What is the Vampire Facelift®?

The Vampire Facelift® is a term that you may have heard more recently.  It has been talked about as one of the new great non-surgical options when it comes to facial rejuvenation.

Cool sounding name (if you’re a fan of True Blood or Dracula), but what is the Vampire Facelift®?

The term “Vampire Facelift” is a trademarked name that describes a specific type of procedure combining hyaluronic acid fillers (Juvederm, Restylane, etc) and plasma from your own blood to rejuvenate your face.  While the Vampire Facelift is a trademark that I have no affiliation with, a very similar procedure is offered by many other plastic surgeons, including myself.  We call this PRP.

PRP is short for Platelet Rich Plasma.  PRP is obtained by drawing your own blood in a test tube and using a special filter to extract the plasma from it.  This plasma is chock full of platelets and growth factors that help enhance tissue healing.  This special substance has been used for many years in orthopaedic surgery and other fields to speed up and improve the healing process.

In the cosmetic world, we have discovered that PRP can be very beneficial in stimulating new collagen growth.  This new collagen growth, combined with the dermal fillers, is a perfect pair to create a non-surgical facelift with enhanced skin rejuvenation. With PRP, we are able to offer even better results after having a dermal filler injection.  Think of it as the icing on the facial rejuvenation cake.

In addition, PRP can be used in many different ways beyond a non-surgical facelift.  It can be used improve healing after a laser resurfacing procedure, improve results from a microneedling procedure, or even stimulate hair growth (men, are you paying attention?)! 

I can also use PRP at the end of my facelift and mini-facelift procedures to reduce the amount of bruising and swelling.  I am very excited to offer this as part of my surgical package.

Needless to say, there are a lot of exciting applications for PRP and facial rejuvenation.  Come visit us to see if these treatments are right for you!

Here’s to the beautiful human face,

-Dr. Yamamoto