PRP / PRF Skin Treatment

PRP and PRF, injected

Platelet-rich plasma and platelet-rich fibrin are made from a small draw of your own blood, spun to concentrate the platelets and the growth factors they carry. This page is about injecting them into the skin — which is a genuinely different treatment from the PRP we apply during microneedling.

Why this is not the same as the PRP included with microneedling

Patients reasonably ask why one is included at no cost and the other is a paid treatment. The answer is not the blood — it is where it goes and what it takes to put it there safely.

With microneedling, PRP is applied to the surface: it is the gliding medium, and it enters through the channels the needles create. Nothing is injected.

Here it is injected directly into the dermis. That crosses the skin barrier deliberately, which raises the standard for everything around it. The blood is drawn into sterile collection tubes validated for injectable preparation rather than the standard tubes used for a topical application, the preparation is handled under stricter conditions throughout, and the injection technique itself — depth, plane, volume, spacing — is a clinical skill rather than a spreading motion.

Both are performed by a physician or our advanced practice nurse. The difference in price reflects the consumables and the procedure, not a difference in the plasma.

PRP or PRF — what is the difference?

PRP is prepared with an anticoagulant, producing a liquid concentrate of platelets and plasma.

PRF is prepared without one and spun more gently, so the blood forms a natural fibrin matrix that traps the platelets. That matrix does two useful things: it releases growth factors slowly over days rather than immediately, and it produces a thicker, gel-like preparation that holds its shape where it is placed.

Neither is universally better. The shape-holding property is why PRF is what we use under the eyes, and the liquid form is why PRP suits broader intradermal treatment.

PRF under the eyes — an alternative to filler

The tear trough is the area where filler most often disappoints. It is unforgiving anatomy, hyaluronic acid can hold water and puff, and a poor under-eye filler result can persist for a long time.

PRF, sometimes called PRF gel, is placed in the same region but works differently. Rather than adding volume that sits there, it acts as a scaffold and a source of growth factors, improving skin quality and thickness in an area where the skin is thinnest on the body. It comes from your own blood, so there is no product to react to and nothing foreign to dissolve later.

The honest limits. It does less, per session, than filler does — the change is a gradual improvement in the quality of the skin rather than an immediate filling of a hollow. It is not permanent. It usually needs two to three sessions. And swelling in the days afterward is common, which under the eyes is briefly conspicuous.

Who it suits: patients with early hollowing and crepey under-eye skin, patients who have had a filler result there they disliked, and patients who would simply rather use their own biology than a gel. Where there is a genuine volume deficit, filler placed carefully under ultrasound may still be the better answer, and we will tell you so.

Intradermal PRP for skin quality

PRP injected into the dermis across the face, neck or décolletage is used for overall skin quality, fine lines and texture. It is often done alongside a microneedling course rather than instead of one — the mechanical injury and the injected growth factors work on the same process from different directions.

Expect gradual improvement over weeks as collagen forms, not an immediate change.

What does the evidence show?

The strongest data for platelet preparations in skin are for microneedling combined with PRP in acne scarring, where controlled trials and meta-analyses consistently favor the combination over microneedling alone.

For injected PRP and PRF as standalone rejuvenation, and for under-eye PRF specifically, the published evidence is earlier and thinner — mostly small studies, with protocols that vary between them. Patients like the results and the safety profile is good, since the material comes from your own blood. But we are not going to present it as more settled than it is.

What should I expect?

About an hour including the blood draw and preparation. Numbing cream first; the injections feel like a series of small stings.

Expect swelling and possible bruising for one to three days, more noticeable under the eyes than elsewhere. Small firm areas can occur where product is placed and settle over a week or two.

Three sessions four to six weeks apart is the usual course, with maintenance afterward.

Further reading

• PRP or PDGF+ — what each one actually does for skin and hair
• Which aesthetic treatments hold up to the evidence, and which do not

When PRF isn't the right answer under the eye

PRF improves skin quality and crepiness. It does not replace lost volume, and it cannot remove skin. If the hollow is genuinely a volume deficit, filler placed carefully will do more than a course of PRF, and some patients arrive here having tried PRF first for exactly that reason. If the issue is skin excess or a true fat pad, no biologic will change it — that is an oculoplastic question, usually referred to Wills Eye Institute or the oculoplastic service at Penn.

Why choose PhillyMedClub for injected PRP and PRF in Philadelphia?

This is injected treatment, and we treat it as different from the PRP included with our microneedling. Crossing the skin barrier deliberately raises the standard for everything around it: the blood is drawn into sterile collection tubes validated for injectable preparation rather than the standard tubes used for a topical application, and a physician or our advanced practice nurse performs it. We choose between the two preparations on their properties rather than on price — PRF is spun without anticoagulant so it holds a fibrin matrix that releases growth factors over days and keeps its shape, which is why it is what we use under the eyes as an alternative to filler; PRP's liquid form suits broader intradermal treatment. Results are not permanent; plan on maintenance. From $399 a session in Fishtown, Philadelphia.