New technology treats wrinkles. other skin blemishes, with patient’s own plasma

A new cosmetic procedure is using the body's own growth cells to blast away wrinkles and sun spots.

Platelet Rich Plasma treatment, or PRP, uses a person's platelets to stimulate stem cells, which one Coralville dermatologist says improves the skin's texture, color, wrinkles, stretch marks and acne scars as well as thickening hair.

'People might be familiar with Kim Kardashian smearing blood on her face - this is nothing like that,” says Emily Huinker, director of marketing at Infinity Skin Care.

The Coralville-based dermatology clinic performs cosmetic dermatology services such as Botox as well as acne treatments and laser hair removal.

This plasma treatment has only been offered at the clinic since March. But Dr. Kimberly Schulz, the clinic's owner, said it's already gaining in popularity. 'We're just seeing great results,” she says. 'And clients love the fact that what's being put on them and in them comes from their own body.”

Treatments take about an hour. During the process, clients have their blood drawn. It is then spun in a centrifuge, a machine that separates the red blood cells from the plasma.

The plasma contains platelets, which Infinity Skin Care employees refer to as liquid gold. Those platelets are then concentrated and applied topically through a micro-needling treatment or injected directly into the skin in the face and neck, earlobes or the backs of hands.

'It's all about the platelets,” Schulz says. 'There are natural growth factors inside the platelets that stimulate skin to heal in normal ways.”

And unlike Botox, which smooths wrinkles by softening muscles, or fillers, which fill the space between wrinkles to smooth the skin's surface, Schulz said the treatment can be injected in problem areas like around the eyes that are typically hard to treat.

'Botox can look funny and fillers can look bumpy or not natural,” Schulz says.

Clients will typically see improvements with in four to six weeks, but results have been seen as early as two weeks, Huinker said, adding those who get the treatment might experience slight swelling or bruising.

But the treatment comes with a big price tag. A micro-needling session starts at $300. A total scalp treatment for hair loss runs $1,875 because it is more involved.

After blood is drawn, the scalp is first micro-needled and platelets are both injected and applied topically to the treatment area. Hair follicles which are shrunken due to hair loss and thinning hair are stimulated and can produce hairs again.

Huinker and Schulz said people of all ages and genders have gotten the treatment. For those in their 20s and 30s it will maintain their skin's collagen levels. Someone in her 40s and 50s can reverse the results of lifelong sun exposure.

'Time, age and sun has taken away the collagen in the skin,” Schulz says. 'This procedure triggers the growth factors.”