Thank you for your question.
You state in your question which wasn’t accompanied by any photos that you recently
got PRP treatment for acne scars and then you're asking, are PRP facelifts temporary
like to thread lifts.
So I think there is definitely an opportunity here to give you some explanation as to the
philosophy of and the role of PRP as it has in my practice when it comes to acne scars
and how it relates to other modalities that you may feel are temporary.
To give a little bit of background, I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained
oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
I've been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years.
I treat a lot of acne scars in my practice.
We have the full range of modalities to help people with acne scars from skin products
to microneedling, to several different laser technologies as well of course as surgical
or as well as minimally invasive procedures.
So, to understand maybe a little bit about acne scars before we look at whether or not
it's temporary.
You have to understand what was the mindset of the doctor and you when he came to treating
the acne scars with PRP.
When I talk to patients about acne scars, first I spend a lot of time on their evaluation,
then understanding there are basically three types of acne scars and those include ice
pick scars, boxcar scars and rolling scars.
It's very important to identify both through standardized photography and backlit photography
at least in my practice the way I evaluate people to look at where, what kind of scars
you have and then there's a bit of a mindset as to that options you have and how to treat
those different types of scars.
Now I can say that PRP through its mechanism of action which is to stimulate collagen to
stimulate blood supply which is basically a global texture improvement skin as well
as if it is injected under the skin to stimulate the fat as well as to deal with some of the
scarring under the skin does have long-term benefit.
When you ask if it's temporary, it's not that it's temporary it's that it's part of a treatment
plan.
When I speak to patients about acne scars I often talk about a more global plan because
there never is a single modality that can treat everything and have you reach your potential.
Unfortunately when you deal with acne scars you are dealing with one common issue, tissue
loss and with tissue loss that has to be strategies that are customized to each individual to
optimize the smoothening, maximal smoothening of the skin and unfortunately the limitation
is that you can’t ever achieve completely flawless skin but you can achieve a lot and
often it's not just a single treatment but it's rather a series of treatments and in
my practice, I like to evaluate the effectiveness of a particular treatment and then discuss
strategy for future treatment.
I always explain to patients who come with acne scars that you can't expect a single
laser and this is unfortunately what happens, a lot of patients who have acne scars with
bounce from doctor to doctor trying to look for the latest greatest technology and unfortunately
there's usually not one perfect solution and really the doctor you choose should have a
lot of tools at their disposal and a lot of experience to help you achieve your results.
As far as thread lifts are concerned I don't think there really as much of a role for any
type of non-surgical skin suspending modalities but I understand that you really want to make
sure that you get the most quote permanent solution.
Understanding that you are not permanent and that there is an aging process and there is
also your tissue response to the treatment that's also a factor and how successful the
treatment is.
In our practice I often combine for let's say atrophic scars, a combination of PRP and
hyaluronic acid filler there’s a good synergy in that and then helps to build up the scars
from there are atrophic scars or rolling scars that and I often do combine that with subcision
or release but since there's no photo there's no point in being more comprehensive but understand
that PRP does offer some degree of permanence but it's still not an endpoint with one treatment
usually.
So talk to your doctor who did this procedure for you learn more about what is reasonable
expectations with this and other modalities and come up with a plan that makes sense for
you.
So I hope that was helpful I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question.