Skin Rejuvenation with PRP & Stem Cells
Conveniently located to serve the areas of Greenville, SC, Spartanburg, SC, Columbia, SC, Anderson, SC and Asheville, NC
Skin rejuvenation with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and stem cells is a procedure that uses your body’s own restorative properties to eliminate blemishes and common signs of aging. As the years pass, our skin gradually loses its glow and youthful resiliency. Because different extrinsic factors speed up our skin’s aging process like lifestyle choices, sun exposure, stress, and diet, our skin ages differently. To counteract these signs of aging, we often turn to serums, lotions, and creams to smooth out our wrinkles and even out our tone. However, these often leave our patients with disheartening results. With PRP and stem cells, patients can harness their body’s own readily available restorative properties for real results. Once turned into a functional serum, PRP and stem cells can help you regain a more radiant glow.
Dr. Haasis has treated thousands of patients with his advanced approach to regenerative medicine. As a board-certified physician, Dr. Haasis is proud to offer innovative solutions for safe and effective pain management and cosmetic concerns. The first step to reaping the benefits of stem cells and PRP is to schedule a personal consultation at one of our offices in the Carolinas. Here, we will be able to explain how our services can best meet your needs. To reach our friendly front desk directly, please call us at (864) 775-5682.
Contents
The Aging Process
Our skin is a complex organ, and it is our largest organ. Throughout our lives, our skin goes through many different stages to stay healthy and adept to handle external factors like gravity, sunlight, and free radicals. When we’re young, collagen and elastin fibers act as our skin’s internal support structure. 70-80% of our body’s collagen supply exists here, interwoven within the dermis.[1] Under our skin’s surface, these fibers keep the skin’s appearance tight and smooth. But, over time, the cells responsible for collagen and elastin production (fibroblast cells) start to lose their efficiency. Fibroblast cells gradually produce less collagen and elastin, causing the existing fibers to weaken without any replenishing support. Wrinkles, fine lines, and loose skin start to appear, sunspots begin dotting your complexion, and that youthful glow in your skin slowly dissipates. While this natural process happens to everyone, experiencing it for yourself can be frustrating – especially if you still feel young and full of life on the inside!
About Platelet-Rich Plasma
When damage or an injury occurs to our skin or other body tissue, our brain sends restorative properties to the impacted areas to stop bleeding and restore equilibrium. These restorative properties travel through our bloodstream and surround the broken tissue to begin cell proliferation and tissue regeneration. Inside this blood is an uneven combination of plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. In PRP therapies, we focus on the plasma, white blood cells, and platelets; the layer known as the “buffy coat”. This layer contains different properties that circle the wound and fight off bacteria, repair tissue, and replace damaged or atrophied cells. When you’ve had scabs on your knees or elbows, this was evidence that the “buffy coat” layer was at work. With PRP therapies, we can initiate this process to alleviate several concerns like joint pain or hair restoration. When this organic process is focused on skin rejuvenation, it has been shown to revitalize the skin’s internal structure while also restoring the health and function of weakened skin cells and fibers.[2]
About Stem Cells
Also found in our blood, stem cells tag along with the other restorative properties to heal wounds and regenerate tissues. Inside stem cells are certain growth factors that invigorate the body’s natural growth and healing response. Certain stem cells called mesenchymal stem cells have been extensively used in skin rejuvenation because they offer superior protection for dermal cells, instigate the development of new blood vessels, and modulate inflammation, pain, and immune tolerance.[3] When harnessed and focused with Dr. Haasis’s expert approach, stem cells can be a remarkable tool to enhance the body’s organic functions to work more efficiently, giving you a stronger result in less time.
