BENGALURU: Made popular by Kim Kardarshian, the ‘Vampire Facelift’ is fast becoming one of the most in-demand non-surgical cosmetic procedures popular among celebrities and middle-aged women.
As the name goes, it involves drawing out the patient’s blood, separating the platelet rich plasma from the other constituents of blood and then injecting it back into the face with thin needles.
The fluid that is injected back is a watered down liquid that leaves behind the red blood platelets. Since the platelet rich plasma contains various growth factors and has an anti-ageing property, this method helps rejuvenate the skin, helps with acne and provides a radiant appearance, say doctors.
Today, getting a nose or lip job doesn’t mean you have to go through surgery. Procedures such as the Vampire Facelift, Laser Lipolysis involves using heat from lasers to melt body fat.
Celebrities endorsing such procedures combined with the influence of social media and new beauty standards of the modern age, has pushed beauty trends like the Vampire Facelift to become very popular, says Dr B S Chandrashekar, a cosmetic surgeon who was the secretary general at the 12th World Congress of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2017. “A lot of people request for this since it is a non-surgical procedure and generally provides fast results,” he adds.
Other non-surgical procedures include nose jobs using cosmetic fillers to reshape the nose, laser hair removal procedures that have gained wide popularity. Most of the procedures use minimal surgical instruments, such as needles, lasers and serums.
Growing Trend
While surgical treatments such as tummy tuck, liposuction, rhinoplasty and hair transplant remain prevalent as well, Dr Chandrashekhar says that compared to a few years back there has definitely been an increase in the number of people opting for such non-surgical cosmetic procedures. He highlighted the case of a TV serial actress, who was not getting offers. “Soon after she underwent a surgery she is said to have received a lot of offers and got back to work.”
Dr Venkataram Mysore, one of the leading dermatologists in India says that people with Body Dysmorphic Disorder also regularly come in for such non-surgical procedures. Recalling a specific case he says “A young woman came to me multiple times, always dissatisfied with something or the other on her face.
She underwent about three to four surgeries one to remove a scar and other surgeries like nose and lip reconstruction.” Dr Venkataram however says that he does not recomennd proecudures like the Vampire Facelift as there is no real scientific evidence that it works.
Different Age Groups
When asked about the age group, both experts agree that different age groups come for different treatments. Usually teenagers and young adults, seek treatments for acne, hair removal and other skin related problems. While the middle age adults and older people opt for procedures like fat transfer, skin tightening, facial rejuvenation, nose or lip reconstruction and liposuction.
Demand Among Men
Another change that has been noticed over the years is the increase of men opting for such procedures. “Earlier the percentage of men would be 10 percent, however now the ratio has decreased with it being 60 percent women and 40 percent men,” says Dr Chandrashekar. Men usually undergo surgeries and procedures related to their hair growth and fat reduction.
A Word of Advice
Before going through any procedure, people need to be entirely informed about the procedure, its short comings and need to follow pre and post-operative instructions thoroughly.Most people come with unrealistic expectations, and expect the procedures to work immediately.
Although now the methods have improved, it still requires a certain amount of time and needs to be conducted in sessions.
Addressing another issue of concern, both doctors claim that people do not take these procedures seriously, they get information from unreliable sources and instead of seeking professional assistance they resort to doing it themselves or go to places like Spas or Beauty treatment centers that do not have trustworthy methods. Backing up his claim Dr Venkataram talks about a case where a young man who wanted remove his permanent tattoo, used trichloroacetic acid as suggested by some website on the internet and in the process burned his skin.