Stem cells for skin and face: nobody could tell what I’d had done

This one I’ve had on my own face, here in Bangkok, and I still have it. So unlike some of the other pages here, I can tell you what it felt like from the inside — the same afternoon, the weeks after, and the part I didn’t expect. What I can’t tell you is what your face will do. Those are two different sentences and I’ll keep them apart.

Jump to: How I ended up doing it · What I noticed, and when · It isn’t a baby face · What the day looks like · The aftercare sheet · What other people told me · The questions I get · Who this isn’t for · What I was told it does

How I ended up doing it

Not for my face. I was already in for a round of cells through the vein, for my general health, and my face went along for the ride. I didn’t walk in with a list of things I wanted fixed.

Here’s what I’ve since been told about how a face ages: it isn’t just the skin. The bone underneath changes shape over the years, the fat pads that hold things up shrink and slide, and the skin on top gets thinner and more easily irritated. Then there’s everything we do to it — the sun, smoking, drinking, weight going up and down. I can tick two of those off myself without thinking. I smoked for most of my adult life, and I still manage to come back from the beach burnt.

What I noticed, and when

There are three clocks on this one, and it helps to know which is which.

The same day. The first thing I noticed was that my skin felt tighter. Not dramatically — firmer, as if it had been pulled a little more snugly over the same face. My face was red for a few hours and then it was just my face again.

The next two to four weeks. It kept getting better. That surprised me more than the first day did. I’d assumed whatever I felt on the day was the whole story, and it wasn’t.

The longer run. The explanation I was given is that people usually start to see a change somewhere between two and four weeks, and that it’s clearest at around two to three months. That’s the clinic’s timeline, not mine — mine is above, and it’s one face.

I do it in rounds, when I feel it’s time, and I’m still doing it. That’s my rhythm, not a schedule anyone handed me.

It isn’t a baby face

The old way of selling this was a baby face, and I don’t think that’s what it is, at least not on me. Nobody has ever looked at me and said I look twenty-five. What happens is quieter than that: people say I look well, and then they can’t work out why. No one has ever asked me what I’ve had done, because nothing looks done.

That matters to me for a personal reason. Fillers were never an option for me. I’m not willing to trade how I look for the risk of a blood vessel being blocked, which is the thing that frightens me about them. So what I was after was never filling a line. It was the skin itself being in better shape. That’s my choice for my face; it isn’t a ranking of anybody else’s.

What the day looks like

It isn’t only a needle. On the day, there’s other skin work done in the same session. For me that usually meant PRP prepared by the lab, put in with microneedling rather than a laser. Which parts you have depends on what the doctor sees on your face when you’re in the chair. All together, it takes somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half.

Why all on the same day? The explanation I was given is that stem cells work best when there’s something for them to respond to. The other work gives them a signal, like telling soldiers where to go, so they know where new collagen is needed. Between them, the treatments are meant to reach every layer of the skin, not just the surface.

The stem cell part itself goes like this. Your face and neck are cleaned. A numbing cream goes on and sits for about forty-five minutes — that’s most of the waiting. Then the cells go into the skin, across the whole face, much like the way people describe having an injectable done.

Before the day, the list I was given is simple: for the week leading up to it, try to avoid smoking, drinking and hard exercise. If you feel a cold or flu coming on, say so straight away rather than turning up and hoping.

One more practical thing. The cells are prepared for a particular day and they don’t keep, so the date isn’t something you move around lightly. Where the cells come from, how they’re tested and what paperwork comes with them is all on the main stem cells page rather than repeated here.

The aftercare sheet

This is the clinic’s sheet, not my rules, and it’s what people are given now:

Stay away from real heat — saunas and the like — for two weeks.
Some redness and mild swelling can happen, and it settles within three to five days.
Most people are back to their normal day the morning after.
No hard exercise on the day itself.

Mine was a few hours of redness. The sheet says up to five days. Both are true — it’s just two different faces, and if you’re flying home or have something on that week, plan for the sheet, not for me.

What other people told me

I’ve talked to people before and after this one, and a few things come up again and again.

