PRF and dermal filler get talked about as if they were two brands of the same thing. They are both injected, both address volume, and PRF is often sold under the name "plasma filler," which does nothing to clear up the confusion. But they work by opposite mechanisms: one adds material to your face today, the other asks your face to build its own over the next few months. Here is the difference, and how to tell which one fits what is bothering you.
Is PRF a filler?
No. PRF (platelet-rich fibrin) is not a filler in the way the word is normally used. A dermal filler is a manufactured gel placed under the skin to occupy space immediately. PRF is a concentrate of your own platelets and growth factors that signals your tissue to produce new collagen. Filler is the volume. PRF is the instruction to grow volume.
The exception that muddies the term: PRF can be processed into a thicker gel that does hold some volume where it is placed. That product is what most practices mean by plasma filler, and it sits between the two categories. More on it below.
What does PRF actually do?
PRF starts with a small draw of your own blood, spun slowly with no additives. The slow spin preserves a fibrin scaffold that holds the growth factors in place and releases them gradually over days rather than all at once. Injected under the skin, that sustained signal prompts new collagen and better skin quality: thickness, texture, and the fragile tissue-paper crepiness that filler cannot fix because the problem is the skin itself, not the space beneath it.
The trade is time. Nothing looks different the day of treatment. Results build over four to eight weeks per session, and most plans run two to three sessions about a month apart.
What does dermal filler actually do?
Filler replaces volume that has been lost. As fat pads and collagen thin with age, skin settles into the space left behind: flattened cheeks, deeper smile lines, hollow under-eyes, thinner lips. Filler restores the support underneath so the surface smooths and lifts, and it does it the same day.
Most fillers are made of hyaluronic acid, a substance your skin already produces, and those can be dissolved by a clinician if you ever want them gone. Some are not: collagen stimulators like Sculptra and Radiesse work differently and are not reversible the same way, which is worth knowing before you choose a product.
Which one is right for you?
The useful question is not which treatment is better, it is what your face is asking for.
- Skin quality problems (crepey texture, thin skin, dullness, early hollowing that reads more like tiredness than a defined hollow) respond to PRF, because the fix is rebuilding tissue.
- Volume problems (a defined hollow, a flattened cheek, lips or a jawline that need contour) respond to filler, because the fix is restoring structure.
- A deadline points to filler regardless of category. If you need to look different for something specific in three weeks, PRF is not going to get there in time.
Under the eyes specifically, we usually start with PRF and add filler later only if a hollow still shows once the skin has improved. Both are available here, so the plan follows your anatomy rather than what we happen to offer.
Not sure whether you are looking at a skin problem or a volume problem? That is exactly what a complimentary consultation sorts out: we will look with you and map it, with no obligation to book.
How do they differ day to day?
Timing: filler is visible immediately, with a few days of swelling before it settles. PRF shows nothing at first and builds over four to eight weeks.
Sessions: filler is typically one appointment, repeated when it wears off. PRF is a short series, usually two to three sessions a month apart.
How long it lasts: filler runs roughly 6 to 24 months depending on the product and the area, with lips at the shorter end and structural areas at the longer one. PRF results generally hold about a year, and because you are keeping tissue you built, maintenance tends to get lighter over time.
What is in it: filler is a manufactured product. PRF is your own blood, with nothing added, which is why allergic reaction is not a concern with it.
Downtime: both can bruise or swell for a few days. Plan either one around a big event.
What about plasma filler?
Plasma filler is PRF processed further into a soft gel: thicker than liquid PRF and made to hold volume where it is placed. It behaves like a bridge between the two categories, offering some immediate structure along with the collagen-building signal, using your own blood rather than a manufactured product. It is a genuinely different option rather than a substitute for either, and we cover it in full on the plasma filler page.
Can you do both?
Yes, and combining them is common: filler for the structure you want now, PRF to improve the quality of the skin over it. They are not competing purchases. If one of them is not the right tool for what is bothering you, we will say so and point you to what is.