Cosmetic Botox Blog

A google search on Vampire Facelift yielded 1,020,000 results. The term was first used by the press in a July 2010 ABC News report on the use of Selphyl for facelifting. Selphyl first became available in 2009 and involves taking a small sample of blood from the patient mixing it in a test tube to separate blood components, which takes about 20 minutes and then injecting some of the components (platelets) into the area to be filled. Your body then makes collagen to fill the depression or fold. The process takes about 3 weeks from the date of injection to become visible. Because the result was rejuvenating and the material came from one's own blood the term Vampire Facelift was employed. Although hyaluronate injectable fillers like Restylane had been around for 7 years at this point the injection of hyaluronate together with this platelet material began around this time.

A business wise endocrinologist in Alabama saw an opportunity in this and filed a trademark for Vampire Facelift in September 2010. He then marketed the term and courses to doctors on the double injection procedure and also developed a website for which he charged $97 monthly listing fees to those doctors. The charge for a course on doing the injections is $995 and that fee is waived if the doctor buys the $5995 "Vampire PRP System". The manufacturers of dermal filler injectables on the other hand give frequent symposium to doctors all over the US free of charge. This is off label use of both injectable fillers and the fillers are doing just that filling not lifting. This same doctor was reprimanded by the FDA in 2008 for not following proper investigational protocols with injections. In 2009 the Alabama Medical Board issued a cease and desist order to prevent him from injecting testosterone and thyroid hormone because of documented injections of the medications by him in cases where they were not medically indicated. After business discussions with the manufacturer to license the Vampire Facelift trademark collapsed Selphyl was replaced by another high platelet content solution in this injection process.

More recently he trademarked Vampire Breastlift. Now he advocates something called an O-shot where the same injection into female genitalia is proposed to increase sensitivity in the area and hence increase sexual desire and arousal as well as improve/increase orgasm. The next step was the Priapus Shot advocating the same injections into the penis to increase size, strength, circulation, sensitivity, pleasure etc.

If there was any credibility to this initially it was certainly lost after O-shot, Priapus Shot etc. It's no different than a snake oil salesman with an ever increasing number of indicated uses for their product. I would be very suspicious of this treatment methodology and anyone who uses it based on this history. I am not opposed to the treatment itself but the way it has been marketed and the misleading terminology employed in describing it. It is not a substitute for facelift surgery. Furthermore, congress outlawed the patenting of medical procedures some years ago so I do not see how this can be an enforceable patent.

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Dr. Aaron Stone - Plastic Surgeon Los Angeles
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What the world needs now, is love, sweet love… and so the song goes.

Remembering this little line even in your online dealings will definitely get you a thumbs up from your web friends.

The question now is this: how can you spread the love when all you’ve got in front of you is your computer?

The answer is simple: let your fingers do the talking.

The easiest way to do this is by commenting, whether it’s on your friends’ blogs, facebook profiles, myspace accounts or youtube videos. Let them know that you’ve seen their posts… and that you appreciate their efforts at sharing a part of themselves with you.

Another thing you could do is to engage your online friends in conversations. They don’t have to be about deep topics like philosophy or the woes of life… even a simple discussion about music, your favorite vacation spots or even just your favorite Thanksgiving food will pave the way for creating relationships. And at the end of it all, that’s what you want: to be able to connect with people and form relationships.

A word of caution, though. There’s a thin line between being friendly and being annoying. You’d want to be careful that you’re the former rather than the latter. Here are a few things that you may want to remember:

Make sure that your comments are relevant to that which you are commenting on.Exert the effort to follow through with conversations that you initiate (Don’t you hate it when a friend starts a conversation and leaves you in mid-air after you reply? Well, the same principle applies online.)Moderate the number of comments and posts that you make in other people’s sites. (You don’t want to be “un-friended,” do you?)Always be polite. There’s no need to cuss or be rude.

Commenting may be something that’s taken for granted but it’s a simple way to appeal to people’s desire to be appreciated. And doesn’t everybody like to feel appreciated? We know we do so, feel free to send some love our way.

No related posts.

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According to gazettelive.co.uk, a little girl has become the first in the country to receive Botox as a treatment for cerebral palsy.

Five-year-old Amy Bolton has been receiving Botox injections at University Hospital of North Tees. The Botox has been injected into her calves to relax the muscles with the aim of giving her an improved stance.

