Following on from the Vampire Facelift made famous by Kim Kardashian, the latest platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy to set the social-sphere alight is the Vampire Boob job.
What’s involved:
If you don’t follow Kim Kardashian on Instagram, you may have missed the Vampire Facial (the treatment that involves centrifuging a client’s own blood to isolate platelets and injecting them back into the skin), but don’t worry, you can pick up the ghoulish beauty trend up with this next instalment; the Vampire Facial.
Just like its predecessor, this new technique involves centrifuging a client’s own blood to isolate platelets, but this time they are injected (along with hyaluronic acid fillers) into the breast tissue. The platelets, which contain natural growth factors, are said to have a healing effect on the skin, giving breasts fullness and perkiness without the scalpel.
The claims:
Developed in Alabama by dermatologist Charles Runels, MD, the nonsurgical procedure promises to replace a traditional breast lift and is touted as being able to fix everything breast-related, from inverted nipples, lift sagging breasts, stretch marks, unevenness and cleavage, without dampening breast and nipple sensitivity.
Of course, the promise of lifted, fuller breasts with more cleavage without going under the knife sounds appealing for women unhappy with the way they look. But is this procedure safe? And can we expect to see it become commonplace in Australia?
What the experts say:
“In my experience this is not a commonly performed procedure,” Dr Flynn, Censor in Chief of the ACCS tells Professional Beauty. “Perhaps it is that few people make such a request.”
Clearly the jury is still out in terms of whether the procedure is likely to reap the breast rewards Dr Runels is proclaiming. “I doubt this would make a significant overall effect on breast volume or sagging,” says Dr Flynn.
However Dr Fylnn doesn’t rule out an improvement in skin quality. “This type of approach has been shown to improve skin quality when used facially and so one would expect it to have some effect on the skin of breast and décolleté,” he concedes.
The research (or lack of):
Dr Runels says that the boosting effects of PRP therapy can last one to two years, and while some of his patients have reported an improvement in the quality of the breast skin, there is no hard data to back up his claims. “Platelet-derived growth factors do assist with wound healing,” says Dr Flynn, however he also reiterates that, “platelets are not usually injected into breasts by themselves. [Platelets are] more commonly [injected into breasts] as part of a fat transfer.”
There has been wide criticism for the procedure, with some critics saying that, because the breast is a cancer-prone area, the Vampire Boob Job may even cause cancer.
Who can perform the treatment?
As for who can administer a Vampire Boob Job, the answer in Australia is: any medical practitioner. A fact that has concerned some cosmetic and plastic surgeons. “The preparation and injection of Autologous plasma products…is allowable in Australia and may be performed by any medical practitioner,” confirms Dr Flynn.
The jury is still out…
The treatment is rarely performed in Australia and, as a result, the ACCS doesn’t have any “particular policy on this procedure” at present. So far no testing has been made on the treatment so those considering the procedure should proceed with caution. At the very least, the experts feel that it would probably be money down the drain.
The reason this procedure hasn’t been tested is likely because “it does not work, or does not work enough,” says Dr Flynn. To address breast issues, Dr Flynn recommends women “discuss [their] problems with a properly qualified and experienced doctor and preferably one from ACCS.”