Autologous Volume
What PRF EZ Gel Is
PRF EZ Gel is a volumizing gel made entirely from the patient’s own blood, with no synthetic ingredients, no hyaluronic acid, and no additives, used at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD where hyaluronic acid filler is often too heavy, such as the under-eye tear trough, fine lines around the mouth, and early hollowing in the temples and cheeks. A typical plan is 2 to 3 treatments spaced 4 to 6 weeks apart, with the gel softening a hollow the same day and the platelets driving a slower collagen response over 6 to 12 weeks.
PRF EZ Gel is a volumizing gel made entirely from your own blood. A small draw is spun at low speed with no anticoagulant to separate platelet-rich fibrin, the plasma layer is heated and then cooled so its albumin sets into a gel, and that gel is mixed with the liquid PRF and its platelets. The result, described in the research literature as Alb-PRF or albumin gel, is thicker and longer-lasting in the tissue than liquid PRF or PRP and contains no synthetic ingredients, no hyaluronic acid, and no additives. At Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD, the med spa of Howarth Plastic Surgery in Scottsdale, it is used where hyaluronic acid filler is often too heavy: the under-eye tear trough and the thin crepey skin around it, fine lines around the mouth, early hollowing in the temples and cheeks, the neck, and the backs of the hands. A typical plan is 2 to 3 treatments spaced 4 to 6 weeks apart, then a maintenance treatment every 6 to 12 months. It is not seasonal; unlike laser treatment it is scheduled year-round in Arizona, and it pairs well with SkinPen microneedling in the same visit. The same platelet-rich fibrin, unheated, is used on the scalp for PRF hair restoration, and the injectables hub lists every option at the practice.
Two things happen after the gel is placed. The first is immediate: the gel occupies space, so a hollow looks softer the same day, and part of that volume is absorbed over the first one to three weeks as the albumin scaffold breaks down. The second is slower: the platelets trapped in the fibrin release growth factors over days rather than minutes, which is the property that distinguishes PRF from PRP, and the tissue responds with new collagen and better skin quality over 6 to 12 weeks. A 2021 laboratory study in the journal Platelets found the heated albumin gel mixture resisted breakdown far longer than liquid PRF and kept releasing growth factors across the study period. Reviews of platelet concentrates in aesthetic medicine describe the result as gradual and modest with a very low rate of adverse events, and they are honest that large controlled trials are still few. That is the honest way to describe EZ Gel: softer and slower than filler, with nothing foreign in it. Where the skin problem is sun damage rather than thinness, MOXI and the plan in Skin in Arizona are the better tools.
Why Patients Ask for PRF EZ Gel
What Patients Who Choose PRF EZ Gel Notice
Most people who ask Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD about PRF EZ Gel have a specific area of thin skin in mind, and many have already decided they do not want a synthetic product there. The under-eye is the most common: the hollow that makes them look tired, the crepey skin that creases under concealer. These are the findings the team hears most.
- A shadow or hollow under the eyes that concealer settles into rather than covers
- Crepey, finely lined skin under the eyes or on the neck
- Fine vertical lines around the mouth that lipstick bleeds into
- Temples that have started to sink
- Backs of the hands that show tendons and veins
- A wish to avoid synthetic filler, or a bad experience with it elsewhere
Thin skin with early hollowing is exactly what EZ Gel is for. Deep volume loss in the cheeks, a receding chin, or a flat jawline needs the structure of a hyaluronic acid gel, and an under-eye bag needs surgery. The assessment sorts which is which before anything is drawn.
Surgeon-Directed Care
More Tools in the Toolbox: Why a Plastic Surgeon Directs PRF EZ Gel Treatment
Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD is the medical aesthetics practice of Ashley Howarth, MD, FACS, a board-certified plastic surgeon and instructor in plastic surgery at Mayo Clinic. The judgment a plastic surgeon adds to EZ Gel starts with the diagnosis under the eye, because the same shadow can be four different problems: a true hollow at the tear trough, a fat bag casting a shadow below it, a deflated cheek letting the lid-cheek junction show, or thin sun-damaged skin. Only the first and last are EZ Gel problems. A surgeon who performs lower eyelid surgery and fat transfer examines that area the way she would before an operation, and her protocol is that a bag goes to surgery, a deflated cheek gets filler first, and crepey sun-damaged skin is offered physician-performed laser skin resurfacing rather than a gel that cannot fix it. PRF EZ Gel at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD is placed by Dr. Howarth or by an advanced aesthetic nurse injector under her direction and protocols, with the same arterial mapping and cannula rules as filler, because a gel that cannot be dissolved has to be placed with the vessels in mind.
