04 Dec The Role of Collagen in Anti-Ageing Treatments
When it comes to anti-ageing regimens, collagen often plays a large role. But what exactly is collagen, and how does it benefit the skin? This blog post aims to answer this question and several others by looking at the role of collagen in anti-ageing treatments.
How Do You Stimulate Collagen Production and Why Is It Good for the Skin?
Collagen is a naturally occurring protein that’s found in most mammals, including humans. In fact, it makes up about 30% of a person’s total protein composition. Collagen is widely considered to be the material that keeps the body together; it is found predominantly in the skin, the tendons and the ligaments, and also in the cornea, the blood vessels and the bones. Collagen is good for the skin because it provides it with its elasticity, which can give the appearance of youthful looking skin that retains its shape and smoothness.
Unfortunately, as we get older and various lifestyle factors get in the way (e.g. inactivity, smoking, too much time in the sun), the collagen in our skin can break down and reduce elasticity. It’s for these reasons that people seek procedures such as collagen induction therapy to try and replenish their collagen stores and retain a youthful look.
What is Collagen Induction Therapy and Does It Work?
Collagen Induction Therapy is a treatment in which new collagen is produced in order to replace damaged or broken down collagen. The person has a piece of equipment containing small needles rolled across their numbed skin. The needles penetrate the skin in order to replace the damaged collagen in the top layers of skin with fresh, new collagen. Also known as skin needling, the therapy has shown positive results by way of improved texture and firmness as well as a reduction in the severity of scarring and stretch marks.
Other Collagen Producing Treatments
In addition to Collagen Induction Therapy, there are other treatment options that can help to replace broken down collagen in your skin. Among these options are Fraxel laser and Laser Genesis.
Fraxel laser skin resurfacing is a treatment that uses light to smooth out fine lines in the skin. Fraxel is the brand name of a type of fractional laser that makes minute imprints in the skin. The Fraxel laser creates thousands of these microscopic imprints that penetrate the targeted areas of the skin and can be used to reduce skin pigmentation, minimise pore sizes and generally create an overall smooth skin tone.
Whereas Fraxel laser skin resurfacing predominantly targets the superficial layers of the skin, Laser Genesis penetrates deep to the cellular level to treat skin conditions as varied as rosacea, wrinkles, acne scarring, sun damage and more.
Collagen Induction Therapy (skin needling), Fraxel laser and Laser Genesis must only be administered by qualified laser clinicians, which you’ll find at The DOC Clinic. For more information, contact us today.