Advanced laser treatments can provide dramatic, life-changing improvement in the appearance and confidence of our patients.
But what about patients who are just looking for ways to preserve the look and health of their skin while still seeing improvements? There’s a term often used in the industry called “collagen banking”. It’s just a catchy word used to describe an idea that if you start stimulating collagen (neocollagenesis) in your younger years, you’ll be banking it for when you need it later in life. The idea is based off a trend towards “prejuvenation versus rejuvenation”.
We all start to lose collagen in our 20’s at a rate of 1-2% per year, so it’s a good idea to start collagen-stimulating treatments sooner in order to mitigate future collagen loss. This process happens when enzymes that break down collagen start increasing in activity beyond what the body naturally replenishes – essentially collagen breakdown outpaces new collagen production. And if you start replenishing early, you can better keep up with the rate of loss.
One of the points I always try and drive home to my patients is not to rely on one treatment (monotherapy) solely to prevent signs of aging. Instead, I recommend combination therapy to address and prevent skin aging. It’s when you combine, maintain, and alternate your energy devices or procedures that you get long lasting and natural results. I often use an analogy to better explain this notion. Think of our muscles, when you are looking to achieve muscle hypertrophy (growth) you would use different exercises and weights in order to stimulate size and strength. Your skin is no exception, it needs different stimuli to grow, strengthen, and remain resilient.
Whether starting your skin care journey in your 20’s or 80’s it’s never too late to start “banking collagen”. We have so much amazing technology available that’s both efficacious and safe when provided by a trained specialist. Taking advantage of a little bit of it all can have many histological (cellular level) and epidermal (superficial level) changes.
Call or text to book your complimentary consultation no matter what age or condition your skin is in. I book full hour consults with all my new patients because I believe that a thorough, bespoke treatment plan and patient education is key to a successful outcome.
PS I love when my patients bring me their skincare so we can go through and confirm they’re on the right products.