To Your Good Health

Cosmetic Stem Cell Therapy

For a Younger Looking You!

By Leslie Byrne

After so many months of staying home and avoiding others, now is the perfect time to consider your next aesthetic treatment for a more youthful appearance. When you’re learning more about the latest breakthroughs in skin care, look into stem cell therapy!

Stem cells are the building blocks of the body. They can reproduce more stem cells or can generate new types of cells. Also called regenerative medicine, stem cell therapy has both medical and cosmetic applications. (To learn about medical applications of regenerative medicine, check out our Seasons of Life article on page 46.)

Over the past few years, stem cell therapy has been used to treat aging, sun-damaged skin with good results. However, the reason that it worked so well was not clear. Throughout 2020, research on the cosmetic and rejuvenating benefits of stem cell therapy quietly continued, and new information is now available. These studies were conducted on a microscopic level. They show that stem cell treatments can replace sun-damaged elastin with undamaged tissue and structures in the deeper layers of skin. We now know that when a patient’s own mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are injected into a treatment area, they can regenerate sun-aged skin. This is game-changing information for anyone considering stem cell therapy for cosmetic purposes.

In the realm of facial rejuvenation, there’s another popular procedure that uses the body’s own resources to rejuvenate itself. It’s called platelet-rich plasma (PRP), and it is is gaining popularity because of its effectiveness in healing wounds and restoring elasticity and collagen production in the skin.

PRP therapy can take up to 90 minutes and is performed in the provider’s office. The treatment area is cleaned, and blood is drawn from the patient’s arm. That blood is then placed in a machine called a centrifuge for several minutes. This machine spins very quickly, separating the platelets from the rest of the blood. The platelet-rich plasma is then re-introduced to the treatment area to stimulate healing.

PRP therapy is considered to be a safe and non-invasive treatment for skin rejuvenation. One great benefit is that it is autologous. That means the blood plasma comes from the patient, not from someone else, lowering the risk of causing an immune response. A topical pain reliever is recommended, as the procedure can be painful, but you can expect less swelling and bruising compared to cosmetic surgical procedures.

PRP therapy can be used for facial skin rejuvenation in a couple of different ways. One method is to pair it with dermal fillers that are injected under the skin. Another use is as a topical application during microneedling. Because the process uses the patient’s own blood to stimulate healing, this procedure is often referred to as a “vampire” facial.

Microneedling consists of a special device with tiny, sterilized needles that is rolled over the skin, creating tiny wounds. The small wounds caused by the needles stimulate the body to produce collagen and elastin to heal itself. When PRP is added to the microneedling procedure, it may speed up the healing process and stimulate more skin renewal over microneedling alone. The recovery time is usually two or three days, but optimal results will not be noticeable for five to six weeks. Results from this treatment can last up to a year.

If PRP therapy sounds like something you want to explore for yourself, talk to a plastic surgeon, dermatologist, or clinic specializing in cosmetic procedures. At this time, the only stem cell treatments approved by the FDA are products that treat certain cancers, blood disorders, or the immune system. Though stem cell treatments have not yet been approved by the FDA for cosmetic procedures, many practitioners have been using stem cells for cosmetic repair for years.

The harvesting process for PRP is no different from a blood draw. Stem cells can be harvested from your body in different ways, some of which are more invasive than others. Before undergoing any type of stem cell therapy to repair sun-damaged, aging, or scarred skin, have potential providers explain the entire harvesting process to you so you can make sure it is right for you.

That’s not all you should ask about when you’re consulting with potential providers. Find out what specialized training they have completed in stem cell therapy, how long they have been using stem cell therapy for cosmetic purposes, and whether they think you are a good candidate for the therapy. Once you’ve found the right provider and had your questions answered, it’s time to sit back and let your own body help your skin look more youthful in 2021!

Sources for this article included: sciencedaily.com, deintegrativehealthcare.com, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, and mskcc.org.