Dermatologist Shereene Idriss breaks down stem cell sources: fat-derived cells are gold-standard for facial rejuvenation, bone-marrow cells work but hurt, and blood-derived cells are too scarce to matter. PRP and PRF contain growth factors, not stem cells, and won't regenerate skin on their own. Skip clinics selling blood stem-cell facials.
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Because if someone tells you that they're going to get stem cells from your blood and that's going to help rejuvenate your face, you need to run. That is going to be somebody who is stealing your money or who doesn't understand the science or who's a charlatan or all of the above. Stem cells are not created equal across the board. You can get stem cells from your blood, yes, but we're going to talk about that in a second. You can get stem cells from your fat, gold standard. You can get stem cells from your bone marrow, hurts like a bitch, and you're going to have downtime from that. You can even get stem cells from your hair follicles. Stem cells from your blood— the number of stem cells circulating in your blood is so low that the impact it will have on any sort of rejuvenation is practically null. So then what is the point of blood stem cells? It is going to create potentially, and that's the keyword, a better healing environment. But because the number circulating in your blood is so damn low, it's like putting a drop of salt in a glass of water. Your water is not going to taste salty, it's going to do jack shit. Oh, in fact, you have a better chance of getting better healing from PRP and PRF, which is also derived from your blood. But if somebody tells you they're giving you blood stem cells and they're doing PRP or PRF, they're also lying to you because PRP and PRF do not have stem cells. It has growth factors, which acts like a fertilizer to the environment that is being injected into, especially if there is trauma. Like let's say you microneedled your face and then you inject PRP, PRF. Yes, you're gonna have better healing, but It's not because of stem cells, it's because of growth factors. So if you went to Korea and you got blood stem cells, you may have just wasted a lot of money and time.
