Our bodies age and, yet, their inner workings are our safest bet to cling to youth. Regenerative medicine has for decades probed the body’s faculties to heal and repair itself in an attempt to enhance and apply them to rejuvenation. Offering various muscle and organ treatments, it also holds quite a promise for skincare. Regenerative medicine has given rise to two unobtrusive skin procedures – stem-cell and Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) injections – that are now picking up a steady following. HauteBeauty takes a look at both.
Stem-Cell Skin Treatments
Found in adult blood, adipose tissue and bone marrow (among other sources), stem cells act like alert agents that travel to injured areas to restore them. Because of their abundance and properties, stem-cell serums have long been the preferred health potion for athletes, politicians and celebrities alike. In the last decade, however, stem cells have found relevance in the fight to slow down – if not defy – aging.
Costing thousands of dollars, stem-cell procedures have turned into a thrilling new panacea that beauty physicians and their star patients swear by. In their core, such treatments comprise of extracting a sliver of one’s blood or fat, spinning it in a centrifuge in order to isolate the present stem cells, and injecting those same stem cells into one’s face, hands, breasts or rear. All that nicking and sucking and poking may sound afflictive. In fact, it is not. Recovery is momentary and the results – improved contours, texture, tone and elasticity – arise in days and can hold for weeks.
PRP Treatments
Quite similar in execution to stem-cell-based procedures, PRP treatments rely on platelets or the miniscule blood cells that form clots and prevent bleeding. Particular to skin rejuvenation, platelets possess growth factors that delay aging and tackle damage. Think of these tiny fellows as natural Botox.
Potent at smoothing over fine lines yet requiring minimal intervention, PRP injections are especially suitable for the thin and wrinkle-prone skin under the eyes. Prompting collagen and elastin production, they thicken, purify and firm up the skin – effects that reveal their full scope in three to four weeks and last for months.
Among the most ingenious advancements in the beauty industry, stem-cell and PRP treatments are also among the most effective and least invasive as they utilize no other products than a patient’s own cells. It truly seems like the future of anti-aging is already here.
