Nothing synthetic goes in. Platelet-rich fibrin is your own blood, spun with no anticoagulant, so the plasma clots into a mesh that releases over a week.
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PRF therapy uses platelet-rich fibrin, spun from your own blood without anticoagulant, so it clots into a scaffold that releases growth factors over 7 to 10 days. Most patients have 3 sessions, 4 to 6 weeks apart. PRF changes skin quality rather than replacing lost volume, and facial use is not an FDA-approved indication.
Some would rather nothing synthetic went in. PRF is platelet-rich fibrin, from a 10 to 40 mL draw into tubes with no anticoagulant. It clots as it spins. What separates is a soft fibrin matrix: platelets, white cells, plasma proteins.
Facial, under-eye and scalp aesthetic use is not an FDA-approved indication, and the published evidence behind skin quality and the under-eye region is stronger than the evidence behind scalp use.
The mesh holds platelets, so growth factors (platelet-derived growth factor, TGF-beta, vascular endothelial growth factor) release over seven to ten days. That figure comes from laboratory elution studies, not living tissue.
| Preparation | Anticoagulant | Growth factor release | What it changes | Immediate volume | Typical course | Reversible |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRF, injectable | None | Gradual, roughly 7 to 10 days | Skin thickness and quality | Minimal, resolves in days | 3 sessions, 4 to 6 weeks apart | Not applicable; resorbs |
| PRP | Citrate or similar | Largely within the first hours to days | Skin thickness and quality | Minimal, resolves in days | 3 sessions, 4 to 6 weeks apart | Not applicable; resorbs |
| PRF gel, heat-treated | None | Gradual, roughly 7 to 10 days | Small-volume contour plus skin quality | Yes, temporary | 1 to 2 sessions, reassessed at 3 months | Not applicable; resorbs |
| Hyaluronic acid filler | Not applicable | None | Volume and structure | Yes | 1 session, reviewed at 2 weeks | Yes, with hyaluronidase |
Skin quality, or lost volume? Of the four listed, only hyaluronic acid filler is an FDA-approved product; PRF, PRP and PRF gel are prepared from your own blood and are not FDA-approved for aesthetic use. Growth factor figures come from laboratory elution studies.
Plain collection tubes, no anticoagulant — The absence of citrate is what allows a fibrin clot to form. It also means the tubes must reach the centrifuge within roughly a minute of the draw, and that the tubes themselves must be additive-free rather than silica-coated, so nothing but blood goes into the spin.
Clinical centrifuge, fixed-angle or horizontal rotor — Speed and time set the product. A 3-minute low-speed spin yields liquid PRF for injection; an 8 to 12-minute spin at higher speed yields a solid membrane.
Liquid PRF, also called injectable platelet-rich fibrin (i-PRF) — Placed with a blunt cannula or a fine needle. It stays liquid for about 10 minutes after the spin and then gels, so timing is part of the technique.
Solid PRF membrane — The clot is pressed flat into a membrane that holds its own shape and breaks down over weeks, which is why this form belongs to oral, dental and wound-covering work more than to the face. Facial aesthetic treatment here uses the liquid form.
PRF applied topically after microneedling — This is the treatment patients usually mean when they ask for a platelet facial. The platelets sit on the surface and enter through the channels microneedling opens, rather than being placed in a plane, which makes it a different treatment from injected PRF. It has its own page.
Topical lidocaine-based anesthetic — Applied for about 20 minutes. Optional, and most patients accept it.
Your skin is read at rest and in motion, separating what PRF reaches from what it does not.
Blood is taken into plain tubes with no anticoagulant, then centrifuged within a minute. Clotting begins as the needle leaves your arm.
PRF is placed by cannula or needle, in the plane the assessment chose. It gels after 10 minutes.
You are seen at two weeks, then before session two. Photographs at fixed distance and lighting, against baseline.
Spin runs 3 to 12 minutes. Injection follows straight away, by blunt cannula, a rounded tip that pushes vessels aside.
Nothing looks different on the drive home except swelling. Under the eyes it runs 2 to 5 days, bruising up to a week.
The first useful read is 8 to 12 weeks.
No — the difference is the tube. PRP is spun with anticoagulant and stays liquid; PRF is spun without, so the plasma clots into a scaffold that, in laboratory release studies, releases growth factors over roughly seven to ten days. PRF retains more leukocytes.
Most describe it as two to four out of ten. The draw feels like any blood draw, topical anesthetic sits 20 minutes, and one cannula entry reaches a wide area. Soreness for a day is normal.
Three, four to six weeks apart, then a reassessment. Some skin asks for a fourth. The interval reflects how long collagen remodeling takes to express itself. Two sessions rarely read as anything on a photograph.
Usually not on its own. PRF improves the thickness and quality of thin under-eye skin, softening a shadow cast by thin skin rather than by depth. It replaces no lost volume, so a deep tear trough needs structure.
A completed course typically holds 9 to 12 months before most want a maintenance session. Any immediate plumping is fluid and settles within days. Published durations vary widely because protocols do, so the answer is a range.
No, and you should have that plainly before you spend anything. PRF is prepared from your own blood at the point of care and is not an FDA-approved product for facial aesthetics. The centrifuge and the collection tubes are regulated devices; the aesthetic use is not an approved indication, which means the FDA has not reviewed that particular use. It is covered in the consent discussion before treatment.
Tell us either way — it is a common history, and it starts a conversation rather than ending one. Usually PRF does not go ahead without your prescriber's input: anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs affect both bruising and the platelet activity PRF depends on. Platelet disorders, low platelet counts and significant anemia are separate contraindications, checked at the same point.
Under the eyes, swelling runs 2 to 5 days, peaking at 24 to 48 hours. On the rest of the face, one to two days, with bruising for a week. Plan around anything you cannot be swollen for.
Some of them; the scar shape decides which. PRF helps most reliably paired with microneedling. Rolling and shallow boxcar scars remodel; deep ice-pick scars are tethered tracts needing a different intervention. Improvement is partial in most patients.
The cost depends on your treatment plan. Call (614) 425-1633 for current pricing and ask what consultation, treatment, and follow-up charges apply.
PRF is prepared from your own blood at the point of care. No PRF preparation is an FDA-approved product for facial aesthetics, and use of PRF on the face, under the eyes or on the scalp is not an FDA-approved indication.
Individual results vary. Nothing on this page is a promise of a specific result, and PRF is not a treatment for any medical condition. Treatment requires an in-person consultation and a medical eligibility review.
They record one person's outcome under one protocol and are not a prediction of yours.
This page is general information, not medical advice, and not a substitute for an in-person evaluation.
Rouge Aesthetics · 101 Mill Street, Suite 210, Gahanna, OH 43230 · (614) 425-1633
Individual results vary. This website provides general information and does not replace an individual consultation.