Cerebral palsy is an abnormality on the brain which affects posture, movement and co-ordination. Amy walks on tiptoes at the moment but it is hoped that the Botox treatment will help her walk from her heel instead, relieving the pressure on her hips.

Her mum, Joanne Bolton, 35 told the website: “To begin with I thought Botox? – What are you going on about? She is five years old, she has no wrinkles – I said I will have it as well thank you very much!

“But once you understand the theory you can see why it will help and I have total faith in the doctors at North Tees.”

After being discovered as a treatment for cerebral palsy in the 1990's, this is great news for sufferers, with hopes that it will become a more popular treatment for the condition.

Via KevinMD: This issue has come up before, most recently when the New England Journal of Medicine asked whether doctors should friend their patients on Facebook.

Pediatrician Bryan Vartabedian looks further at the issue, and sees it fraught with potential risk.

He points out that sharing privileged information requires written consent. But what if the patient initiates the conversation? Some attorneys say that can imply consent, but the laws in this area are not yet clear.

Also, every communication between doctor and patient needs to be documented. Dr. Vartabedian notes that “the documentation on most social platforms isn’t detailed enough for other medical professionals or auditors to follow what’s gone on between you and your caregiver [and] let’s not forget that Twitter has a habit of disappearing after a couple of weeks.”

And perhaps most concerning is the privacy issue. When someone shares personal medical information in a public forum, like Twitter or a Facebook page, it has to potential to get indexed by search engines, making it permanent on the web.

There’s tremendous potential for doctors to better use Twitter and Facebook to interact with patients. By guiding patients to reputable sources of medical information, for instance.

But social media isn’t mature enough for doctors to provide personal medical advice to patients. Yet.

Related Botox Patient posts: Avoid A Facelift: Medical Spas, Laser Clinics, Skin Clinics & Laser Treatments.Clinical Exchange of Laser Treatments for Medical Spas, Laser Clinics, & Skin ClinicsBotax: New Taxes on Botox + Plastic Surgery?Cosmetic Surgeons enlist patients to fight Botox Botax.Plastic surgeons get Botox too

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There is mounting concern about a vaginal plastic surgery procedure more and more Australian women are having.

Each year more than 1,200 Australian women undergo surgery on their genitalia in a procedure known as labioplasty.

Doctors and surgeons fear that some women may be having the operation unnecessarily and there are concerns about operations being done by unqualified medical professionals.

In Britain, where the procedure is equally popular, medical experts are warning of a shocking lack of information about the risks and long-term impact.

It is controversial surgery but it is booming nonetheless.

For some, labioplasty is an exercise in Hollywood-style vanity, while for others it is a transformative procedure that trims, sculpts and restores a woman’s genitalia.

But there have been no studies to prove its long-term safety and doctors are worried about its ballooning popularity.

Dr Ted Weaver from the Royal Australian College of Gynaecologists says there are concerns.

“We put out about a statement from our college a couple of years ago, highlighting concerns about this designer vagina craze because we felt that often it did prey on fears of women and women’s insecurity about their particular genital appearance,” he said.

“The surgery’s potentially damaging. It could potentially lead to further problems for a woman as a result of surgery and may not fix her insecurity.”

Dr Kourosh Tavakoli is a member of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons and a fellow of the Australasian College of Surgeons.

He has been performing the labioplasty for seven years and is seeing a 100 per cent increase in that number year on year.

“Let’s not kid ourselves. The last survey in my practice was 80 per cent for cosmetic and I would say for psychological reasons – that’s what I see as a function,” he said.

“There are two reasons [women give for having the surgery] – I can’t get comfortable during sex and the number two reason is essentially pure physical, in terms of running or jogging and not being able to wear a leotard or cossie.”

Labioplasty can cost between $4,000 and $6,000 and is often covered by Medicare.

Dr Tavakoli says it is a lucrative field, but he fears some practitioners are not up to the task.

“I have seen horrendous results from them. I mean there’s three groups doing it – plastic surgeons, gynaecologists and GP surgeons in their offices, without proper lighting or sedation or anything,” he said.

“I think the last group is a concern because they can take excess tissue and cause problems.”

Research published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology is questioning the value of the labioplasty, with concerns that many women seek the surgery without fully understanding the risks. British medical experts are also questioning the ethics of the surgery.

