Vampire Facial: Do They Suck? [Infographic]

Beauty hurts. You got to see the stars to see beauty. Beauty is pain. We’ve all heard these old sayings before. But, is poking your face with needles the point where we must draw the line? Enter platelet-rich plasma injections, aka the vampire facial.

The oh-so-scary and oh-so-painful-looking facial rose to the top of the list of all skincare things when Kim Kardashian posted a bloody selfie to her Instagram account. At the moment, everyone was equally part curious, shocked, and eager to learn more about this crazy beauty treatment. Because we all want to keep up with the Kardashians.

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PRP in History

All Hollywood references aside, Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is nothing new. The treatment was developed back in the late 1970s, and it was initially used during open-heart surgery. Move forward to the 1990s, PRP treatment was introduced to the maxillofacial surgery field to aid patients in healing wounds.

From there, PRP treatment moved on to take center stage in many other medical areas, including:

• Promoting hair growth
• Healing damaged tissue
• Reducing inflammation

However, evidence to back these uses remains poor. Even with studies being conducted, most of them had a tiny pool of subjects to draw general conclusions about the benefits or side effects of PRP treatment.

So, Are They a Fad?

Not really. The truth is that PRP remains a promising therapy for those with tissue damage or hair loss. The skincare benefits are yet to be proven. Large-scale studies are still needed to establish the effectiveness of these treatments. Always consult with a dermatologist before you try a new treatment.