Cosmetic treatment using one's own blood gaining ground: Expert

Mumbai: A recent medical technology of using one's own blood to provide different cosmetic treatments is catching up with people, claims an expert in the field.

Considered as one of the most effective treatment for anti-ageing, PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) is a non-surgical procedure under which the PRP is extracted from the person's own blood and then re-injected into areas of the face and neck to treat wrinkles and rejuvenate the skin, says Dr Satish Bhatia, dermatologist and skin surgeon in south Mumbai.

According to him, use of PRP in Indian patients has been on a constant rise for various cosmetic treatments of skin tone/tightness, horizontal lines, texture and smoothness, folds, pigmentation, scarring, etc.

Explaining further, Dr Bhatia said platelets contain growth factors which stimulate hair re-growth and thickening and contain vascular endothelial growth factors that stimulate collagen and elastic fibres, thereby also used as an anti-ageing procedure on the face.

In order to obtain PRP, the patient's own blood is extracted and then spun in centrifuge to separate the solid material from liquid components and platelet activators. The separated 'solid' portion of the blood is PRP, which is used for treatments.

While the normal human platelet count is 150,000-350,000, the PRP can have as much as 10,00,000 platelet count and this high concentration works in bone and tissue healing.

"Recent researches have proved PRP treatment to be extremely effective in treating male and female pattern baldness and majority of our patients fall into this category.

We use autologous PRP (platelet rich plasma extracted from one's own blood) for hair growth procedures. Procedure intervals can be between 1 to 9 months depending upon the condition of problem in an individual," Bhatia said.

As per the World Journal of Cardiology reports, PRP can also be helpful in repairing damaged heart tissue.

Researchers in Greece have undertaken and analysed the studies looking into the use of PRP after heart attacks, where heart tissue is damaged and cannot repair itself, he added.