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If you are a doctor specializing in aesthetic medicine, you have undoubtedly heard of the vampire facial made famous by the Kardashian family. Now some clinicians in your field are applying the same principle to addressing stretch marks. They have discovered that in some patients, the same procedure that can help rejuvenate the face can also reduce the appearance of unsightly stretch marks in the legs, thighs, and buttocks.
The mechanism behind PRP treatments for facial rejuvenation lies partially in encouraging the body to produce more collagen. Extra collagen can help address the effects of aging by adding fullness to the face, thereby reducing wrinkles and making the skin appear more radiant and healthy. Applying those same principles to stretch marks can yield positive results.
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Similar Procedures for Both
Aesthetic physicians use similar procedures for both the vampire facial and stretch mark treatments. They begin by extracting blood from the patient being treated. The blood is processed in a specialized centrifuge supplied by a company like Utah-based Apex Biologix, with the resulting material containing a high concentration of platelets and their associated growth factors.
The doctor then injects the processed material into the treatment site. Platelets and growth factors get to work to do what they do. For the record, this can be done with or without the ‘vampire’ aspect of the treatment. However, patients who elect to have the vampire treatment undergo an extra procedure.
The ‘vampire’ designation is derived from a micro needling process that leaves the face looking temporarily swollen and bloodied. Micro needling is designed to create tiny wounds that the body will set about healing. Natural healing processes combined with the PRP material are what stimulate additional collagen production. The result is younger, healthier looking skin with fewer blemishes and wrinkles.
Micro Needling for Stretch Marks
Just as with facial applications, PRP injections can be utilized to address stretch marks without micro needling. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t. When it doesn’t, the problem lies in the fact that the body has left off trying to handle the stretch marks. Where no healing process is ongoing, PRP injections only offer limited benefits.
Micro needling is introduced in stretch mark procedures for the same reason it is used in the vampire facial. Doctors create tiny wounds that stimulate the body to respond with healing processes. That provides the jump-start necessary for the PRP injections to do what they do.
Both procedures do not offer guaranteed positive results for every patient. Some patients respond better than others. Some patients do not benefit at all from the vampire facial or stretch mark treatments. It is not that PRP treatments don’t work; it’s just that people respond differently.
More People Turning to PRP Therapy
Whether it is the vampire facial or addressing unsightly stretch marks, increasingly more people are turning to PRP therapy as an alternative to Botox, surgery, and other aesthetic procedures. The perception among patients is that PRP therapy is more natural and less risky in terms of complications. That it is.
Botox utilizes the botulinum toxin to address the effects of aging skin. It certainly is not natural. And, of course, surgery is both unnatural and invasive. It carries with it the risk of infection as well. PRP therapy is a better option for some individuals because it is minimally invasive and utilizes platelets taken directly from the patient. Thus, the risk of complications is near zero.
The vampire facial meets stretch marks is a new treatment that women are latching on to. Will the treatment ever be as popular as the vampire facial? Time will tell.
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