The second thing a plastic surgeon brings is a realistic account of what an autologous gel can do. Fat transfer is the surgical version of the same idea, the patient’s own tissue placed to restore volume, and Dr. Howarth performs it, so she can tell a patient when EZ Gel’s modest and gradual effect is the right amount and when a single operation would do what six sessions cannot. More tools in the toolbox, and an honest answer about which one you need.
SCOTTSDALE · MODERN OFFICE SETTING
Where to Start
Who PRF EZ Gel Is For, and What Happens First
PRF EZ Gel at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD is for adults with thin, crepey, or early-hollowed skin under the eyes, around the mouth, in the temples, on the neck, or on the hands who want a gradual improvement in skin quality and soft volume from their own tissue, who prefer to avoid or cannot use hyaluronic acid filler, or who want to combine a regenerative treatment with SkinPen or filler. The facial assessment comes first. The injector examines the area at rest and in animation, distinguishes a true hollow from a fat bag or from a shadow cast by a deflated cheek, checks skin thickness and quality, reviews previous filler in the area and any history of bruising, clotting problems, anticoagulants, or active infection, and confirms you are a candidate for a blood draw. If the problem is a bag or hooded lid, the recommendation is eyelid surgery. If it is deep structural loss, hyaluronic acid filler or fat transfer is discussed. If the surface itself is sun-damaged, resurfacing comes first. EZ Gel is scheduled year-round in Scottsdale, and the only summer rule is sunscreen on the treated skin.
Dr. Ashley Howarth, MD, FACS is a board-certified plastic surgeon and an instructor in plastic surgery at Mayo Clinic. Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD is the medical aesthetics brand of her practice, Howarth Plastic Surgery, at 7373 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite C150, Scottsdale, Arizona 85253.
Your Own Tissue, Placed Where Filler Is Too Heavy
How PRF EZ Gel Is Used in Scottsdale
Under Eyes and the Tear Trough
The under-eye is where EZ Gel earns its place, since it is the patient’s own protein and does not carry the bluish tint or fluid retention that hyaluronic acid filler can leave in that thin skin.
The under-eye is where EZ Gel earns its place. The skin there is the thinnest on the face, drainage is slow, and hyaluronic acid filler placed too high or too generously leaves a bluish tint or a persistent puff. EZ Gel is placed with a blunt cannula from a single entry point below the hollow, in small deposits along the orbital rim, and because it is the patient’s own protein it does not carry the tint or the fluid retention that hyaluronic acid can. The immediate softening partly resorbs over one to three weeks; the collagen response fills in over the following two months. Most under-eyes take 2 to 3 sessions 4 to 6 weeks apart. A patient with a fat bag above the hollow is referred for lower eyelid surgery instead, and one with a deflated cheek is often better served by cheek filler first.
Lip Lines, Temples, and Cheeks
Fine lines above the lip and early hollowing in the temples and cheeks are treated with EZ Gel when the patient wants softness rather than projection, often combined with SkinPen or a firm filler for structure.
Fine vertical lines above the lip are treated with EZ Gel placed just under the skin with a fine needle along the lines, often in the same visit as SkinPen to the area, and paired at a separate visit with a small dose of Botox for the muscle component. Temples and the upper cheek are treated with a cannula placed deep, the same approach used for filler, with the superficial temporal artery mapped first. In these areas EZ Gel is chosen when the hollowing is early and the patient wants softness rather than projection; for a flattened cheekbone that needs lift, the honest answer is a firm hyaluronic acid gel, and the two are sometimes combined, filler for structure and EZ Gel for the skin over it. Etched lines that persist are a job for MicroLaserPeel during laser season.
