Autologous blood therapy

Autohemotherapy use in dermatology was popular in the early 1900s but was abandoned by conventional dermatologists due to a lack of supporting evidence of efficacy. A resurgence of interest in the 2000s[1] has led to several investigations evaluating the use of autohemotherapy as a treatment for specific dermatological conditions such as hives (urticaria) and eczema.[1] A review of these studies concludes that, though safe, autohemotherapy is only somewhat more effective than injection of saline solution.[1]

In 2022, autohemotherapy was studied for its effect on ME/CFS, in which 220 patients were treated with oxygen-ozone autohemotherapy for X weeks, at least two 30min long sessions per week. Significant improvements in ME/CFS were noted at statistically significant p-value < 0.0001. When treated with O2-O3-AHT fatigue symptoms within the first one-two weeks ameliorated from a score value of 7 (meaning the worst) to 1 (meaning the best, i.e., completely absent symptoms) in almost half of the oxygen-ozone treated patients (43.5%). However, researchers did not determine the mechanism of action resulting in patient improvement. The study did not include a control group, making it impossible to know if the treatment had any effect greater than a placebo. No randomized control trial, considered the standard for medical research, has shown ozone autohemotherapy to be effective.

One fringe dermatologic application of autohemotherapy, colloquially called a "vampire facial", came to public attention in 2013 when an Instagram posting by celebrity Kim Kardashian West portrayed her "blood-soaked face" during the administration of the procedure.[5] Kardashian West later stated the she regretted undergoing the painful procedure.[6] A vampire facial procedure involves a combination of microneedling[6] followed by topical application of platelet-rich plasma derived from the centrifugation of the subject's own blood into various autologous blood products.[6] Proponents claim that autologous platelet-rich plasma delivered subcutaneously to the skin of the face can improve its health by stimulating skin cell growth and collagen[5] though the treatment is considered to lie outside of mainstream medicine because claimed benefits are unsupported by scientific evidence from clinical studies.[6] Side effects of the treatment may include redness, swelling, bruising, tenderness, tingling, numbness, lumpiness, and/or a feeling of pressure or fullness at the injection sites[6] which, providers claim, people recover from within two days with outlying reports from patients whose recovery took a week or more with scabbing and other problems.[6] More serious safety concerns have been cited for these treatments when performed in non-medical settings by people untrained in infection control.[5][7] The New Mexico Department of Health issued a statement that at least one such business offering vampire facials "could potentially spread blood-borne infections such as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C to clients.”[5] In contrast, so-called "vampire filler" is autologous platelets used as dermal filler in the platelet-rich fibrin matrix method of cosmetic surgery;[8] it is generally not described as autohemotherapy and the FDA-approved machines for it are only approved for use by licensed surgeons.

• Ozone therapy
• Discolysis
• Collagen induction therapy