Patients today are looking for treatments that improve their skin in a natural way, without relying on synthetic fillers or foreign substances. One of the most exciting options in modern aesthetic medicine is PRF (platelet rich fibrin), a regenerative treatment designed to help your skin renew itself using your body’s own healing properties.
PRF works by using a small sample of your blood to concentrate powerful growth factors and platelets. When these are carefully reintroduced into targeted areas of the face, they can support smoother skin, softer lines, and an overall refreshed appearance. Rather than simply adding volume from the outside, PRF encourages your skin to rebuild and improve from within.
The result is a treatment that feels natural, works with your body, and is becoming increasingly popular for facial rejuvenation.
Here’s what you should know about how PRF works and whether it could be a good fit for your skincare goals.
The PRF Treatment Process at Restorative Medspa
Understanding exactly what happens during a PRF appointment helps you feel prepared and comfortable. Here’s what to expect when you visit Dr. Ghafoor for PRF treatment at our Oak Park office:
Before Your Treatment
Your PRF journey begins with a consultation where Dr. Ghafoor evaluates your skin concerns, reviews your medical history, and discusses your goals. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all treatment, the number of sessions, injection sites, and volume of PRF will be tailored to your specific needs.
In the days before your appointment: - Stay well hydrated — good hydration supports better platelet quality - Avoid blood-thinning medications and supplements (aspirin, ibuprofen, fish oil, vitamin E) for 5-7 days prior, unless medically necessary - Avoid alcohol for 24-48 hours before treatment - Come with clean skin — no makeup or heavy moisturizers on the treatment area.
During Your Treatment
The entire procedure typically takes 45-60 minutes:
- Blood draw — Our team draws a small amount of blood from your arm, similar to a routine blood test. Most patients require 2-4 vials depending on the treatment areas.
- Centrifugation — Your blood is placed in a specialized centrifuge that spins at a precisely controlled speed. Unlike PRP processing, PRF uses a slower spin with no chemical additives — this preserves more of the beneficial cells and creates the characteristic fibrin matrix.
- PRF preparation — Within minutes, the centrifuge separates your blood into layers. The golden PRF layer is carefully extracted. It has a gel-like consistency, thicker than PRP, which is part of why it stays in place better after injection.
- Injection — Dr. Ghafoor uses fine needles to inject the PRF into targeted areas. Common treatment zones include the under-eyes, cheeks, nasolabial folds, and areas of concern you’ve discussed during your consultation. Each injection site receives a precise amount, typically 0.5 to 1 mL.
- Aftercare instructions — Our care team reviews your post-treatment guidelines before you leave.
After Your Treatment
Recovery from PRF is minimal. Most patients return to their normal activities the next day. You can expect:
- Immediately after: Mild redness, swelling, or tenderness at injection sites — this is normal and expected
- First 24 hours: Swelling typically peaks and begins to resolve.
- Days 2-3: Redness and any bruising begin to fade. You may already notice your skin feels smoother and more hydrated
- Week 1: Most visible signs of treatment have resolved
- Weeks 4-6: This is when real changes begin, new collagen production starts becoming visible as improved skin texture, firmness, and glow
Post-treatment guidelines: Avoid touching or massaging the treated areas for 24 hours. No strenuous exercise for 24-48 hours. Avoid direct sun exposure and apply SPF 30+ daily. Skip retinoids and exfoliating acids for 3-5 days. Avoid saunas, hot tubs, and steam rooms for 48 hours.
How Many Treatments Will You Need?
PRF is not a one-and-done treatment. Because it works by stimulating your body’s own regenerative processes — which happen gradually over weeks and months — a series of treatments produces the best outcomes.
Based on published clinical protocols:
- Standard initial series: 3-4 sessions spaced 4-6 weeks apart
- Results build progressively: Each treatment compounds the results of the ones before it
- Maintenance: After completing the initial series, maintenance sessions every 6-12 months help sustain your results
During your consultation, Dr. Ghafoor will recommend a treatment plan based on your skin condition, age, and goals. Some patients see meaningful improvement after just two or three sessions, while others benefit from a full four-treatment series followed by periodic maintenance.
How Long Results Last
This is one of the most common questions about PRF:
- Skin quality improvements from a full treatment series typically last 6-12 months
- The collagen your body produces in response to PRF persists longer than the PRF material itself — the fibrin scaffold is reabsorbed within weeks, but the new collagen it stimulated remains
- One clinical study showed improvements at 3 months that had diminished by the 6-month mark, emphasizing the importance of completing the full treatment series and scheduling maintenance
- Combined approaches — such as PRF with microneedling or alongside other treatments like HydraFacial — may extend the duration of visible improvements
PRF is a biostimulator, not a permanent solution. Like exercising a muscle, the benefits are real but require ongoing maintenance to sustain.