Hands, Neck, and Skin Quality
On the hands and neck, where Arizona sun shows first, EZ Gel thickens crepey skin and softens tendons and veins, and because it is autologous it can be done through the Scottsdale summer, unlike laser treatments.
The backs of the hands and the neck are the two areas where Arizona sun shows first and where EZ Gel’s collagen effect matters as much as its volume. On the hands the gel is fanned under the skin with a cannula to soften tendons and veins and to thicken thin, crepey skin; on the neck it is placed in fine threads along the horizontal lines. Both are commonly combined with SkinPen, with liquid PRF from the same draw applied over the needled skin, and with BBL HERO for pigment at a separate visit two weeks apart. Because the treatment is autologous it can be done in the Scottsdale summer, when laser treatments wait; the dry and dehydrated skin guide explains why desert skin thins the way it does.
When Filler, Fat Transfer, or Surgery Is the Better Answer
Deep structural volume loss belongs to hyaluronic acid filler, volume needs across many areas point to fat transfer, and under-eye bags or sagging skin are surgical problems that no injected gel corrects.
EZ Gel is soft, gradual, and modest, and it should not be sold as something else. Three situations move the plan elsewhere at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD. Deep structural volume loss, a receding chin, or a jawline that needs definition are hyaluronic acid filler problems, because those areas need a gel that holds shape. A patient who needs volume in many areas and wants a durable, fully natural result is a candidate for fat transfer, which Dr. Howarth performs and which is the surgical relative of EZ Gel: the patient’s own tissue, placed once. And under-eye bags, hooded lids, and sagging skin are surgical problems that no injected gel corrects. The comparison table lower on this page sets EZ Gel against PRP and hyaluronic acid filler, and the consultation says which fits.
At a Glance
PRF EZ Gel at a Glance
Areas treated with PRF EZ Gel at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD, what the gel does in each, typical sessions, downtime, and how long the improvement is expected to hold; individual plans are set at the facial assessment.
| Area | What it does | Sessions | Downtime | Longevity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under eyes (tear trough) | Softens the hollow and thickens thin crepey skin without tint or puffiness | 2 to 3, 4 to 6 weeks apart | Swelling 2 to 5 days, possible bruising | 6 to 12 months after a series |
| Lip and perioral lines | Softens fine vertical lines; paired with SkinPen and a neuromodulator | 2 to 3 | Swelling 2 to 3 days | 6 to 12 months |
| Temples | Soft volume for early hollowing | 2 to 3 | Mild swelling 1 to 3 days | 6 to 12 months |
| Cheeks and midface | Skin quality and mild volume; filler for structure when lift is needed | 2 to 3 | Swelling 2 to 3 days | 6 to 12 months |
| Neck | Fine threads along horizontal lines; thickens crepey skin | 2 to 3, often with SkinPen | Swelling 1 to 3 days | 6 to 12 months |
| Backs of the hands | Softens tendons and veins; thickens sun-thinned skin | 2, 4 to 6 weeks apart | Swelling 2 to 5 days | About 6 to 12 months |
Three Injectables Compared
EZ Gel vs PRP vs HA Filler
How PRF EZ Gel compares with liquid PRP and hyaluronic acid filler at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD; the dermal fillers page covers the hyaluronic acid families in full.
| PRF EZ Gel | PRP | HA filler | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Your own plasma heated into an albumin gel, mixed with liquid PRF | Your own plasma spun with an anticoagulant; liquid | Cross-linked hyaluronic acid gel, manufactured |
| Additives | None | Anticoagulant in the tube | Lidocaine; synthetic cross-linker |
| Volume effect | Soft, partly resorbs over 1 to 3 weeks, then collagen | Minimal; gone within a day | Immediate and predictable; holds shape |
| Longevity | About 6 to 12 months after a series | Weeks; used for skin quality with microneedling | 6 to 18 months |
| Reversible | No, but resorbs on its own | Not applicable | Yes, with hyaluronidase |
| Best for | Thin skin: under eyes, lip lines, neck, hands | Scalp and topical use after SkinPen | Structure: cheeks, chin, jawline, lips |
A Visit Built Around Your Own Blood
What to Expect at a PRF EZ Gel Visit at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD
A PRF EZ Gel visit at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD has three parts: the blood draw and processing while numbing cream works, the injections, and a written aftercare plan. Plan on about 60 minutes in the room, most of it waiting for the gel to form; the injecting itself takes 10 to 20 minutes.
