Science Unpacks the Healing Potential of Your Own Blood

Elle

a day ago

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If you were to shrink yourself down to smaller than a sugar crystal and travel into someone's veins like Ms. Frizzle and her Magic School Bus, you'd see that blood isn't the free-flowing river depicted in your childhood storybooks. Rather, you'd find an intricate ecosystem suspended in plasma: disc-like red blood cells carrying oxygen through the body; bumpy white blood cells warding off infection; and tiny platelets with octopus-like tentacles directing healing. Rich in growth factors, platelets are often considered the gold standard for regenerative medicine.
In platelet-rich plasma treatments, or PRP, doctors spin a patient's blood in a centrifuge to single out the platelets and the plasma, creating a healing elixir that can be added back into a patient's body. PRP has long been used for promoting hair growth, improving skin, and healing injuries. The next generation of PRP is called PRF, which may offer more sustained healing and collagen production over time. 'PRF stands for 'platelet-rich fibrin,'' says Lara Devgan, MD, a plastic surgeon in New York. 'It harnesses the body's own growth factors to stimulate collagen, improve skin texture, and restore volume without fillers.' For patients, PRP and PRF extractions for cosmetic or therapeutic use just involve a simple blood draw. They're much less expensive than a hair transplant, and may produce a more natural result than other skin injectables.
If PRP is an iPhone, PRF is the Pro version, leading to potentially longer-lasting results. This may be because it contains fibrin, which aids in blood clotting; a 2011 study in Annals of Maxillofacial Surgery found that PRF may speed healing, since it helps the body form new blood vessels. Thanks to fibrin, PRF unleashes growth factors more slowly than PRP. Because it's mixed at a higher speed, PRP expels a flood of growth factors—which act like messengers between and within cells, pinging information back and forth to ensure everything is in tip-top shape—all at once. In contrast, PRF releases these healing agents over 7 to 10 days, which may enhance tissue regeneration, says Gabriel Chiu, DO, a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills.
PRF was developed to bypass some of PRP's limits. PRP is often mixed with anticoagulants, which in some cases may cause allergic reactions and hinder the platelets' regenerative power, according to a 2020 study published in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. PRF, which is spun more slowly, is made without anticoagulants and so 'has the least risk for someone [with] sensitivity issues,' Chiu explains.
Still, both Devgan and Chiu agree that in some cases, PRP remains the better option. It's an easier-to-disperse fluid, so it's better for larger treatment areas. PRP is best for hair loss, since it can be micro-needled in, whereas PRF's thicker solution must be injected. But when it comes to targeted treatment for lines, wrinkles, and hollow under-eyes, PRF may be the more potent remedy since it softens the face, according to Chiu. He also uses PRF as a 'glue' when he does a facelift. It helps tissues adhere to each other, and may boost healing.
Though PRF can appear to 'fill' under-eye hollows by helping skin quality and firmness, it won't add volume, like filler. A PRF treatment is akin to upping the thread count of your sheets, Devgan says. Skin enhanced by PRF versus normal skin is like the difference between sheets made from 350-thread-count Egyptian cotton and run-of-the mill 200-thread-count sheets. 'It's not like making a bedsheet into a comforter,' she says. But who doesn't want an amazing set of sheets?
A version of this story appears in the Summer 2025 issue of ELLE.
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