Vampire Facelift

Definition of the Vampire Facelift: Use of blood-derived growth factors in an artistic and specific way (in multiple places on the face) to create a younger and more beautiful appearance.

The fascination with vampires being rejuvenated by blood has made its way into marketing a new face lift cosmetic procedure, known as the "Vampire Facelift™."

vampire facelift

The process starts with drawing a vial of blood from patients, similar to a regular blood test blood drawing.  Plastic surgeons then use a special kit: SELPHYL®, marketed by a Pennsylvania-based company called UBS Aesthetics.

 

Other companies such as Cascade and CryoSeal Systems also provide similar kits to process and separate blood from a patient and inject the key blood components back to the patient.

The SELPHYL device spins and separates blood into white, red, and plasma cells. The plasma cell platelets are pivotal in this entire process to the rejuvenation. The plasma cells are rich in a platelet material called Platelet Rich Fibrin Matrix – PRFM, which, when injected into the dermis and immediate subdermis releases growth factors into the skin through a sustained mechanism that encourages the growth of collagen and face lifting.

Patients thus receive the Platelet Rich Fibrin Matrix component (or sometimes just Platelet-rich Plasma or PRP) in the form of one's own natural filler injection. The process claims to correct skin lumpiness, depressions, wrinkles, and acne scars and promotes skin smoothness and face lifts.

Obviously, it is not a surgical facelift, but is more similar to liquid facelifts with synthetic fillers such as Juvederm and Restylane. Claimed benefits of Vampire facelift over the traditional use of synthetic fillers include a lower chance of an allergic reaction to foreign chemical, and possibly longer-lasting effects due to the growth factor and collagen stimulation. But definitely does not yield permanent results.

Vampire facelift is an especially close variant of stem cell face lifts, which utilize your body’s own fat, harvested via liposuction. But in stem cell facelifts, after fat is spun and separated from stem cell tissues, plastic surgeons may need to add Platelet Rich Fibrin Matrix (PRFM) to the stem cell component before injecting it into your face.

With the Vampire facelift, you may NOT see immediate volumizing results as you would with stem cell facelifts, and definitely not as you would with liquid facelift. For Vampire facelift, it may take up to 5 weeks to see volume gain. You might experience minor side effects such as mild irritation, edema, bruising, swelling, or itching. The upside appears to be that there is less downtime due to bruising etc. with Vampire lift than with the stem cell facelift.

Skin depressions, acne scars, wrinkles and folds can all be treated by Vampire facelift in what experts say takes no longer than 20 minutes. Results take three weeks to develop and last for up to 18 months, costing around $1,500.

Selphyl, according to the company’s website:

The patented SELPHYL® System enables the safe and rapid preparation of an activated Platelet-rich Fibrin Matrix (PRFM).  A small volume of the patient’s blood is collected and the platelets and fibrin are concentrated during a simple centrifuge process.  The resulting product (liquid, gel or membrane) can be applied to a treatment area of the face or body to stimulate natural, new tissue growth.  SELPHYL® prepared PRFM has been shown to increase skin volume and rejuvenation.

SELPHYL® ensures a preparation of fibrin and platelets, with virtually no red or white blood cells. Studies have shown these platelets to be viable and intact.  Platelets will release proteins, which have been reported to trigger cell migration, proliferation and differentiation over time.

With over 45,000 procedures performed world-wide, this technology has been extensively used for soft tissue regeneration in plastic surgery, orthopedics and maxillofacial surgery.

Dr. Charles Runels MD, darkly handsome no less than Bill Compton (the vampire in True Blood) mentions in an official Website for the Vampire Facelift™ about the facts of Vampire Facelift™ as following:

The Down Sides

• I must draw blood from you to create the product.
• The first week after the injections, you may see a fading of the improvements seen in the office as the fluid goes away but before the fibroblasts have time to do their work.
• It cost more than a bottle of your favorite cosmetic.
• This product is new to my practice so I have no before and after's of my own patients to show you.
• It's called the Vampire Face Lift because someone takes your blood but then you have "eternal youth" like a vampire with the treatment. i think that perhaps the name is a downside. I promise to not wear a cape when we do the procedure.

The Up Sides

• The amount injected is equivalent to 4 syringes of Juvederm (which would cost over $2,000 and start fading at the end of a year).
• This looks better at the end of a year than at the end of a month because it actually de-ages the skin.
• As a 12-year veteran of the ER, drawing blood is something I'm very skilled at doing.
• Your skin becomes healthier in multiple ways--fewer wrinkles, better complexion, improvement in scars, lessens skin folds
• I can use it in the upper forehead and between the brows (which should not be done with the fillers like Juvederm and Restylane).
• I have much experience with cosmetic injections-- having injected thousands of patients. The technique of injecting is similar to the other products, it's just that the product is new and better in many ways.
• Since I'm injecting a distillate of growth factors from your own blood, there should be NO side effects from the material injected.

For more information, watch the following video: Vampire Facelift