Stem Cell Facial (STEMfacial) in Chicagoland

The Stem Cell Facial is a microneedling treatment. Express Med Spa uses a CytoPen device to create controlled micro-channels in the surface of the skin. That controlled micro-injury is the basis of collagen induction therapy, the clinical name for microneedling. The skin responds to the channels by producing new collagen and elastin over the weeks that follow.

What separates the Stem Cell Facial from standard microneedling is what is applied into those channels. A proprietary STEMfacial matrix, a solution of growth factors and cytokines derived from stem cell culture, is applied during the treatment while the micro-channels are open and receptive.

The STEMfacial matrix does not contain live stem cells. This is not a stem cell transplant, a stem cell injection, or stem cell therapy. The matrix carries signaling proteins of the kind stem cells produce, which is a different thing from the cells themselves. That distinction matters, because topical products marketed as delivering living stem cells into the skin are describing something a topical cannot do.

You go home with a full size bottle of the Advanced Cytokine Duo serum, which continues the same topical growth factor support through the recovery window.

The full face is the most common application, and it is the treatment most people mean when they ask about a stem cell facial. The CytoPen pass covers the forehead, cheeks, nose, and chin in a single session.

A single body area can also be treated per session. The area is chosen at consultation and is commonly a region carrying textural scarring or crepey skin. Because a body treatment covers more surface than the face, it is booked as its own service rather than as an add-on to a facial.

There is a third route. If you already have a microneedling appointment booked, whether that is standard microneedling for the face or a body area, the stem cell growth factor can be added to that existing service. This is the least expensive way to try the matrix, and it is a common starting point for clients who have had microneedling before and want to see what the growth factor step adds.

Plan on 60 minutes at any of the four Express Med Spa clinics. Before treatment you complete a medical health history and an infection control questionnaire, and you sign a microneedling consent. No good faith exam is required for this service.

Your provider cleanses the skin and applies a topical numbing agent, which needs time to take effect before needling begins. Once the area is comfortable, the CytoPen pass is performed at a depth chosen for the area being treated and for your skin. The STEMfacial matrix is applied during and immediately after the pass, while the micro-channels are still open.

Your provider finishes by reviewing aftercare with you and sending you home with the full size Advanced Cytokine Duo serum. Expect to leave with the skin flushed and warm, similar in appearance to a sunburn. Most people prefer not to schedule anything social for the rest of that day.

The treatment is performed by the same licensed clinicians who deliver microneedling at Express Med Spa, at Frankfort, La Grange, Shorewood, and Mount Greenwood (Chicago).

The first 1 to 3 days are the recovery window. Redness and a mild sunburn-like sensitivity are the normal response to the needling itself, and they typically settle within that period. Some light flaking or dryness can follow as the surface turns over. A day-by-day microneedling aftercare guide from the Express Med Spa nurse practitioners walks through what each day usually looks like.

A surface glow generally shows up around the one week mark, as the outer skin finishes turning over. This is the change people notice first, and it is not the main event.

The collagen response builds over roughly 4 to 6 weeks after the session. That is the slower change that affects fine lines, pore appearance, and the texture of scarring, and it is why treatments are typically spaced several weeks apart rather than back to back.

Results are cumulative and best supported by a series rather than one visit. Individual results vary, and more than one treatment may be needed to achieve the result you are after. Your provider will recommend a cadence at consultation based on what is being treated.

Express Med Spa offers three versions of the same underlying procedure. In all three the needling is identical. What changes is what is delivered into the micro-channels, and that is the whole of the difference.

Standard microneedling is the procedure on its own. The controlled micro-injury triggers the collagen response and nothing further is added. It is the entry point, and for many concerns it is entirely sufficient. Our nurse practitioners cover what it does and does not do in this guide to collagen induction therapy.

Microneedling with PRP adds platelet rich plasma drawn from your own blood and prepared in-clinic. The growth factors are autologous, meaning they come from you, which is what draws people to it. It requires a blood draw and processing time as part of the appointment.

The Stem Cell Facial adds the proprietary STEMfacial matrix instead. The growth factors are laboratory sourced rather than drawn from you, so there is no blood draw, and the consistency of the solution does not depend on your own blood on the day. It is the only one of the three that includes a full size take-home serum to continue the topical support afterward.

Which one fits depends on what you are treating and on whether an autologous source matters to you. If you are weighing microneedling for textural scarring specifically, the evidence on microneedling for acne scars is a useful starting point before you choose a tier.