Dr Harpal Bains
MBBS DFSRH PGCAestMed (Dist)
December 26, 2018
August 2018
I’m a little lazy with skincare and if its invasive…. Well, you can assume that its going to be hard to pin me down. We have however, recently introduced a new machine to the practice, our wonderful meso gun U225. Our therapists needed practice and we needed guinea pigs ie my face, neck and tummy.
What is the difference between mesotherapy, microneedling and PRP?
Mesotherapy is multiple tiny, non-deep injections into the skin (any part of the body) of ingredients that can trigger the body’s own healing response. These ingredients can be amino acids, vitamins and minerals, anti-oxidants, blood (or plasma), plant extracts etc
Microneedling is multiple tiny, non-deep injections into the skin but no products are injected into the skin, unlike mesotherapy. Instead, products are applied by hand and infiltrates into the tiny micro channels that are created; thus penetrating deep into the skin but probably not as targeted as mesotherapy
PRP stands for platelet rich plasma and is the white part of the blood (after centrifuging or spinning it) with highly concentrated platelet protein which is highly regenerating and is thought to trigger a healing response in the skin. PRP uses the technique of mesotherapy to deliver the plasma.
Why did I invest in this particular gun?
Its one of the best on the market. Powerful and highly effective in delivery
Its way, way less painful than freehand meso (a loaded syringe delivered by the doctor) and can usually be done without anaesthesia
We have more and more people coming in for hair loss, wanting meso or PRP (plasma rich platelet) for hair regrowth. Freehand meso is very painful on the scalp
My therapists can do it. I seem to have less and less time available for freehand meso
It gives consistent delivery in terms of quantity of product injected
Depth of product injected is controlled better than freehand meso
The process
Deanna, my therapist, cleansed my skin; and started using the loaded gun on my face- without topical anaesthetic or painkillers!
The pain was quite minimal. I did feel it but felt quite relaxed about the whole procedure
A little blood was drawn but again, fairly minimal
Painful areas were around the nose and mouth- but still easily bearable
I wanted her to do my eyelids so we covered the eyebrows and went upto the first eyelid crease. Settings were changed for this so that the right depth was achieved for the thin skin of the eyelid
The procedure took around 40 mins; around 30 mins for the meso itself and then she applied a serum that penetrated the tiny holes that were created. I liked the thought of this- having both the goodies from my own blood plus active factors from a serum to give me a double whammy effect for my skin
I looked a little red after the procedure but went on with my day seeing other patients as normal. I didn’t bother with covering up the redness as it was minimal, although I could have used oxygenetix aloe vera-based foundation that we normally recommend post any invasive procedure http://www.oxygenetix.com/products
Today is Boxing Day and time for me to review this procedure which was done in August; so 4 months later. In all honesty, I have forgotten that I had this procedure done and stumbled upon this whilst getting ready to write a hormone blog post.
I’ve just had the busiest few months of my life. Working almost everyday including weekends and most evenings as well after putting my children to bed. I haven’t had the luxury of time to do any facials or any procedures; despite simply having to go to a different room within my practice. My skincare routine is still fairly basic. I’m diligent about cleaning my face in the evenings and about applying a range of facial products that I rate highly. I dream of having a radio-frequency skin tightening treatment – a treatment that brings about so many benefits that if I only had an hour, that would be my treatment of choice.
I started this blog in August as I didn’t want to forget the experience. These are my thoughts today:
My skin looks very good despite the high stress and lack of sleep I’ve recently been through (over past 3 months)
I have no breakouts. My skin looks clear and healthy
My skin on the whole has a good texture
My skin has an even tone and even my eye bags are not that bad
All I can say is that it finally makes sense. I couldn’t really understand why my skin looked this good; or at least way better than I had expected. I’m used to it playing up the moment stress mounted. This is completely normal for most people. I don’t normally use foundation or concealer and this hasn’t changed. What everyone sees is literally my own skin; besides lipstick and a bit of eye makeup. On the last day of work, I also had the pleasure of bumping into an old client of mine that we did 2 rounds of PRP on freehand. I must say I was amazed at how different his skin looked. He had very bad pitted acne scarring with a highly uneven texture. That had now smoothed over quite a fair bit. There is still some ways to go but he really hasn’t done much else eg peels, microneedling radiofrequency and more sessions of PRP. But he was really happy with the improvements.
Final words? I’m sold. Maybe now, instead of radiofrequency, I will add PRP for overall rejuvenation including for hair regrowth- a huge area within the PRP world. This fits in extremely well with the ethos of our clinic and my personal believe – a better, more rested version of you. Nothing artificial about it!
** PRP is also known by different names e.g. Dracula Facial, Vampire Facial or Facelift. We prefer to call it PRP