One man in his fifties told me, with a straight face, that the main result was that people had stopped asking him whether he was ill or stressed. A few weeks in, the question just went away. He found that funnier than anything, and so did I, because it’s exactly what I mean about nobody being able to say what you had done.

A woman with sensitive skin came in expecting to look burnt for a week. Two hours later there was no redness at all, and two days on she said her skin felt smooth and soft. Someone else had a few days of mild redness, but nothing that stopped her travelling. And more than one person has described it as quicker and less painful than they’d braced for.

And one of the people who had it had been a regular for years before she chose it. I take that kind of return more seriously than any single glowing week.

None of that is a promise, and I’m not telling you whose face yours will be.

The questions I get

Does it hurt?

I’d rather tell you what people tell me than make it sound braver or easier than it was. The numbing cream does most of the work, and the word I hear most often afterwards is “quick”. Several people have said it was close to painless.

How long before I see anything?

On me: tighter the same day, better over the next two to four weeks. The explanation I was given is that most people see a change from two to four weeks and the clearest picture at two to three months.

Will I need time off?

The sheet says most people are back to normal the next day, with some redness or swelling that can take three to five days to settle. Mine went in a few hours. Plan around the longer number.

Will it do anything for scars?

The explanation I was given is that it can soften scars. The one real case I know of wasn’t even a face treatment. Someone had cells through the vein for their general health, and an old scar on their leg improved — which nobody had mentioned to them and nobody had promised. I remember it precisely because nobody saw it coming, and that’s also why I can’t offer it to you.

Where do the cells come from — are they matched to me?

The explanation I was given is that they come from donated umbilical cord tissue and don’t need to be matched to you. The fuller version of that, and the risks that come with any cell treatment, are on the safety page.

Who this isn’t for

This is the screening list as it was given to me: an active infection at the time; active cancer; pregnancy and breastfeeding, with a wait of six months after giving birth; an autoimmune condition that isn’t under control.

And the one that isn’t medical: unrealistic expectations. If what you want is to look like someone else, this isn’t it, and I’d rather say that now.

What I was told it does

I’m not going to explain the biology in my own words. It isn’t mine to explain.

The explanation I was given is that the stem cells we all carry become fewer and less able to replace themselves as we age, including in the face, and that the cells used here are meant to act as building blocks for connective tissue — the collagen and elastin that keep skin firm and springy — and for the small blood vessels and fat underneath. It’s described as working through repair and signalling rather than by filling anything.

When people judge whether it has worked, what they’re usually looking at is fine lines, how much moisture the skin holds, how firm and resilient it feels, the evenness and brightness of the colour, and whether blemishes and freckles look less obvious. That’s the list of what people watch. It isn’t a list of what anyone can guarantee.

There’s published work behind the reasoning, mostly on wounds, scars and burns rather than faces. The reviews I was pointed to include:

Farkas JP, Pessa JE, Hubbard B, Rohrich RJ. The science and theory behind facial aging. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery – Global Open, 2013; 1(1): 8–15.
Nowacki M, Kloskowski T, Pietkun K, Zegarski M, Pokrywczyńska M. The use of stem cells in aesthetic dermatology and plastic surgery procedures: a compact review of experimental and clinical applications. Postępy Dermatologii i Alergologii, 2017; 34(6): 526–534.
Lu W, Zhang YJ, Jin Y. Potential of stem cells for skin regeneration following burns. Expert Review of Dermatology, 2009; 4(2): 97–99.
Ghieh F, Jurjus R, Ibrahim A, Geagea AG, Daouk H. The use of stem cells in burn wound healing: a review. Review article, 2015, Article ID 684084.
Francis E, Kearney L, Clover J. The effects of stem cells on burn wounds: a review. International Journal of Burns and Trauma, 2019; 9(1): 1–12.

I’m not the person to weigh that work up for you, and I’d distrust anyone selling you a face off the back of a reading list. It’s there so you can see where the explanation comes from.

That’s my face, and a few other people’s. Yours is the one I can’t tell you about until we’ve talked.

Message me on WhatsApp →

—

I’m George. Thirty years in business, then ten years trying this whole field on myself before offering it to anyone else.

This is where I write down what I use, what I stopped using, and what I’d never do again. More about me →

Message me on WhatsApp