PRP vs. Exosomes:
Which Skin and Hair Treatment is Right for Me?
Curious about the buzz around PRP and exosomes for skin rejuvenation and hair growth? In this episode of The Skin Report, Dr. Simran Sethi dives deep into the science, benefits, and costs of plasma-rich platelets (PRP) and exosomes. Learn how these treatments work, who they’re best suited for, and why age plays a key role in deciding the right option for you. Whether you’re tackling fine lines, acne scars, or hair loss, this guide will help you choose the most effective treatment for your needs.
0:00 – Introduction to PRP and Exosomes
1:07 – What is PRP?
2:27 – What are Exosomes?
4:20 – Choosing PRP or Exosomes
7:20 – Costs of PRP vs. Exosomes
8:15 – Final Thoughts and Recommendations
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Hello, everyone. Welcome to The Skin Report. We are going to talk about a really exciting topic because there’s so much buzz around it. I know a lot of you have asked me a lot of questions about this. Exosomes versus plasma-rich platelets or PRP. They are treatments that are used for skin rejuvenation to erase fine lines, acne scars, also for hair growth.
So, let’s do a deep dive into exosomes versus PRP, and I’m going to talk about what are these treatments, how are they delivered? Who are they right for? How much do they cost? Because that is going to help you understand when are you getting the right type of treatment. And then finally, which is better? Is it exosomes or PRP?
I’m Dr. Simran Sethi, an internal medicine doctor who also specializes in medical aesthetics. Let’s get started.
Let’s start with what’s PRP and what are exosomes? So, PRP, also known as plasma-rich platelets. That is like the [inaudible 00:01:16] part of your blood. It contains bacteria fighting white cells, it contains platelets, and growth factors. You know when you cut your finger and then after a few minutes you’ll see that there’s a clot forming and closing up that wound? That’s actually happening because of all the platelets that rush to that cut to heal the skin. And with it, those platelets are bringing growth factors.
So, PRP is a way to increase your body’s ability to heal. And the way we use it in aesthetics is usually by microneedling the skin, so breaking the skin and then adding people’s own PRP extracted from their blood by spinning in a specialized centrifuge to basically enhance this new skin building repair mechanism. This can be used for reduction of acne scars, fine lines, reduction of pigmentation also, I love to use it for that. And also for hair growth where it works really, really well. Which is why PRP has done so well in aesthetic medicine.
The other thing that we are hearing a lot more about and can utilize very effectively is exosomes. So, exosomes are a more recent discovery. They’ve been, of course, around for us long as we’ve been around, but their benefits have been discovered more recently and how to isolate them to use in a beneficial way has also been discovered more recently. So, exosomes are also like growth factors, but they’re basically these tiny, tiny bags. They’re nanoparticles, which means they’re tiny, tiny bags that circulate in our body. And their job is to carry information. They carry information like mRNA peptides that will signal information between cells and make cells do a certain thing. They enhance things that a cell is genetically programmed to do.
So, how do we use this in aesthetics? You can microneedle someone and put exosomes into those little micro channels just like we would with PRP, and they will basically signal in a very enhanced fashion, repair. Exosomes are injected underneath the skin. They’re injected in the scalp to basically trigger enhanced signaling of better growth of skin, better growth of hair. So, if you think about it, exosomes and PRP are kind of doing the same thing. They’re triggering a growth response, but they’re also a little different. And there are people who are better off using PRP, and there’s people who are better off using exosomes. And there are also differences in the type of PRP you can get and the type of exosomes. So, that’s what I’m going to get into next.
When is it better to use PRP and when is it better to use exosomes? Now, they are both forms of growth factor delivery and signal delivery, but when you’re a younger person, you naturally have that signal delivery. You have a lot of growth factors circulating in your body. If we take your PRP and reintroduce it into your skin after microneedling, you’re going to have an excellent response because you have so many growth factors circulating in your blood. As we age, the amount of growth factors decreases, and we naturally have these exosomes in our body, right? And growth factors. But as we’re aging, those will go down with time.
In someone who is older, their PRP will not naturally contain all these growth factors, and they are better off taking sort of a high dose of exosomes instead of their own PRP. So, in my practice, when I’m trying to decide who is a better candidate for PRP versus exosomes, I use age as a differentiating factor. I don’t look at severity of concerns like, “Hey, let’s use exosomes because they’re stronger on this person because they have more acne scars or more fine lines, or they have more hair loss.” I go with age.
If someone is under the age of 40, I think they are very well served with their own PRP. They likely have a very good concentration of growth factors circulating in their blood. And I don’t think the exosomes are offering a greater benefit. If someone is above the age of 40, exosomes might be a better choice. And if they are definitely above the age of 60, I always, always, always will use exosomes. And that’s important to know because you cannot combine exosomes and PRP. You cannot use exosomes and PRP in the same treatment. So, if somebody said, “Well, why can’t I just use both? And then we’ll just see what works better.” You can’t do that.
Interestingly, PRP fights exosomes, and that’s because even though PRP is a concentration of growth factors, it also has these inflammatory factors with it because it is a response to inflammation. And I know that sounds counterintuitive, but just stick with me. That’s what’s happening. Your PRP has skin building or building mechanisms and signals with it, but it also has inflammatory signals with it because it was triggered by inflammation. If you combine PRP and exosomes in the same treatment, that inflammatory part of the PRP is going to basically kill off your exosomes. So, that’s why you should not combine them. It’s not going to make your treatment better.
And then the second thing is exosomes and PRP cost differently. PRP in general, adding it to a microneedling treatment, will cost you about 5 to $600. If somebody tells you it’s going to cost you less than that, they may not be using the proper PRP extraction mechanisms, which will make the PRP extracted from you a lot less effective. So, that’s about the cost here in the United States. Exosomes cost a little more. Usually, adding on exosomes to a treatment can cost anywhere from 600 to $1,000, which is a lot more. And it’s really only worth it if you’re a good candidate for it. If you have great PRP, there’s no reason to undergo that expense. So, that’s why it is important to know when exosomes are indicated.
Last but not least, we’re going to cover when can you use PRP or exosomes? So, we talked about who is a better candidate for each of those. Both these treatments are great choices for reduction of fine lines, skin tightening, also great for reduction of pigmentation, especially in people with darker skin tones. And then, the other category where they’re an excellent choice, hair restoration. And the most important thing to remember though is when is it better to use PRP versus exosomes?
We covered quite a bit about exosomes, PRP, I hope it’s clear. I would love to hear if you have any questions in the comments, and also if you’ve had an exosome treatment or a PRP treatment, what your response to the treatment was. Remember, we love it when you can give us a review. Please subscribe, turn on your notification bell so that you know whenever we release new content.