Can PRP really help crepey skin and scarring on my neck? Is it a lot of hype?

Question

I have atopic dermatitis on the front of my neck, which has caused the skin to become crepey and scarred, especially when i stretch my neck forward. I have tried to rule out the cause through extensive testing, elimination, etc, and it remains elusive. I manage it through non-steroidal topicals and moisturizers, but I still get the occasional flare. With each flare the skin is less able to recover. Is there any hope to help repair the skin on my neck? I don't want to touch it with lasers...

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD, FACS · Answer

Fractional laser is an amazing and highly effective treatment in our office. We use the laser treatment to help with acne scars, large pores, fine wrinkles, tissue collagen loss, scars, sebaceous hyperplasia, active acne, and for brightening dark pigmentation. Although there are very strong fractional lasers such as CO2 laser, we use lighter treatments for corrective skincare and maintenance of results. Our Thulium fractional laser, clear and brilliant laser, and Ultra Thulium laser are excellent options in our clinic. We also perform CO2 fractional and erbium depending on skin tone and tolerance for downtime. Patients do have to use a Melarase cream before and after treatment to help further reduce pigmentation after laser.  Melarase AM, Melarase PM, and Melapads can seriously improve surface sun damage and UV related pigmentation. Dark spots can improve with these treatments. I recommend fractional laser for incisional scars as well, especially after plastic surgery.  
Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian 
Realself100 Surgeon

Michael S. Mall, MD · Answer

Thank you for your concerns.  Yes there is hope for your skin.  I would give it time to heal and consider the Laser Genesis.  It is a mild laser which cooperates with all skin types and is known for also helping restore pigment.
Best Wishes

Usha Rajagopal, MD · Answer

I agree with you being conservative over lasers. The skin of the neck is thin, and usually laser treatments are too strong & especially because you have atopic dermatitis it is even more sensitive. Microneedling is more gentle. Microneedling applying PRP may help improve the overall skin quality but it is hard to determine how much it will because of you have atopic dermatitis. But since the PRP does bring in growth factors with new blood supply & collagen. It may help the overall skin quality so as long as you don’t have a flare up during the treatment I think you may benefit from microneedling with prp, but understand these treatments are mild treatments that will help improve collagen stimulation but they will not produce dramatic improvements or full correction.

Lisa Vuich, MD · Answer

Thanks for your question. What you describe could be addressed by a combination of Microneedling with PRP plus carefully selected skin care- not just "moisturizers" but compounds that increase and protect the collagen and elastin in the skin. It is good that you are avoiding steroid creams. One line you could explore is Alastin Skin Care- they have well tolerated products that reduce inflammation (ex: Alastin Skin Nectar) and their Ultra Nourishing Moisturizer is excellent also. They have a 0.5% retinol which would be good to incorporate gradually to improve the responsiveness of your own skin cells. It would be interesting also to see if Laser Genesis would help, we have great success with it for other inflammatory skin conditions like Rosacea and it can improve scarring as well.
Best,
Lisa Vuich, MD

Can PRP really help crepey skin and scarring on my neck? Is it a lot of hype?

Answers (4)

Answer: Thinning Skin on the Neck

Answer: Thinning Skin on the Neck

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Can PRP really help crepey skin and scarring on my neck? Is it a lot of hype?

Answers (4)

Answer: Thinning Skin on the Neck

Answer: Thinning Skin on the Neck

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Everything you need to know about Vampire Facelift

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