Who Is a Good Candidate for PRF Treatment?
PRF is suitable for most adults looking to improve their skin quality without synthetic materials. You may be an ideal candidate if:
- You’re noticing early signs of volume loss, fine lines, or skin texture changes
- You prefer natural, autologous treatments over synthetic fillers
- You have under-eye hollowness or dark circles that you’d like to address without HA fillers
- You’re interested in improving overall skin quality — firmness, glow, texture — not just filling specific lines
- You’re looking for a treatment with minimal downtime
- You have acne scarring you’d like to reduce
- You’re already using treatments like Botox or dermal fillers and want to add a regenerative component
PRF may not be recommended if you: - Have a blood disorder or platelet dysfunction - Are on anticoagulation therapy that cannot be temporarily paused - Have active skin infections in the treatment area - Are pregnant or nursing.
During your consultation, Dr. Ghafoor will review your medical history and determine whether PRF is a good fit for your specific situation.
Frequently Asked Questions About PRF Treatment
What Is PRF (Platelet Rich Fibrin)?
Platelet Rich Fibrin is an advanced form of regenerative therapy created entirely from your own blood. A small sample, typically 1-2 vials, is drawn from your arm and processed in a specialized centrifuge. The result is a gel-like concentrate packed with:
- Platelets — the cells your body naturally sends to heal wounds
- White blood cells — immune cells that regulate the healing response
- Fibrin — a structural protein that forms a natural scaffold in your tissue
- Growth factors — signaling molecules including TGF-beta, VEGF, PDGF, and EGF that stimulate collagen production and cellular renewal
What makes PRF different from older platelet therapies like PRP is how it’s processed. PRP uses anticoagulants and high-speed centrifugation to separate platelets from blood — but that aggressive processing also strips away some of the beneficial white blood cells and growth factors. PRF uses a slower, gentler centrifugation with no chemical additives, which preserves a richer mix of regenerative components and creates that distinctive fibrin matrix.
Think of the fibrin matrix as a time-release capsule. Where PRP delivers its growth factors in a single burst that dissipates within hours, PRF’s fibrin network traps those growth factors and releases them gradually over 7 to 14 days. Research published in the Journal of Periodontology found that liquid PRF induced 350% greater fibroblast migration compared to controls, significantly outperforming PRP’s 200% increase, along with substantially greater collagen matrix synthesis (Miron et al., 2019).
That sustained, slow-release mechanism is what gives PRF its edge in skin rejuvenation.
How PRF Works for Skin Rejuvenation
When PRF is injected into the skin, it triggers a biological cascade that mirrors your body’s natural wound-healing process, without the wound:
- Immediate scaffolding — The fibrin matrix creates a three-dimensional framework within the treatment area, providing structural support and a surface for new cells to attach and grow.
- Growth factor release (days 1-14) — Over the next two weeks, platelets trapped within the fibrin mesh release a steady stream of growth factors. TGF-beta1 — the most abundant, peaking at day 7 with concentrations reaching 13,337 pg/mL in solid PRF preparations — directly stimulates fibroblasts to produce new collagen (PMC, 2022).
- Collagen remodeling (weeks 2-12) — Fibroblasts activated by PRF growth factors begin laying down new Type I and Type III collagen. This is the structural protein that gives skin its firmness, bounce, and resilience. As new collagen matures, skin texture, elasticity, and thickness measurably improve.
- Ongoing renewal (months 2-6) — The regenerative process continues well after the fibrin matrix itself has been reabsorbed. Clinical studies show skin density improvements continuing to build through the third and fourth treatment sessions, with one study documenting a 5.08x increase in skin density after the third session (Majewska, 2023).
The bottom line: PRF doesn’t just fill a wrinkle or plump a hollow. It rebuilds the underlying architecture of your skin at a cellular level.
