Thank you for your question.
You submitted your question without a photo and you’re asking a basically straightforward
question: what is a vampire facelift and is it worth it?
Well, I can certainly understand why you’re asking this question.
I can understand why there is confusion.
A little bit of background, I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial
plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
I have been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years.
I’ve been an active member of the Vampire Facelift® Network and have been a resource
for the media periodically whenever the Vampire Facelift® is featured in different media
outlets.
So I think there is basically a lot of confusion because of the incredible popularity of the
term as well as the frequent misuse of the term as well as physicians being inaccurate
and often dismissive of the terms as it relates to the elements associated.
So to begin with, the Vampire Facelift® is a very specific procedure and it was created
by Dr. Charles Runels and it was created many years ago and it seemed to have a remarkable
impact in popular culture such that the term actually outranked the term Botox® in terms
of popularity in search.
So ultimately, it also lead to the proliferation of a lot of articles about things involving
blood and that’s where the Vampire concept comes from.
The term Vampire Facelift® basically is distilled into a combination approach to helping with
facial aging or facial volume enhancement.
The Vampire part again, I talked about blood.
It has to do with something called PRP, platelet-rich plasma.
Platelet-rich plasma is derived from your own blood and when it is placed under the
skin as an injection, it stimulates the fat cells, it stimulates the blood supply and
it creates this nice glow of the skin.
So the term Vampire and blood, you can see the relationship there.
The other part of this procedure, the term facelift, which is really not a surgical facelift
by any stretch.
But as Dr. Runels envisioned it, he saw it as volume resulting in lifting of the skin
away from the underlying structure and this is based on a simple principle.
As we get older, we lose facial volume.
We lose bone, muscle, fat, soft tissue.
So Dr. Runels’ idea was you take somebody who is really not a candidate for surgical
facelift, who typically has a relatively thinner face and you place one syringe which is 1
cc of the hyaluronic acid filler of your choice to add volume in areas that are up to the
choice of the physician performing the procedure.
So there is the benefit of the filler placed let’s say under the eyebrow, in the tear
trough, in the cheeks, around the lips and corners of the mouth, basically of course,
one syringe.
In addition, it injects platelet-rich plasma to help improve the skin quality and glow.
Now that being said, a lot of times people interpret Vampire Facelift® to mean only
PRP.
A lot of doctors who are not part of the network will claim to be doing it and will represent
it in a way that’s not accurate.
And so, it’s understandable that by strict definition, that is what is the Vampire Facelift®.
Now that being said, you can decide by meeting with a doctor who’s on the Vampire Facelift®
network to see whether or not you are a good candidate.
I think that one of the things that we observe in our practice is that patients will come
for a Vampire Facelift® consultation and assume it’s only PRP or platelet-rich plasma.
Very often, the same patient needs a lot of filler than 1 cc or actually are better candidates
for other procedures whether surgical facelift, whether lasers, whether it’s a combination.
So in terms of is it worth it, it is worth it if you are the right candidate.
I have found, certainly over the many years of being part of this network and seeing patients
in consultation for facial aging which is a focus of my practice, that people often
want to get the most out of the least naturally.
However, when we think about volume loss in the face, we have to think of options beyond
just the strict definition of the Vampire Facelift®.
So for example, patients will come in and we’ll recommend maybe doing several syringes
for different areas of the face of hyaluronic acid filler and we’ll combine that with
PRP.
One modality complements the other.
The hyaluronic acid filler complements the PRP.
And in areas where they’re actually mixed together or where they overlap, there’s
actually a synergy in the combination of the stem cell activity benefit of PRP synergizing
with the matrix of the hyaluronic acid filler which is scientifically fascinating.
So I think it’s important that if you are considering this procedure that you find a
doctor on the Vampire Facelift® network and get a proper evaluation.
You don't just assume that you’re going to get that procedure by booking the appointment
but at least get a proper evaluation so you understand what the outcome will be.
There always has to be good communication about what the results will be on any treatment
whether it’s this or any other aesthetic procedure.
So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question.