Collagen Induction Treatments

HEALTH SPOTLIGHT

By Dr. Laura Lewmans, N.D., Injector Specialist

Collagen is a big buzzword in the media right now, but what is it exactly? Collagen is one of the main structural proteins in the skin and other tissues throughout the body. It gives skin its ability to rebound from pressure and stretching, and resist the downward forces of gravity. Collagen gives skin firmness, bounciness, and supports skin hydration.

Unfortunately, collagen production in the skin drops off in our early 20s, and from then on degrades at a rate around 1% per year. This loss of collagen is one of the main contributors to signs of skin and facial aging. As skin loses collagen, it loses its ability to resist the repeated pull of facial muscles, resulting in frown and smile lines. Skin laxity resulting from decreased collagen contributes to sagging facial features, such as nasolabial folds, neck lines, and fullness in the jowls.

Luckily, all hope is not lost! Advances in the field of aesthetic medicine are giving us new ways to target aging, specifically restoring and regenerating collagen. This process is not instantaneous, because your body needs to regrow tissue, but yields long-lasting and very natural results.

Sculptra is a powerful way to restore collagen in the deep layers of the face, which has the result of restoring youthful facial contours, smoothing skin folds, and making you look years younger.

Sculptra is made of poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) particles and is injected in targeted areas of the face. Over a period of weeks to months, the PLLA particles gently stimulate your body’s healing mechanisms to increase collagen production. Sculptra is one of the best overall anti-aging treatments and can benefit nearly everyone in their aesthetic journey.

Microneedling is a wonderful way to improve skin tone and address acne scarring, fine lines and wrinkles, and uneven texture. Microneedling causes thousands of tiny punctures in the upper layers of the skin. This microtrauma, like the PLLA in Sculptra, stimulates healing mechanisms to revitalize the skin.

Combining microneedling with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) improves results even more. PRP is derived from the patient’s blood through a simple blood draw and centrifugation process. It contains dozens of growth factors to elicit healing and tissue regeneration. When PRP is

used along with microneedling, it decreases down-time and leads to incredible results. PRP can also be injected into fine lines and wrinkles and the undereye area to have the same healing and rejuvenating effects.

Many energy-based treatments, including microneedling with radiofrequency, broad band light (BBL), Halo fractional laser, and plasma technology all cause deep heating in the tissues that triggers collagen production as well. These treatments can be used to address fine lines and wrinkles, skin laxity, hyperpigmentation, and more.

There are now also many medical skincare products that improve collagen production. These are wonderful to combine with other collagen-induction treatments performed in a medical office, in order to address signs of aging and collagen loss on a daily basis from the comfort of your own home.

All of these advances in skincare and aesthetic treatments mean that we can fight, and in some

cases, even reverse the signs of aging. A high quality medical aesthetics team can combine a

number of these treatments in an individualized long-term plan to address your unique needs and

concerns, and achieve them.

Lumera Regenerative Medicine is located at 6464 SW Borland Road, Suite C3, in Tualatin. For more information, visit lumeramedical.com or call 503-852-9680.