Most people who ask us about Profhilo arrive having searched for something else.
They have searched for skin boosters. They have read that boosters hydrate the skin and give you a glow, which is true, and then somewhere along the way Profhilo has come up and it is not entirely clear whether it is the same thing or something different.
It is a bit of both, and the difference is worth understanding before you book anything.
Yes, it is a skin booster
Profhilo is a skin booster. We list it as one, most clinics do, and that is accurate.
Skin boosters are injectable treatments that put hyaluronic acid into the skin to hydrate it from within. Hyaluronic acid holds water, so the skin becomes better hydrated, looks plumper and catches the light better. That is the glow people describe.
Profhilo does all of that. It carries one of the highest concentrations of hyaluronic acid of any injectable available.
But it does something a standard booster does not
Here is where it separates.
Most boosters stay roughly where they are placed and hydrate that area. Profhilo spreads through the tissue after it goes in, and that spreading action does more than deliver water. It stimulates your skin to produce its own collagen and elastin.
Collagen is what makes skin firm. Elastin is what lets it spring back. Both decline as we age, and both decline faster after significant weight loss.
So with a standard booster you are treating hydration. With Profhilo you are treating hydration and firmness, because your skin is being prompted to rebuild some of its own structure.
That is why we tend to recommend it when the concern is not just dullness but skin that has started to feel loose or look crepey.
What it is not
Profhilo is not a filler. It adds no volume, it will not change the shape of your face, and it cannot restore lost cheek or temple volume. If that is your concern, you are looking for something else, most likely Sculptra.
It is also not the same as polynucleotides, which work at cell level rather than on the skin itself. More on that below.
Where it works
- Face, particularly the lower face where laxity shows first
- Neck, where it is one of the most requested treatments we offer
- Décolletage
- Backs of the hands, which age quickly and get forgotten
Because Profhilo spreads, it needs only around five injection points on each side of the face rather than the many small injections a standard booster requires. Treatment takes a matter of minutes.
What to expect
The standard protocol is two sessions, four weeks apart, then a top-up around every six months.
Results build rather than appear. Most people notice their skin looking better hydrated within a couple of weeks, with the firmness developing over the following weeks as new collagen forms. Results typically last around six months.
There may be small raised bumps at the injection points immediately afterwards. These settle within a day.
The honest bit
The standard is two sessions. Plenty of people need two.
But not everyone does.
If you already look after your skin, if you are younger, or if what you are really after is hydration and glow rather than firming genuinely loose skin, one session can be enough. You would then simply come back in six months.
We say this because the protocol exists to sell a course, and Elizabeth would rather look at your skin and tell you what you actually need. Sometimes that is two. Sometimes it is one. Occasionally it is neither, and something else would serve you better.
That conversation happens at the consultation, before you have committed to anything.
Profhilo and polynucleotides together
This is the combination Elizabeth recommends most often.
Polynucleotides work at cell level, prompting the skin to repair and improving elasticity and resilience. Profhilo works on the skin itself, hydrating and firming. Used together you are treating both layers, which is why the results tend to be better than either alone.
In practice she often uses two polynucleotide sessions followed by a Profhilo to finish. It works particularly well on the neck.
If you have lost weight
Skin that has been stretched takes time to retract, and it loses some of its own firmness in the process. Profhilo is one of the more useful treatments in that situation because it addresses skin quality and firmness directly.
It will not replace lost facial volume, which is a different problem needing a different treatment.
Price
From £220 per session.
Find out what you need
Twenty minutes with Elizabeth will tell you whether Profhilo is the right treatment for your skin, and how many sessions you would actually need.
The consultation is free and there is no obligation. If one session is enough, she will tell you.