Area examined, blood drawn, numbing applied
The injector confirms the plan from your assessment, photographs the area, marks the arteries near it, and draws 20 to 60 mL of blood from the arm depending on how many areas are planned. Numbing cream goes on the treatment area while the tubes are spun and the plasma layer is heated and cooled into the gel, about 20 to 30 minutes.
Gel placed with a cannula or fine needle
The finished gel is mixed with the liquid PRF and drawn into syringes. Under-eyes, temples, cheeks, and hands are treated through a single entry point with a blunt cannula in small deposits; lip lines and neck lines with a fine needle. If SkinPen is part of the visit, it is done first and the liquid PRF is applied over the needled skin. Skin color is checked after each area.
Aftercare in writing and the next session booked
You leave with ice for the first evening, instructions to avoid hard exercise, heat, and alcohol for 24 hours and pressure on the area for 48 hours, mineral sunscreen, the signs of a vascular problem to call about immediately, and the date of your next session 4 to 6 weeks out.
Clear Information. Informed Choices.
Safety and Limitations of PRF EZ Gel
PRF EZ Gel is among the safest injectables because it is the patient’s own blood with nothing added: there is no allergic reaction to the material, no foreign-body nodule, and no bluish tint under thin skin. Side effects are those of any injection, swelling and bruising for a few days, and under the eyes the swelling can be more noticeable than with filler for the first day or two because more volume is placed to allow for resorption. The one serious risk is the same as for any injected gel: vascular occlusion, gel entering or compressing an artery so the skin loses blood supply. It is rare, and because PRF cannot be dissolved with hyaluronidase, Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD prevents it the same way it does for filler, by mapping arteries, using a blunt cannula in the tear trough and temples, placing small slow deposits, and checking skin color after every pass with a physician on site. The main limitation is honesty about the result: it is softer, slower, and less predictable in volume than hyaluronic acid filler, and the trial evidence, while consistently favorable on safety, is still small.
Possible Side Effects Include
- Swelling for 2 to 5 days, most visible under the eyes
- Bruising at the entry point or draw site for up to 1 to 2 weeks
- Tenderness and a feeling of fullness for a few days
- Small firm areas that soften over 1 to 2 weeks
- Rarely, infection or vascular occlusion, which cannot be reversed with hyaluronidase
What Treatment Cannot Guarantee
- The projection or lift of a hyaluronic acid filler
- A result from one session; most areas need 2 to 3
- Correction of under-eye bags or hooded eyelids
- Improvement of sun damage, pigment, or etched lines
- A permanent result; maintenance is every 6 to 12 months
What Happens After PRF EZ Gel
Recovery After PRF EZ Gel
Recovery from PRF EZ Gel is short and follows a pattern that is worth knowing in advance: the area looks fuller than the final result on day one, then some of that volume resorbs over the first one to three weeks, and the real improvement, from collagen, arrives over the following two months. Patients who expect the day-one look to hold are disappointed at week two and pleased at week eight. It is not seasonal, so a series can run through a Scottsdale summer with sunscreen. Botox can be done at the same visit; BBL or MOXI over the treated skin waits two weeks.
The treated area looks fuller than it will finally be, because the gel is placed with resorption in mind. Under-eyes may look puffy. Ice for ten minutes at a time that evening, sleep with the head raised, and skip exercise, heat, saunas, and alcohol for 24 hours. No pressure, rubbing, or face-down sleeping for 48 hours. Any patch of skin that turns white, mottled, or dusky, or pain out of proportion, is a same-day call.
Swelling settles over 2 to 5 days and makeup can go over intact skin from the next day. Bruises fade over one to two weeks. Mineral sunscreen goes on daily; sun does not affect the gel but Arizona sun is the reason the skin thinned. Retinoids and exfoliating actives restart after 48 hours. If SkinPen was done in the same visit, expect 1 to 3 days of pinkness on top of this.
