"Vampire Facelift" Uses Blood to Smooth Wrinkles

Vampire Facelift

Enlarge Photo

If you are a fan of the HBO series True Blood, then you already know that vampire blood has a number of rejuvenating benefits. But apparently human blood has its own superpowers too.

Riding on the popularity of True Blood, Twilight, and their much beloved creatures of the night, a FDA-approved facial treatment dubbed the "vampire facelift" is getting a lot of attention both in the media and in medi-spas. The procedure involves an injection of Selphyl—a combination of a patient’s own blood platelets and fibrin, a protein produced when the blood is drawn. (Read more about innovations in injectables.)

Selphyl is not a naturally occurring substance. A patented technology is used to separate the components of the blood to form a thickened concentrate that is then injected to plump skin—smoothing wrinkles and filling in acne scars.  The process is purportedly painless apart from the slight sting of the needle, though a series of treatments is recommended for best results.

Curious about Selphyl? In this video from NBC, doctors at Azura Medical Spa in Charlotte, North Carolina, show viewers how it works: