A Natural, Refreshing Alternative To Cosmetic Facial Injections
By Brian J. Shiple, D.O. & Kelly P. Shiple, PA-C
Aging of the skin of the face is affected by numerous factors including sun damage, gravity, life long stress, waning hormones, improper nutrition, poor maintenance, and the list goes on. Botox and filler injections have become very popular as more and more people are fighting the aging process and refusing to age gracefully. While many are happy with the results of these treatments, there are many who come to our practice looking for a longer lasting, more natural alternative to these preventative treatments. It is in these cases that we offer the Vampire Facelift® or Vampire Facial.
The Vampire Facelift® procedure, was invented by Dr. Charles Runels in 2011. It was made famous by the Kardashians when Kim received a Vampire Facial on the show. It is now a fairly common procedure offered throughout the country by an elite group of physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners that have all been thoroughly trained by Charles Runels, MD.
The process for both the Vampire Facelift and Facial begins with a blood draw. Your blood is then spun in a centrifuge to concentrate the platelets. This creates a substance called platelet rich plasma (PRP). The Vampire Facelift® involves specific injections of both small amounts of dermal hyaluronic acid fillers and your own concentrated blood platelets in strategic areas of the face to promote lifting, sculpting, and rejuvenation. The PRP is activated as it is injected into the skin of the face, which releases growth factors that are a part of the body’s wound-healing cascade. Over the next year, the body works to restore the collagen content of the skin of the face as well as the fat underneath the skin that is lost with aging. It also creates new blood vessels to help increase blood flow to the face. This improves the texture of the skin and helps the treatment last up to 2 years. By artistically sculpting the face with dermal fillers combined with PRP we are able to use less filler making it a much safer procedure and creating a more natural look than we could achieve with filler alone. By using PRP we are getting to the root cause of the aging process and improving the sagging, wrinkles, texture, and color changes that attribute to making us look older. Pain is minimized with topical numbing cream, a numbing agent in the filler injections, and small needles. Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, is also available.
Because the Vampire Facelift lasts so long, a great maintenance treatment for the time in between is a combination of PRP and microneedling, a treatment called the Vampire Facial. The MiniVamp is a more technically advanced form of the vampire facial procedure that was developed by Blade Tiessen, a para-medical aesthetician from Ontario, Canada, who has been deemed a pioneer of collagen induction therapy. By using numerous tiny needles to manipulate the muscles of the face and neck we can effectively help maintain the Vampire Facelift by continuing to tighten any sagging skin and infusing the growth factors from your PRP into the skin of your face through microchannels created by the microneedling pen. This procedure will continue to promote the rejuvenation of the skin of the face during the year or more of results from the Vampire Facelift®. We are trained to perform Botox® injections, filler injections, and PRP injections alone or in combination with either of these treatments depending on your wants and needs, as well.
Testimonial:
“This is the only office in the area doing the Vampire Facelift. The doctor and physician assistant were very professional and easy to talk to. I quickly felt comfortable, with their goal of personalized care and lasting results for every patient. They were both very knowledgeable and able to answer all of my questions without making me feel rushed. The Vampire Facial has done wonders for my skin. My friends and family have noticed a difference in my skin’s appearance. It is tighter, smoother and more radiant. The texture is refined and more youthful. I am 4 weeks out and I am still seeing improvements happening every day. The Vampire Facelift is the gift that keeps on giving. I would highly recommend the Vampire Facelift at Chadds Ford Wellness.” ~ K.L.
