BEAUTY

The So-Called Vampire Facial May Have Exposed Customers To HIV

A PSA for anyone considering this brutal beauty treatment

Kim Kardashian West is famous for going to extreme lengths in the name of beauty and in particular, for undergoing the so-called vampire facial in this quest. However, the treatment is being blamed as a possible culprit for exposing customers at a New Mexico spa to HIV and other blood-borne illnesses.

At best, this beauty treatment sounds terrifying and at worst it may turn out to be deadly, with The Cut reporting the New Mexico Department of Health has advised “anyone who received an injection-based service at the VIP Spa in Albuquerque to be tested for HIV, hepatitis and hepatitis C – particularly those who received the services in May or June.”

The ‘vampire facial’, made famous after Kardashian West posted a gruesome picture of herself undergoing the treatment, her face covered in blood, is alleged by the clinics who offer it to promote anti-ageing.

The actual treatment involves blood being drawn from the client and then the clinic drawing out the platelet-rich plasma from the blood and injecting it back into the client’s face using micro needles. Which, when you think about it, is a process that can leave customers very exposed should strict hygiene practices not be followed.

Even in a sterile medical environment, anything involving needles and blood requires strict protocols, which are unlikely to be employed at a non-medical beauty spa.

KRQE reports New Mexico Department of Health officials undertook an inspection of the VIP Spa after “a client of the VIP Spa developed an infection that may have resulted from a procedure performed at the spa.” Officials discovered “practices at the spa [that] could spread blood borne infections such as HIV and hepatitis B and C.”

According to KRQE the spa in question is currently closed with a note being posted on Monday claiming “a family emergency has forced them to cancel appointments through the week.”

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