What is a Vampire Facelift?

A Vampire® Facelift is a procedure created several years ago by a physician in California. It is not a true facelift, but rather falls under the category of nonsurgical facial rejuvenation. A Vampire® Facelift combines the injection of hyaluronic acid fillers such as Juvederm® or Restylane® with the injection of platelet-rich plasma derived from the patient’s own blood.  The patient has blood drawn in the office, and this blood is process to remove the plastma and platelets from the red blood cells.

• Plasma is the clear part of blood, and platelets are small blood cells that assist in clotting.
• Platelets have many growth factors, and plasma containing a high concentration of platelets (i.e. platelet-rich plasma) has been studied in wound healing.

The theory behind a Vampire® facelift is that the fillers add volume and smooth out wrinkles, while growth factors from the platelets somehow rejuvenate skin. There have been some studies done suggesting that platelet-rich plasma does actually improve healing. But there are no studies comparing a Vampire® Facelift to other treatment options such as using only fillers without the platelet-rich plasma, or injecting the patient’s own fat to add volume. So we don’t really know whether this procedure gives the benefits advertised.

As will all non-surgical facelifts, the results are not as impressive as a true facelift operation. In addition, treatments will need to be repeated as the filler is gradually reabsorbed.