Plump your face with a PRP Facelift

This PRP Facelift blog post was originally published on August 29, 2018 and updated on October 8, 2019.

I’ve been a lifestyle blogger over 5 1/2 years and have logged over 1,400 blog posts. Even if you have been with me since day one in January 2014, I am certain some of these blog posts escaped you. It is with intention that the posts that resonated with you are getting updated and republished. You saw that last week with this blog post. Many times, these posts have solved a problem, explored a new procedure or answered a question. Today, let’s revisit my findings when I had a PRP Facelift which I believe is one of the most effective aesthetic procedures I’ve had.

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Have you heard of the PRP Facelift? It’s a quick way to plump your face with no downtime and quick results. I had it done this summer at Highland Park Aesthetic Medicine with Dr. Lynley McAnalley and you get to see the full procedure today.

As we age we lose volume in our face. If you look back at pictures of yourself as a teenager or in your twenties, you will notice plumpness in your face. That’s because you were still producing collagen! Ah, those were the days – carefree, plump face and gorgeous! You have heard me often say on this blog that I do aesthetic procedures to help fight Father Time. When Dr. McAnalley asked me to try the PRP Facelift, I was more than ready!

What is this procedure? Dr. Lynley McAnalley is now offering the revolutionary Platelet Rich Plasma Facelift (PRP Facelift) Procedure for facial skin rejuvenation. She is also injecting platelet rich plasma (PRP) into the scalp for hair restoration as well as performing PRP Facials through the process of micro-needling. PRP has a long track record of success in medicine when used in general and orthopedic surgeries, soft tissue injury, and joint problems to promote and enhance the healing process.

PRP stimulates your own collagen to multiply and thicken. PRP skin rejuvenation therapy improves skin tone and texture, tightens skin, and softens lines and pores. The PRP Facelift is used for achieving diffuse volume in faces that are beginning to look drawn, to plump out cheek indentations, to soften and fill under eye hollows, and to obtain smoothing and softening in areas where traditional hyaluronic acid fillers have been less than optimal, such as the forehead and cheek hollows. Injected into the scalp in areas of receding and thinning hair and patchy baldness, PRP can boost the hair follicles promoting new hair growth and improving the thickness, texture, and color of the hair. Additionally, micro-needling platelet rich plasma into and just beneath the surface of the skin (PRP Facial) can improve the tone, texture and color of the skin and has shown great results smoothing acne scarred skin and reducing pore size.

I had my procedure done on July 3 and results begin to show 3-4 weeks after the treatment session and continue to improve with time. The top picture was just taken last week and you can see how plump and youthful my face is. Three treatment sessions are generally recommended, spaced 1-2 months apart, to achieve the best outcome, but treatments are customized according to each patient’s needs and response. Since PRP is derived from the patient’s own blood, adverse reactions to the PRP are essentially nonexistent.

There is no downtime and I was fine that evening. I simply took some Advil so that when the numbing cream wore off, I wasn’t in any pain from the needle injections. I did stay home and relaxed by binge watching The Handmaid’s Tale. This is not a time you want to go work out and sweat. Not that I was going to…

I am detailing the procedure below through pictures and giving you a little information along the way. I highly recommend the PRP Facelift as it is a gentle way to add a little youth back.

What do you think? Nice and plump?

xoxo – Tanya

P.S. Be sure to check out this blog post about another procedure I did with Dr. McAnalley. It’s a little more invasive but also very effective. It was on TV!

PRP Facelift Review

Dr. Lynley McAnalley’s office is so beautiful and inviting. Much like her! The very first thing Lynley does is get some numbing cream on your entire face.

Dr. McAnalley often first injects hyaluronic acid fillers, such as Juvederm and Restylane, in the same areas in which the PRP will be injected. This not only helps activate the PRP but also serves to hold the PRP in the areas of injection while growth factors are released and collagen stimulation is initiated. Also, PRP serum can prolong and amplify the filler correction with the need for less filler per treatment and longer duration.

We injected Juvederm Vollure as a filler while we were waiting for my blood to centrifuge (see below).

Platelet rich plasma is created by using the patient’s own blood. The blood is separated into packed red blood cells and platelet rich plasma. The PRP contains a high concentration of platelets and growth factors that when released, can stimulate stem cells in the skin. The activated serum behaves in the same manner as when the body suffers an actual injury. The injected PRP stimulates the healing process by releasing growth factors that trick the skin into thinking that an injury has occurred and that new skin needs to form. The PRP stimulates stem cells which initiate the process of fibroblast production which forms collagen.

A small amount of blood is drawn from the patient’s arm using a tiny butterfly needle. The blood is placed in special FDA-approved tubes and then centrifuged to separate the platelet rich plasma from the red blood cells. While the PRP is being prepared, the patient’s skin is cleansed and prepared for the treatment. Numbing cream and ice packs are used to minimize discomfort.

Look how much PRP I produced from my two viles of blood that Dr. McAnalley drew!

Dr. McAnalley went back to all the original needle injection sites from the Juvederm Vollure and injected my own PRP.  This helps boost the effectiveness of the filler and will make it last longer. Because it’s my own cells, my body will not reject it.

I love the final results!

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photo: Tori Asciuto

Thank you to Highland Park aesthetic Medicine for collaborating with me on this PRP Facelift post. All opinions are my own.