By two to three weeks part of the immediate volume has been absorbed and the area looks closer to baseline than it did on day one. This is expected and is not the result. Over weeks four to six skin texture starts to change, fine lines soften, and the hollow is shallower than before treatment. The second session falls at 4 to 6 weeks.
After 2 to 3 sessions the result is judged at about three months from the first: thicker, smoother skin, a softer hollow, and lines that are less etched. Improvement is gradual and modest by design. Most Scottsdale patients maintain with a single session every 6 to 12 months, keep the surface in shape with HydraFacial through the summer, and use MOXI in laser season for sun-related change EZ Gel does not treat.
Before & After
PRF EZ Gel, Before and After Treatment
PRF EZ Gel results are best judged in photographs taken in the same light before the first session and about three months after the series began, when the immediate volume has settled and the collagen response has arrived; day-one photographs overstate the result. Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD maintains before-and-after galleries for PRF EZ Gel, dermal fillers, and SkinPen, and the team can show you under-eye, lip line, and hand cases that match your skin during your visit, including cases where filler or surgery was recommended instead.
Patient Case Summaries
Selected PRF EZ Gel Case Summaries
These deidentified case summaries illustrate how Dr. Howarth and the physician-led team at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD plan PRF EZ Gel treatment in Scottsdale. They include a first-time under-eye patient, a maintenance patient, a man treated on the hands, a patient who arrived with a filler complication from elsewhere, a patient whose honest answer was surgery rather than EZ Gel, and a young patient treated preventively with SkinPen. Each summary connects the patient’s concern and facial assessment with the treatment performed or the recommendation made.
Case 01
First-time under-eye
A tired under-eye hollow in a woman in her thirties treated with a series of three EZ Gel sessions
Patient presentation
A woman in her thirties, a long-term Scottsdale resident who had never had an injectable, asked whether anything could be done about the hollows under her eyes that made her look tired in every video call and that concealer only accentuated.
Skin assessment
The assessment found a true tear trough hollow with thin, finely crepey skin, no fat bag when she looked up, and a cheek that still projected well. She was hesitant about hyaluronic acid under the eyes after seeing a puffy result on a friend.
Procedure performed
Three PRF EZ Gel sessions to both tear troughs five weeks apart, placed with a blunt cannula from a single entry point below the hollow, with a small amount of liquid PRF from the same draw injected superficially into the crepey skin.
Clinical rationale
A thin-skinned hollow without a bag and without cheek deflation is the ideal EZ Gel case: the patient’s own gel softens the shadow without the tint or fluid retention hyaluronic acid can cause there, and the series lets collagen build gradually.
Follow-up
At three months the hollow was shallower and the skin visibly thicker; she maintains with one session every eight months and describes concealer as optional.
Case 02
Maintenance patient
Annual EZ Gel maintenance to the lip lines and under-eyes in a woman in her fifties
Patient presentation
A woman in her fifties who had completed an EZ Gel series a year earlier returned because the fine lines above her lip had begun to catch lipstick again and the under-eyes looked slightly hollow in morning light.
Skin assessment
The earlier improvement had partly held: the under-eye skin remained thicker than at baseline but the trough had returned in part, and the lip lines were shallow with a muscle component visible when she pursed. No filler had been placed elsewhere.
Procedure performed
A single PRF EZ Gel maintenance session to the tear troughs and lip lines combined with SkinPen to the upper lip in the same visit, and a small dose of Dysport to the upper lip muscle at a separate visit two weeks later.
Clinical rationale
After a full series a single maintenance session every 6 to 12 months holds the collagen benefit, and pairing the perioral treatment with microneedling and a neuromodulator addresses the skin and the muscle causes of the lines together.
Follow-up
She schedules the maintenance session each spring and a MicroLaserPeel to the upper lip during laser season for the etched lines EZ Gel does not fully address.
Case 03
Hands
Sun-damaged hands in a man in his sixties treated with EZ Gel and BBL
Patient presentation
A man in his sixties, an avid golfer and a Scottsdale resident for twenty-five years, said the backs of his hands looked older than the rest of him, with prominent tendons and veins and scattered brown spots.
