

Typically, Dr. Porter will recommend combining platelet rich plasma with microneedling. This can help introduce the growth factors into the subdermal layers where they can have a greater effect. Dr. Porter may also suggest supplemental treatments for improved skin tightening and acne scar reduction, such as Aerolase® Neo®, photofacials, NanoLaserPeel™, microdermabrasion, and radiofrequency therapy.

Hair Restoration / Thinning Hair

If you have early hair loss, you may benefit from injections with platelet rich plasma. Our practice offers the treatment to men and women to create a nutrient-dense environment around the hair follicles. This nourishes the hair in a way that can limit hair loss and promote hair regrowth.

Patients who have scarring or extensive hair loss may require a combination of microneedling and platelet rich plasma treatments. As with the skin rejuvenating procedure described above, this approach allows the PRP solution to reach the deeper layers of tissue. Dr. Porter can also discuss an option for speeding up hair restoration by injecting more growth factors in the initial treatments to jump-start the process.

Treatment With Platelet Rich Plasma

Getting a PRP treatment is a simple and straightforward process:

  • Following a blood draw, we will use our Eclipse PRP® system to separate out the plasma.
  • Depending on your needs, we may perform microneedling or inject the platelet rich plasma directly.
  • If you are having hair treatments, we will use a medical chiller from Zimmer Aesthetics to numb the site beforehand. Desensitizing the area will make the experience much more comfortable.

Most of our patients are finished in about one hour, which includes the blood draw, PRP processing, and injections. If you are coming to us for facial rejuvenation or scar reduction, you may need 3-4 sessions before you see a significant improvement. Hair restoration patients typically have 4-6 sessions to start. Treatments take place once a month, and we recommend that patients visit us every three months after their initial regimen to maintain the benefits.

Platelet Rich Plasma Frequently Asked Questions

  • How Long Is the Downtime After Platelet-Rich Plasma for Hair Restoration?

    Because platelet-rich plasma is a noninvasive procedure, the recovery time after receiving this treatment is minimal.  Typically, patients will come toward the end of their work day for the injections. Using our Zimmer Chiller helps the procedure go quickly with minimal pain. The scalp, if visible, may be slightly red immediately after the procedure. We recommend waiting until the next day to wash your hair. If the area can be covered with hair or a cap, patients can return to social activities. We have patients that have gone to sporting events or out to dinner a few hours after their treatment.

    The only real side effects of platelet-rich plasma that patients might notice are a redness along the treatment areas of the scalp as well as a bit of inflammation. However, these symptoms should dissipate within a few hours.

    If microneedling is performed with the treatment, expect more redness of the scalp, which settles down after 4-6 hours.

    After the recovery period is over, patients will have to wait a bit before they see their final results. The hair needs time to process the stimulation and start to grow again. Overall, most patients take up to three months to see significant hair growth. To keep this look, maintenance treatments every three to six months are recommended.

  • How Long Is Each Platelet-Rich Plasma Session?

    Each platelet-rich plasma session is extremely short, so it’s easy to fix the treatment on a lunch break or other short block of time. Patients can expect the whole thing to take about 30 minutes of their day depending on the extent of their hair loss and how many injections they receive.

    Perhaps the longest part of the procedure is actually preparing the platelet-rich plasma. Dr. Porter will draw blood from the patient and use a centrifuge to separate the platelets from the rest of the blood. This part takes about 15 minutes. After preparing the platelets as an injection and cooling the scalp with the Zimmer Chiller, she will then inject the platelet-rich plasma into the affected areas of the scalp. After making sure the patient is tolerating the injections and isn’t having an adverse reaction, Dr. Porter will clear the patient to be free to go and continue with their day.

    Overall, platelet-rich plasma is a much faster treatment than other surgical methods of hair restoration, which can take hours from start to finish. Not only that, but patients will also have a much faster recovery time as well. There will be no healing of incisions or potential for infection. The patient won’t even have to miss a day of work to have the procedure done, whereas a surgical method of hair restoration might require an entire sick day just for the procedure alone. Dr. Porter can always advise which treatment method would work best for her patients.

Talk with CCFPS about platelet rich plasma and whether you are a good candidate for treatment. Schedule a consultation online or by calling us at (301) 652-8191.