Dr Weaver says some women are being exploited.

“We think anybody performing these procedures certainly should be well trained, not only in the surgical technique but also have the training in the ability to try to perhaps dissuade a woman from having it done,” he said.

“[They should] also be able to counsel the woman that there is a variation in normal appearance and that she doesn’t have to confirm to a picture that she might have noticed in a girlie magazine or something equally ridiculous.”

He believes there are women in Australia who are having the procedure unnecessarily.

Dr Tavakoli says patients must be psychologically screened and they must have realistic expectations. But either way, he says the procedure is here to stay.

“I believe it’s a good operation. I stand by this operation. I’ve had enough experience to see the mental transformation that this operation can bring and it will become a mainstay operation in cosmetic surgery,” he said.

“But again it needs to be very heavily scrutinised and patient selection is imperative. In the right patient, it will have benefits and patient selection is paramount.”

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Hey guys! Have we got a treat for you!

We’re going on a 3-day journey… one, we’re sure, you never thought you needed to take.

By way of introduction, let us share with you the reason why we’re doing this.

While we were doing research for the Botox Guide (which, by the way, we can’t wait to share with you!), we realized how getting into the mind of your physician can help you get safer, cheaper and better Botox treatments. It will help you see things through their eyes and sortof learn to play their game… but you create your own rules.

If you want to discover how they learn to inject Botox, what they actually think of the treatment and how medical malpractice figures into the equation, then you better bookmark our site now. We’ll be dishing out insider information you won’t get anywhere else!

So, without further ado, here is where your 3 days in the shoes of your Botox provider begins:

Day 1: the crash course that is the Botox Training

Medical practitioners, who seek to add Botox to their respective roster of services, usually start with training. Here’s a sample schedule of one such Botox training course:

8:00am – 12:00nn: Botox Training

Lessons include the following:

history of the drug,the science behind how the drug works (or what is known as pharmacology)proper storage, handling and reconstitution,indications, contraindications and side effectshuman facial anatomy and physiologyinjection techniques for different treatment areaspre and post treatment care

12:00nn – 1:00pm: Lunch

1:00pm – 3:30pm: Training on Dermal Fillers

Yes, the other half of the day is devoted to other cosmetic procedures. Botox is usually lumped with dermal fillers because they are both injectables and are, in that sense, similar.

3:30pm onwards: Hands-on Training for Botox and Fillers

This is where the day gets exciting. The physicians attending the seminar get to practice their new-found knowledge on actual people. However, there’s a catch. There’s a limited number of ‘live models’ on whom they can practice. We’re venturing a guess of a maximum of 3-5 people per attendee. While some may think that’s enough, we believe otherwise.

There’s a difference between those who are legally allowed and who are qualified to perform Botox treatments. Anyone with a medical license can inject Botox. But being qualified takes more than just a day’s worth of lectures.

Also, merely reading materials and watching other people perform the treatments do not result in Botox expertise. Experience, specifically performing the procedure on hundreds (even thousands) of patients is still the best way to perfect this skill.

It is through experience that the injector learns about the differences in the facial musculature of every individual, how such differences would affect where the Botox is injected and how much of the drug is used as well as what techniques increase or decrease the risk of side effects. This kind of knowledge cannot be acquired in just a few hours. This is why we can’t stress enough how important it is to check how long your doctor’s been administering Botox and how many patients he’s already treated. Knowing these may help you decide on who you will trust to wield that Botox laden needle.

Note though that the more experienced injectors charge higher than the new ones. Think of it this way: the new Botox doctors charge less because they get to practice on you. You, then, become a prelude to their expertise. We’re not saying that this is wrong. We just wanted to let you know so you can make an informed choice on the matter. At the end of the day, your decision will prevail and we trust that you will weigh the pros and cons carefully.

Related Botox Patient posts: Medical Spa BotoxBotox Patient: Fake Botox or not, Discount Medspa is going to jail!How much does Botox cost your local doctor?The Real Score Between Botox and DoctorsCommon Botox Safety Concerns

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Dr. Ricardo Rodriguez is a Yale trained, board certified plastic surgeon specializing in multiple procedure makeovers. He performs unique procedures such as the body lift, Brazilian butt lift, stem cell facelift, endoscopic brow lift, and lip lift. He is Medical Director of his own AAAASF accredited surgery center in Baltimore, Maryland.

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