Skin assessment
The assessment found thin, crepey skin with loss of subcutaneous volume over the tendons and multiple uniform solar lentigines on Fitzpatrick II skin. No irregular lesion was found; the spots were photographed for comparison.
Procedure performed
Two PRF EZ Gel sessions fanned under the skin of both hands with a cannula six weeks apart in the summer, followed in November by a BBL HERO series to the hands for the pigment.
Clinical rationale
EZ Gel adds soft volume and thickens the skin over the tendons and can be done in summer because it is autologous and not light-based, while pigment on the hands needs broadband light and waits for laser season and untanned skin.
Follow-up
By the end of the following winter the tendons were less visible and the spots had cleared; he wears sunscreen on the backs of his hands under his golf glove.
Case 04
Complication elsewhere
A puffy, blue-tinged under-eye from hyaluronic acid filler placed elsewhere, dissolved and re-treated with EZ Gel
Patient presentation
A woman in her forties who had moved to Scottsdale from another state arrived with persistent puffiness and a bluish tint under both eyes eighteen months after tear trough filler at another clinic, asking whether EZ Gel could be layered over it.
Skin assessment
The assessment found superficial hyaluronic acid filler with a Tyndall tint and fluid retention in both tear troughs. Adding any product would have enlarged the puffiness, and the filler needed to be removed before the area could be assessed honestly.
Procedure performed
Hyaluronidase to both tear troughs at two visits two weeks apart, then a six-week pause, then a series of three PRF EZ Gel sessions to the troughs once the true hollow could be seen.
Clinical rationale
Migrated or superficial hyaluronic acid must be dissolved rather than camouflaged, and after dissolving, the patient’s own gel was a better fit for skin that had shown it retained fluid with hyaluronic acid.
Follow-up
Her under-eyes returned to a natural contour after dissolving, and after the EZ Gel series the hollow was softer without any recurrence of the puffiness.
Case 05
Surgery instead
Under-eye bags in a woman in her sixties, and why the answer was lower eyelid surgery rather than EZ Gel
Patient presentation
A woman in her sixties asked for PRF EZ Gel under her eyes because she wanted a natural product and had read it was the safe choice for that area.
Skin assessment
Dr. Howarth’s assessment found true lower eyelid fat bags that became more prominent when she looked up, with a shallow hollow below them, loose lid skin, and deflated cheeks. Adding volume below the bag would have made the bag look larger, not smaller.
Recommendation
Lower blepharoplasty with fat repositioning performed by Dr. Howarth in her surgical practice, with fat transfer to the cheeks at the same operation, and no EZ Gel to the under-eye.
Clinical rationale
No injected gel corrects a fat bag or loose eyelid skin, and adding volume beneath a bag deepens the contrast; a practice that performs the surgery can say so instead of scheduling a series that will disappoint.
Follow-up
Six months after surgery she has had one EZ Gel session to the crepey skin of the lower lids as a refinement, which was the part of her concern the gel was actually suited to.
Case 06
Young and preventive
Early crepey under-eye skin in a woman in her twenties treated with SkinPen and PRF rather than any gel volume
Patient presentation
A woman in her twenties asked for EZ Gel under her eyes after seeing it online, describing fine lines under her eyes that showed when she smiled and a faint shadow in bright light.
Skin assessment
The assessment found excellent volume with no true hollow and no bag, but fine crepey lines from sun exposure on thin skin, with a history of little sunscreen use around the eyes. There was no volume to replace.
Recommendation
No gel volume. A series of three SkinPen microneedling sessions to the under-eye and cheek with liquid PRF from the same draw applied over the needled skin, four weeks apart, plus a daily mineral sunscreen habit around the eyes.
Clinical rationale
Placing volume where none is missing is how young faces come to look treated; the skin quality concern she actually had is best served by microneedling with PRF and by sun protection, and a physician-led plan says so.
Follow-up
After the series the fine lines were less visible in bright light, and she returns yearly for a single SkinPen with PRF session and wears sunscreen to the eyelid margin.
From First Visit to a Plan You Can Keep
Booking, Planning, and Follow-Up at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD
Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD is a medical practice with a spa’s convenience. Established patients book online. New patients can book online or request a consultation, and the team responds usually the same day.
