Platelet-Rich Fibrin or PRF PRP or Platelet-Rich Plasma has become one of the most talked-of-the-town topics in aesthetic medicine. Each procedure claims to be superior to the other, especially in terms of effectiveness and convenience. These treatments share similarities and possess differences from each other and can be conversation starters in their accords.
Today, we address and assess each procedure and try to learn the basics there is to know about each one. We will see each method, what factors relate to them as well as those that separate them. So, come aboard this crash course on PRF vs. PRP and determine afterward which is better.
PRF: Platelet-Rich Fibrin
Platelet-Rich Fibrin or just PRF is a natural treatment in which your blood is drawn, processed, and then re-injected into your body in specified areas. The process takes PRP (platelet-rich plasma) and adds a gel carrier to create the injectable PRF. It has incredible healing properties, supporting cellular regeneration and collagen production in the skin.
The results are tighter skin and more volume. This procedure is one of the best treatments to naturally prevent deep hollows and fine lines on the face. When used with microneedling, PRF improves the skin’s texture.
It can be injected into acne scars, the under eyes, and shadows anywhere on the face. You can see results from PRF in 1-4 one-hour treatment sessions, and results can last for up to 6 months. With all of these breakthroughs, PRF has genuinely become one of the remarkable innovations in aesthetic medicine.
PRP: Platelet-Rich Plasma
In the past years, experts have discovered that our bodies can heal themselves. And with PRP or Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy as regenerative medicine, doctors can now harness our body’s natural ability to heal and propagate the factors of natural growth our body uses in healing tissues. A true innovation itself, PRP has truly become PRF’s most significant competition.
PRP therapy uses injections and concentrates on each patient’s platelets to accelerate the healing process for injured parts of the body like tendons, ligaments, muscles, and joints. Through this, PRP utilizes the natural healing each patient possesses in improving the aforementioned musculoskeletal issues.
After blood collections have been done using PRP injections, they are placed inside centrifuges and concentrate the platelets. Once the platelets become activated, they are now injected into tissues that have injuries or died. Doing this will release the growth factors that will stimulate and increase the reparative cells the body produces.
Similarities
Aside from the apparent similarity in platelets, PRF vs PRP also has some common ground that relates the two procedures to each other. Here are some of the common ones:
- Both are autologous platelet concentrates that come from the patient’s own blood.
(Autologous means ‘obtained from the same individual.’)
- With this, both require blood taken from the patient.
- Since both are ‘autologous’, blood samples are taken from the same individual that will undergo the procedure.
- Both procedures require whole blood samples placed inside centrifuges.
- Because the concentration of the platelets is a vital part of both treatments, samples of blood taken from the patient should be placed in centrifuges for cultivation.
- Both contain special proteins known as growth factors.
- With the body’s ability to heal itself, growth factors from the blood are processed so that these special proteins can be utilized and be used for aesthetic medicine.
- Both are used to treat different aesthetic issues.
- PRF and PRP are known to cure acne scars, dark spots, stretch marks, hair loss, lines and wrinkles, sun burns and damages, uneven skin tone and texture as well as lax and sagging skin.
With their similarities, PRF vs. PRP has proven to be a fascinating topic indeed.
Differences between PRF & PRP
Having similarities, PRF vs PRP also has a fair share of differences that contribute to determining which procedure is better. Here are now some of the differences between these two:
- PRP is prepared at a much higher time frame compared to PRF.
– Plasma involved in PRP is a lighter component that stays on top after the blood has been spun at high speeds.
- PRF normally produces a higher platelet count than PRP.
- Since PRP is spun more quickly, a lot of the platelets become left out of the final product compared to PRF, which gives time in the concentration of platelets, producing more.
- Both differ in release times.
- Using an anticoagulant in PRP and not in PRF, but allows fibrin production to contribute to the different release times for each procedure.
- Both differ in platelet concentration.
- With the difference in the spin time, PRP is less concentrated because it is spun at a higher speed, while PRF is more concentrated because it is spun relatively slower than PRP
- PRF has no anticoagulant during the blood processing.
- PRP uses an anticoagulant called acid citrate dextrose or ACD while PRF has no anticoagulant to keep the platelet product as natural as possible.
These are just some of the typical differences that separate these two procedures, so try to weigh each information thoroughly.
PRP vs PRF – Which Is Better?
Now that we know about PRF and PRP, their similarities and differences, which is better between PRF vs PRP? With the facts presented to us earlier, it is clearly shown that PRF is better than PRP. Here are some reasons why:
- Its production is relatively more straightforward compared to PRP.
- No blood manipulation is involved.
- No additives are used.
- It produces a share of blood product more prominent than the share of blood taken.
- It has more healing factors.
- The more the stem cells, the lesser the trauma experienced.
PRF vs. PRP has sprung into worthwhile conversations and arguments that favor one over the other depending on whose side you are focusing on. With everything factually stated in this article, most of them support the conclusion that the best blood product is PRF. With enhancements in the healing of soft and hard tissues, PRF has proven itself worthy of the title until the next excellent competition is known.
Want to know more about Platelet-Rich Fibrin or PRF? Contact our great friends from Aere Aesthetics, and they will be glad to help you out!