PRF vs. PRP: Understanding the Key Differences
If you’ve heard of PRP (platelet rich plasma), you might wonder how PRF compares. Both are derived from your blood, but the differences in preparation and performance are meaningful.
| Feature | PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) | PRF (Platelet Rich Fibrin) |
|---|---|---|
| Additives | Requires anticoagulants (calcium chloride, bovine thrombin) | No additives — 100% autologous |
| Consistency | Liquid — disperses quickly after injection | Gel-like — stays in place, provides structural support |
| Growth factor release | Rapid burst, dissipates in hours | Sustained release over 7-14 days |
| White blood cells | Mostly removed during processing | Preserved — contributes to immune regulation |
| Fibrin content | Minimal | Rich fibrin matrix acts as biological scaffold |
| Cell types preserved | Primarily platelets | Platelets + leukocytes + stem cells |
What the Clinical Evidence Shows
A 2025 systematic review analyzing 14 studies and 514 patients found that PRF was associated with improvements in skin texture, wrinkles, and crepiness, while PRP showed stronger evidence for treating hyperpigmentation. Both had favorable safety profiles and high patient satisfaction (Sollitto et al., 2025).
In the most direct head-to-head comparison available, Atsu et al. (2023) treated 55 subjects — 32 with PRF, 23 with PRP — across three monthly sessions. At three months, the PRF group showed significantly better canthal smoothness (P = 0.025) and wrinkle reduction (P = 0.028) compared to PRP (Atsu et al., 2023).
For acne scarring, a 2023 split-face study found that PRF combined with microneedling achieved “excellent” results in 46.7% of patients, compared to just 20% with PRP and microneedling. Patient satisfaction was also significantly higher in the PRF group (P = 0.03) (PMC, 2023).
Key takeaway: PRF isn’t a complete replacement for PRP , both have clinical value, but for facial skin quality, wrinkle reduction, and overall rejuvenation, the evidence increasingly favors PRF.
PRF vs. Traditional Dermal Fillers
Many patients considering PRF are also weighing it against traditional dermal fillers - these are fundamentally different approaches:
Dermal fillers are hyaluronic acid (HA) gels injected to add immediate volume. They’re excellent for deep folds, lip enhancement, and structural contouring. Results are visible instantly and typically last 6-18 months depending on the product and area treated. However, they’re synthetic materials, your body didn’t make them, and they eventually break down and need to be replaced.
PRF takes a different path. Instead of adding external volume, it stimulates your body’s own collagen and elastin production. The results are more gradual, you won’t walk out looking dramatically different, but the improvements are in the actual quality and health of your skin, not just its shape.
When PRF Makes Sense Over Fillers
- Early volume loss — If you’re noticing the first signs of hollowing under the eyes or in the cheeks, PRF can stimulate natural volume restoration before you need the heavy lifting of HA fillers
- Skin quality concerns — Crepey skin, rough texture, enlarged pores, and dullness respond well to PRF’s collagen-building mechanism
- Patients who want natural results — Since PRF is made from your own blood, there’s no risk of allergic reaction or filler migration
- Patients who dislike the “filler look” — PRF creates subtle, progressive improvement rather than sudden visible change
- Combination therapy — Many patients use PRF alongside fillers and Botox, treating different concerns with the right tool for each
At Restorative Medspa, Dr. Ghafoor evaluates each patient’s specific concerns and may recommend PRF alone, fillers alone, or a combination approach depending on your goals.
What PRF Treats
PRF facial rejuvenation is versatile. Clinical research and practice experience support its use for:
Under-Eye Hollowness and Dark Circles
The delicate under-eye area is one of the first places to show aging, and it’s also one of the most challenging to treat. The skin here is thin, and traditional fillers carry risks of lumpiness or a bluish tint (called the Tyndall effect). PRF offers a gentler alternative that improves skin thickness and quality without the risks associated with HA fillers in this sensitive area.
Nasolabial Folds and Cheek Volume
The lines running from your nose to the corners of your mouth deepen as mid-face volume naturally diminishes with age. PRF injected into these areas can stimulate collagen production that gradually softens these folds.
Skin Texture and Quality
Beyond addressing specific wrinkles or folds, PRF improves overall skin quality metrics, the kind of improvements that make people say “you look rested” or “your skin is glowing” without being able to pinpoint exactly what changed.
Acne Scarring
For patients dealing with atrophic acne scars, PRF combined with microneedling has shown some of the most compelling results.
Start Your PRF Journey at Restorative Medspa
If you’re curious about what PRF treatment could do for your skin, the next step is a consultation with Dr. Asma Ghafoor at Restorative Medspa in Oak Park, IL. During your visit, Dr. Ghafoor will evaluate your skin, discuss your concerns and goals, and recommend a personalized treatment plan — whether that includes PRF alone or in combination with other injectable treatments and skin rejuvenation options.
Our office is conveniently located at 322 Lake Street in Oak Park, serving patients from Oak Brook, Elmhurst, River Forest, and the greater Chicago western suburbs.
Call us today at 630-441-4160 to schedule your consultation, or book online to find a time that works for you.
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