Online booking or a consultation request
Book an assessment directly online, or request a consultation and describe the area, what you notice, and any filler you have had there before. Either path starts with the same examination, and the first session can follow the same day.
A series, not a single appointment
A three-month photograph, then maintenance
The result is photographed at about three months from the first session and maintenance is planned every 6 to 12 months. A-List members have the next visit on the calendar before they leave, and because EZ Gel is not seasonal it can sit anywhere in the Scottsdale year.
Your Questions, Answered
PRF EZ Gel Frequently Asked Questions
PRF EZ Gel is made from your own blood and nothing else. After a small draw, the tubes are spun at low speed without anticoagulant to separate platelet-rich fibrin, the plasma layer is heated and cooled so its albumin sets into a gel, and that gel is mixed with the liquid PRF and its platelets. The result, called Alb-PRF or albumin gel in the research literature, contains no synthetic ingredients or additives.
PRP is liquid plasma spun with an anticoagulant; its growth factors release within minutes and the volume is gone within a day. Liquid PRF has no anticoagulant and forms a fibrin scaffold that releases growth factors over days. EZ Gel heats the albumin in the plasma into a gel that resists breakdown far longer, so it holds volume for weeks while the platelets and fibrin do the slower collagen work.
At Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD, PRF EZ Gel is used under the eyes at the tear trough, for fine lines around the mouth, in the temples and upper cheeks where hollowing is early, on the neck, and on the backs of the hands. It is chosen for thin skin where hyaluronic acid filler can look heavy. Deep structural loss in the cheeks, chin, or jawline is treated with filler instead.
The immediate volume partly resorbs over the first one to three weeks; the collagen improvement builds over 6 to 12 weeks and is the real result. After a series of 2 to 3 sessions, most patients hold that improvement for about 6 to 12 months and maintain with a single session in that window. EZ Gel lasts longer than liquid PRP and is more subtle and shorter-lived than hyaluronic acid filler.
Very little. Expect swelling for 2 to 5 days, most visible under the eyes, and possible bruising at the entry point or the draw site for up to two weeks that concealer covers. Work the next day is normal. Hard exercise, heat, and alcohol are paused for 24 hours and pressure on the area for 48 hours. Because the product is your own blood, allergic reaction is not a concern.
The blood draw feels like any lab draw. Numbing cream goes on the treatment area for 20 to 30 minutes while the gel is processed, and the gel is placed with a blunt cannula through one entry point in most areas or a fine needle for lip and neck lines. Most patients describe pressure rather than pain. Unlike filler, EZ Gel contains no lidocaine, so the numbing cream does the work.
Yes, and it usually is. SkinPen microneedling is done in the same visit with liquid PRF from the same draw applied over the needled skin. Botox, Dysport, or Daxxify can be done the same day. Hyaluronic acid filler is often placed for structure with EZ Gel for the skin over it. BBL or MOXI over the treated area waits two weeks and, in Scottsdale, waits for laser season.
PRF EZ Gel at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD is placed by Dr. Ashley Howarth, MD, FACS, a board-certified plastic surgeon and instructor in plastic surgery at Mayo Clinic, or by an advanced aesthetic nurse injector under her direction and protocols. Because PRF cannot be dissolved with hyaluronidase, the same arterial mapping and cannula rules used for filler apply, and a physician is on site for every treatment.
For thin, crepey skin with a shallow hollow and no bag, often yes: it cannot cause the bluish tint or fluid puffiness hyaluronic acid can under thin skin, and it improves skin quality. For a deep hollow that needs real volume, a thin hyaluronic acid gel gives a more predictable result. For a fat bag, neither works and lower eyelid surgery is the answer. The assessment decides which of the three applies to you.
Yes. PRF EZ Gel is not light-based and does not depend on untanned skin, so it is scheduled year-round in Arizona, and summer is a practical time to run a series while laser treatments wait for October. The only summer rule is mineral sunscreen on the treated skin, since sun is the reason the skin thinned. Pigment and sun damage on the same areas are treated with BBL or MOXI in laser season.
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