I am considering the PRP or the Vampire Facelift™. Any suggestions?
I have had many fraxial laser treatments with great results but am thinking this is the
next step. How much more results can I expect from the 10 fraxel treatments/chemical peels.
Thank you for your question!
The question you submitted with a single photo, you are asking how much more benefit can you
receive compared to the procedures that you’ve had with a certain number approximately 10
or 11 or so fraxel treatments and so you’re considering PRP or the Vampire Facelift™.
What I think is important is for you to understand what the definitions of these procedures are
and what the expected outcomes are and let’s see if this merges well or blends well with
what your intention is.
I’m an oculofacial plastic surgeon. I specialize in facial rejuvenation and I’ve been using
platelet-rich plasma as well as performing the Vampire Facelift™ for several years.
I can understand why there is some confusion in the terms being used interchangeably. So
let’s start with just definitions.
What is platelet-rich plasma? Platelet-rich plasma is derived from your own blood and
it’s based on a simple principle of concentrating the platelets and the growth factors, the
key elements of wound healing that are in your blood that are typically necessary for
when you have a simple cut. What’s fascinating about PRP are the applications that preceded
the use of platelet-rich plasma in our field, in the cosmetic field. Platelet-rich plasma
was first mentioned in the medical literature in terms of its use in oral surgery. Dentists
or oral surgeons or implant specialists were using it to help improve blood supply in bone
so that when they are placing the titanium implants to hold a dental implant, it would
hold and heal better. It was also embraced in orthopedics for joint healing. It was also
embraced in wound healing technology.
So in the aesthetic field, what we are using platelet-rich plasma for is to improve skin
quality, to enhance skin quality through the stimulation of collagen formation and blood
supply. A very common report we get from our patients and we do a lot of platelet-rich
plasma treatments in our practice, is that the skin has this wonderful glow. And it’s
a great distinction that platelet-rich plasma is able to accomplish compared to fillers.
Now where does it sit in terms of the devices such as Fraxel or other ablative laser technology?
Well, I explain it in my practice in this way: there is a certain amount of skin quality
enhancement that is possible with laser treatments. This includes various variations of erbium
lasers such as Fraxel, CO2 laser such as the fractional CO2 laser. The basic principle
is ablation or removal and that can be accomplished not just with a laser but with a dermabrasion
or a chemical peel will stimulate the skin to create collagen. That collagen results
in the smoothening of the skin or improvement in the fine lines and wrinkles. Then there’s
the thermal aspect which is not created by chemical peeling that has a unique advantage
that it causes contraction of the dermis and tightening of the skin. it also stimulates
a certain amount of collagen.
So what I try to explain is when we can do a lot with lasers from the outside, platelet-rich
plasma is doing a lot of the skin from the inside. It stimulates the fatty cell layer
under the skin. It stimulates again collagen production and we have been using it successfully
for treatment of acne scars, for fine lines and wrinkles. And as a separate development
in our practice, we use it in combination with Acellular matrix for hair loss and it’s
been incredibly successful and it really has been fantastic but platelet-rich plasma in
that respect is more of a vehicle and a catalyst for what else we do for Hair Regeneration.
The Vampire Facelift™ is a very controversial term because I think it’s because of the
name and the name doesn’t necessarily communicate exactly what it does but I can in no way argue
with the success of its brand. Vampire Facelift™ has been so popular in terms of its name that
it continues for at least a long time to be more popular than the term botox in terms
of search. The idea of the Vampire Facelift™ in a concept was developed by Dr. Charles
Runels whom I’ve met personally and I actually spent time with to learn exactly his vision
was in developing this strangely named procedure. And the concept that he introduced was that
hyaluronic acid filler such as Restylane does a very nice job of adding volume but there
is also a synergy when combining hyaluronic acid with platelet-rich plasma that can restore
volume in a more effective way than hyaluronic acid alone or platelet-rich plasma alone.
So a Vampire Facelift™ is actually the strategic use of one syringe that’s typically one
milliliter of a hyaluronic acid filler such as Restylane, Juvederm or Belotero and combine
with platelet-rich plasma injected strategically in various areas where this volume loss. So
for hyaluronic acid filler placement, it can be at the lateral eyebrow, it can be the cheek
area, the tear trough, the area around the corners of the mouth.
Essentially, his idea to why it’s called the Vampire Facelift™, as a surgeon like
myself who does a lot of facelifts, facelift is still a vertical and posterior elevation
of descending soft tissue so that you lift the cheeks, define the jawline, define the
neck. For Dr. Runels, it meant volume expansion in terms of lifting the face not upward but
away from the bone so that you get volume. The observation that we are all aware of is
that as we get older, we lose volume so we become more “skeletonized”. So the Vampire
Facelift™ in terms of your desire has to be put into that context. If you feel that
you want to have synergy and this combination, then usually there is a superior benefit in
combining filler with PRP as opposed to PRP alone.
I think a reason why a lot of my colleagues have a lot of disdain for this terminology
is because it implies, by the word facelift, that there’s an actual vertical lifting.
A lot of our colleagues also have questioned the benefit of PRP because a lot of times,
it is misrepresented as a substitute for fillers. Platelet-rich plasma or PRP is not a substitute
for fillers. It is something that works very well in conjunction with fillers but it does
something very unique that fillers do not do.
So with that understanding, I hope you will be able to make this decision of whether or
not do or pursue this new regenerative concept of using platelet-rich plasma to improve the
quality of the skin. So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you
for your question!