Combining PRP & Skin Cells For Total Rejuvenation
While PRP and stem cells are separately effective at rejuvenating your appearance, they can be combined for more enhanced results. To extract the PRP from a patient, we begin by drawing a vial of blood. We run that vial through a centrifuge. At such a high velocity, the red blood cells and “buffy coat” layers separate like oil and water. With the “buffy coat” layer resting on top of the darkened red blood cells, we can formulate a PRP serum from everything except the bottom layer. Stem cells, on the other hand, are extracted through a slightly more involved procedure. Dr. Haasis thoroughly screens and verifies his donor cells from a trusted source so that he can pass the peace of mind on to you. Once we have your stem cells, we rinse and purify them to make sure they are ready for relocation. Studies have shown that, when paired, mesenchymal stem cells and PRP unite to better repair fractured or damaged tissue by enhancing the body’s wound healing response.[4]
Candidates
For those interested, please schedule a personal consultation. This is your first step to begin your path to seeing a younger you through regenerative medicine. Patients eager for skin rejuvenation come from all seasons of life. Those who are older tend to walk into our offices with more defined wrinkles as where younger patients visit us for preventative measures.
Personal Consultation
If this is your first time with us, we will begin your initial consultation with a new patient intake interview and a physical examination. We will consult with you about your current diet, fitness levels, lifestyle practices, and schedule for results. Then, we will ask about your cosmetic concerns. These may include wrinkles, fine lines, and uneven pigmentation across your complexion. We will also explain other ways PRP and stem cell therapy can revitalize your personal health. Dr. Haasis will discern whether or not you would benefit from these alternative applications. Once we have decided on an approach, we will schedule a time and date for your procedure. During the interim, please follow the list of preparatory steps we give you.
Preparation
To prepare for your skin rejuvenation session, we will ask that you avoid all blood-thinning medications. If you continue using these, they will cause excessive bleeding during your treatment and will hinder the body’s natural healing abilities. We also ask smokers to stop smoking a couple of days before and after their procedure. Nicotine constricts blood vessels and interrupts the body’s healing response, thus stifling the organic rejuvenating rewards of this procedure.
Procedure
We will begin by making sure you are comfortably laid back. Then, we will administer a local anesthetic to ward off any pain or discomfort as we extract the stem cells. Once we have the stem cells and PRP serum ready, we will combine them. Next, we will perform a microneedling treatment on the areas that you wish to target. These will create microchannels that reach deep into your dermis. After we have addressed each of your cosmetic concerns with the microneedles, we will administer the serum on top of the microchannels. The microchannels will absorb your organic restorative properties and invigorate the wound healing response. Once inside the dermis, the PRP and stem cells will refortify the internal fibers and structures. After the serum has absorbed sufficiently, you will be free to leave our offices.
Recovery & Results
After this procedure, you may wish to spend the rest of the day at home. The local anesthetic may take a couple of hours to wear off, and the serum might not be fully absorbed. And the treated skin might be tender, red, or swollen for a day or two. These side effects will subside shortly. As the restorative properties treat the skin’s internal structures, the skin’s appearance will tighten and brighten. You can expect results to gradually appear over the next few weeks as wrinkles and fine lines fade, loose skin tightens, and sunspots disappear.
Cost
The cost of your procedure will depend on the number of areas you have treated. We will decide the unique cost for your treatment during your consultation. If you would like to learn about our prices or have any questions regarding our services, please don’t hesitate to call our offices at (864) 775-5682.
References
- Oikarinen A. (1994). Aging of the skin connective tissue: how to measure the biochemical and mechanical properties of aging dermis. Photodermatology, photoimmunology & photomedicine, 10(2), 47–52. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8043384/
- Roukis, T. S., Zgonis, T., & Tiernan, B. (2006). Autologous platelet-rich plasma for wound and osseous healing: a review of the literature and commercially available products. Advances in therapy, 23(2), 218–237. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02850128
- Charles-de-Sá, L., Gontijo-de-Amorim, N. F., Rigotti, G., Sbarbati, A., Bernardi, P., Benati, D., Bizon Vieira Carias, R., Maeda Takiya, C., & Borojevic, R. (2020). Photoaged Skin Therapy with Adipose-Derived Stem Cells. Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, 145(6), 1037e1049e. https://doi.org/10.1097/prs.0000000000006867
- Fernandes, G., & Yang, S. (2016). Application of platelet-rich plasma with stem cells in bone and periodontal tissue engineering. Bone research, 4, 16036. https://doi.org/10.1038/boneres.2016.36