It was 2013 when reality TV star Kim Kardashian released a picture of herself covered in blood getting a facial. It created quite a furor. No one had seen anything like this before. Seven years later, people are still unclear as to what a vampire facial® really is. What is a vampire facial®?! And what really does a vampire facial® do for you? When I decided to specialize in rejuvenation, I knew that skin and hair rejuvenation go hand-in-hand. A full head of hair with aging skin or beautiful skin with thinning hair are not a winning combination in anyone’s book.
My interest in rejuvenation meant that I sought out state-of-the-art and cutting edge technology. I invested in the finest lasers and energy devices in the world which are produced by Candela Medical. My practice, Bawa Medical, is located in Boca Raton, and has Candela Medical’s CO2RE fractional CO2 laser technology which is cleared for over 100 indications in 10 medical specialties including Dermatology, Plastic Surgery and Gynecology. It is FDA-approved to treat everything from wrinkles and scars to urinary incontinence. The scope of this machine is tremendous.
We also own Candela’s patented Profound® radiofrequency microneedling device which is the only device in the world that can increase Elastin in the treatment area by 500%. It also increases Collagen and Hyaluronic Acid by at least 200%. Not only does it provide long-lasting facial wrinkle reduction, it also improves the appearance of cellulite. It literally snaps you back into place by rebuilding the very foundation of your skin. And then, because anything worth doing is worth overdoing in my book, I went ahead and bought Candela’s elōs Plus device that does IPL photofacials, radiofrequency and even skin ablation that is color blind and can be safely performed on people of all races.
Despite having this state-of-the-art technology I felt that I needed more. I wanted to give my patients more treatments that involve growth factor and stem cells. As I researched the field, I became interested in the famous but poorly understood area of vampire® treatments. I decided to go to the creator of the procedures, Dr. Charles Runels himself. I was never going to be a Groupon medspa that went on YouTube to learn procedures from people who were doing them incorrectly to begin with. I learned the correct technique to perform the vampire facial®, vampire facelift®, vampire scalp treatment® (for hair loss), vampire breast lift®, vampire wing lift® (for labial rejuvenation), the O-Shot® (Orgasm Shot for women) and the P-Shot® (Priapus Shot for men, which also helps with erectile dysfunction). In fact, I am one of just a handful of providers actually certified to perform the procedure in the entire world. Furthermore, Bawa Medical is a surgical facility, and so our sanitation and procedural protocols are of that caliber.
Let us come back to our friend Kim Kardashian and that scary picture. How is a vampire facial® performed? When you come to our practice Bawa Medical in Boca Raton, we do a quick blood draw and put your blood in a centrifuge. We then spin it down into what many of you know as PRP or platelet-rich plasma. Then, because our practice uses cutting edge technology, we go a step further and convert it into PRFM or platelet-rich fibrin matrix. PRFM has more growth factor, and consequently activates more stem cells. It also stays in the treatment area for a longer period of time thus giving the vampire facial® more time to work. We then inject this PRFM directly into your skin. We also microneedle the treatment area using the FDA approved microneedling pen SkinPen. The majority of the people who claim to perform a vampire facial® have no business doing so. They are not certified in the procedure, they do not use FDA-approved materials and they are certainly not following the correct protocols to provide sanitary and safe conditions during the procedure. Some of them even give you some PRP to take home and use later which literally sends a shiver down my spine. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of them are using tattoo pens not FDA-approved microneedling devices.
So how does a vampire facial® work? We have discussed how I inject PRFM into your skin. We have discussed that PRFM contains more growth factor and stimulates more stem cells than its cousin PRP. The PRFM and microneedling together trick the body into thinking that it is injured and needs to regenerate itself. The skin that was never injured now tries to repair itself. You end up with younger looking skin because you now have new Collagen, new blood vessels, and even new fatty tissue.
