Unique cosmetic procedure comes to Indy

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A new process to make people look younger is now being used for the first time in Indianapolis. The procedure can be used for everyone from women wanting to get rid of smile lines to war veterans left with scars.

For the first time, only 24-Hour News 8 is showing the new process just approved by the FDA.

For the first time, the FDA has approved stem cell therapy for wrinkle laugh lines. Dr.Greg Chernoff of Chernoff Cosmetic Surgeons shows the difference of a before and after in one woman saying, "You couldn't do that with just peels or with just injectables."

Chernoff is the first doctor in Indiana and one of few in the country to treat patients with the new process called Laviv.

"The fibroblasts are your own cells in your body for making your own collagen and making your own protein," Chernoff said.

Doctors take biopsies of skin from behind the ear because it's healthier, as it’s not as exposed to the sun. Those are sent to Fibrocell, a lab where within 90 days they grow fibroblasts.

“This was science fiction 15 years ago," Chernoff said.

It is not a filler to get rid of lines, but the person’s own cells.

"This is the first FDA-approved form of tissue culturing of our own human tissue," Chernoff said.

Chernoff has been studying the new therapy for the last 10 years. One of his first patients during the study back then to receive the therapy was Oklahoma City bombing victim Royia Grizzell, who he named his foundation for. In looking at her pictures he says, "Right after the bomb she was essentially shredded from head to toe."

There is a big difference three months after Laviv, and even more changes can be seen one and three years later.

"It's a misconception for patients because patients are asking us to compare this to fillers. This isn't another filler,” Chernoff said. “This could really be considered your own protein repair system. It's like planting the seeds in the garden."

It has helped other patients like a woman raped at knifepoint and the wife of a California congressman who shot his wife in the face.

"We are taking your own tissue, multiplying your seeds and then re-injecting them into your body where they develop a new blood supply. They live and for the rest of your life continue to make your own collagen,” Chernoff says.

That is important for Iraq war veterans like James Huddleston of Indianapolis, who was injured in a parachute accident with the 82nd Airborne Division.

"He has a very deep scar that runs from his temple all the way down to his lip which is quite deforming,” Chernoff said.

Huddleston is about to undergo Laviv, hoping that removing the physical scars will push the mental healing to begin.

24-Hour News 8 will follow Huddleston as he goes through the procedure.

Dr. Chernoff has helped victims of violence pay for this through his Royia Grizzell Foundation. It is FDA approved at this point only to get rid of the wrinkle laugh lines, but already is helping so many others.

Some parents are now interested in banking their child’s stem cells in case of a traumatic accident down the line. The stem cells of a 16-year-old could be used when the patient is in their 40s. The cost is around $4,000 and lasts a lifetime. Compare that to fillers like Juvederm that cost $1,600 and last only months so the process must be repeated.