We’ll go to great lengths in our efforts to slow down the ageing process – but one woman has taken it a step further than most.
Sabrina Sieck tried out the latest extreme beauty trend in a bid to boost her skin’s glow; letting a live leech suck on her face.
The stomach-churning skincare treatment, which is loved by stars including supermodel Miranda Kerr, claims to leave you feeling as well as looking healthier.
After the American volunteer endured the slimy creatures latching on, the blood they’d drawn out – mingled with the leeches’ secretions – was then slathered over Sabrina’s skin to boost its glow.
Despite likening the sensation to having a tattoo needle faintly jab her skin ‘over and over’, Sabrina said she would have leech therapy again because her skin had ‘never been so soft’ as a result.
The leeches – which have 300 teeth – are left on the skin before being removed and made to ‘vomit’
Sabrina Seick played guinea pig to test out an extreme beauty treatment known as the leech facial, where blood is smeared on her face
A leech sucks on your skin for up to five minutes in the treatment which claims to boost the skin’s glow
The leech facial was filmed for a clip created by Ripley’s Believe it Or Not, and saw the creatures – which have 300 teeth – nibbling on Sabrina’s neck.
There are as few as five private practice doctors in the US who offer the bizarre treatment using live leeches.
Model Miranda Kerr recently admitted she enjoyed a leech facial and kept the creatures in her koi pond afterwards
Dr. Nidia Diaz is one of those who carries out the practice and said a leech facial – which lasts between three and five minutes – can leave you feeling ‘amazing’.
But the footage could be enough to put all squeamish clients – especially scenes that show the leeches crawling all over the presenter’s neck and face.
Sabrina likened the feeling of its teeth to the prick of the faintest tattoo needle ‘over and over’.
She said afterwards: ‘Believe it or not, I wouldn’t hesitate to try leech therapy again whether for medical issues like migraines or simply for beauty. My skin has never felt so soft.
‘The only downside was that the leech urinated on me twice. His sweat would also drop down my chest, too.’
With 32 brains, three jaws and 300 teeth, medical leeches pack a lot into their slimy segmented bodies – but can only be used once for hygiene purposes.
The ‘vomit’ is a mixture of blood and the leech’s secretions which is then slathered on the face just like Miranda Kerr
During the process the leeches can urinate while they are sucking the blood which has to be cleaned up
Once the treatment is over the doctor removes the leech – but it can only be used once due to hygiene reasons
The leech therapy has been used in medicine for centuries and it is believed that by applying them to the skin it can boost circulation and make you look healthier
They’ve been used in medicine for centuries, first in Egypt about 2,500 years ago, and still to this day by a small handful of private practitioners.
Dr Diaz added: ‘Your skin after a leech facial looks like you sandblasted it. It’s amazing.
‘These leeches are placed on this earth to help heal humans, and hopefully one day a lot more people with accept that.
Doctor Diaz explained that by applying the blood to the face it will leave the skin looking like it has been ‘sandblasted’
The medical leeches can only be used once. There are as few as five private practice doctors in America using leeches for the bizarre treatment.
‘I had one patient who came in with a bursted blood vessel in her eye. The white of her eye was completely black with blood.
‘Usually, that would take weeks to disolve. We decided to put a leech on the side of her temple, it injected it’s wonderful cocktail of biochemicals, and in three days the eye was completely white.’
Miranda Kerr revealed during an interview with Gwyneth Paltrow for her Goop conference that she kept her leeches in her koi pond after the treatment.
‘You’re not allowed to reuse them and if you don’t take them home then she kills them and I didn’t like that idea,’ Miranda said.
For the full feature catch Ripley’s ‘Cool Stuff Strange Things’ on YouTube