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Microneedling With PRP vs Without

Adding PRP has not been shown to beat microneedling alone. So the honest answer on the add-on fee is: you are paying for a maybe. PRP is your own blood, spun down so the platelet-rich part can be pushed into the fresh channels or injected. Microneedling alone is the version with the evidence behind it, and the same money buys you more sessions of it.

At a glance

The differenceMicroneedling With PRPMicroneedling alone
CostBilled on top of the treatmentPaid per session, out of pocket

Side by side

The differences that matter

7 comparison points

What you actually do

Microneedling With PRP

The same session, plus a blood draw

Blood is drawn and spun in a centrifuge. The platelet-rich layer is separated off, then applied into the fresh channels or injected. It does not cut the number of sessions you need.

Microneedling alone

Needles, in clinic

Two kinds: mechanical, or radiofrequency. Three sessions is common. A mechanical course often runs to three to six, about four weeks apart.

How it works

Microneedling With PRP

Adds growth factors to the healing

Platelets carry proteins that tell the body how to repair itself. The idea is that packing them in makes that repair faster and stronger.

Microneedling alone

Controlled injury, then normal healing

Mechanical microneedling has no energy source at all. The whole effect is the injury plus the healing. RF microneedling adds heat deeper in the skin on top of that.

What you can expect to see

Microneedling With PRP

No proven gain over needling alone

There is no use where PRP has clearly beaten microneedling alone on a measured result.

Microneedling alone

Shallower dented acne scars

Dented acne scars are what microneedling has the best evidence for. That holds for either form.

The downside

Microneedling With PRP

Everything below, plus a blood draw

Bruising is common wherever PRP is injected.

Microneedling alone

Redness for a few days

Mechanical microneedling: about one to three days. With RF, nearly everyone goes red, and the published downtime is three to four days.

Cost

Microneedling With PRP

Billed on top of the treatment

Often several hundred dollars a session. On a course of three, that is not a small addition.

Microneedling alone

Paid per session, out of pocket

The same money buys more sessions of the treatment that has the evidence.

The at-home or drugstore version

Microneedling With PRP

There is no home version of PRP

Drawing blood and spinning it in a centrifuge does not happen at home. Serums sold as growth-factor or exosome products are not your own platelets. They have no FDA approval at all.

Microneedling alone

Rollers and home pens

A roller drags sideways instead of going straight in and out, so it tears more than it punctures. Its needles are shorter and blunt quickly, and a blunt needle does more damage than a sharp one.

Who tends to be happy with it

Microneedling With PRP

  • Best for — Someone who wants every possible edge, and is happy to pay for an extra that is not proven.
  • The mindset — "If it might help and it comes from me, I will take it."

Microneedling alone

  • Best for — Someone who would rather put the same money into more sessions of the treatment that has the evidence.
  • The mindset — "Show me the trial first."

Common questions

Questions Patients Ask

Does adding PRP to microneedling actually work better?

In the one randomised trial that tested it on RF microneedling, the objective measure did not show a significant advantage. Both groups improved. The authors wrote that it "remains questionable" whether PRP adds benefit.

Why is the evidence so mixed?

Partly because PRP is not a standardised product. Platelet concentration and preparation vary between systems, and a published review of clinic data found FDA-cleared devices producing inconsistent PRP. Results from one preparation do not transfer to another.

Is PRP FDA approved?

No. PRP preparation systems are cleared for preparing PRP - and for the widely used product code, the cleared purpose is mixing it with bone graft in orthopaedic surgery. PRP has no FDA approval for any aesthetic use. Using it on the face is off-label, which is legal but is not the same as approved.

Is the acne scar research on PRP relevant to RF microneedling?

Mostly not. The larger PRP and microneedling literature uses mechanical microneedling. Those results should not be applied to radiofrequency microneedling, and the RF result should not be applied to them.

Is there a better add-on than PRP?

For acne scars, one network meta-analysis of 24 trials found microneedling plus a chemical peel outranked microneedling plus PRP on improvement, satisfaction and efficacy. That is one analysis, not a rule, but it is worth raising with your provider.

Is PRP safe?

It is your own blood, which removes the question of what is in it. The real safety issues are the setting and the technique. Any procedure combining blood handling with needles needs a licensed facility, single-use equipment and proper records.

Does PRP cost much more?

Yes. It adds a blood draw and centrifugation, and clinics bill it on top - often several hundred dollars per session, on a course that is usually three sessions.

Safety to keep in mind

No PRP system is approved for any cosmetic use. PRP preparation systems are cleared only for preparing PRP, and the cleared wording for the widely used product code covers preparing it to be mixed with bone graft in orthopaedic surgery. No system is cleared or approved for facial rejuvenation, acne scars or hair loss. PRP itself has no FDA approval for any aesthetic use.

Microneedling device clearances are narrower than people assume. SkinPen was authorised in 2018 for facial acne scars in adults aged 22 and over, with neck wrinkles added in 2021. Morpheus8's clearance names electrocoagulation and haemostasis, and since 2023 coagulation or contraction of soft tissue, with no cosmetic use at all.

Treating outside those lists is legal and routine. What a regulator reviewed is not the same as what works.