Cosmetic intervention is a hot-button issue in the dermatology industry. There is ongoing research into what works and what doesn’t. Everyone wants protect their facial skin from damage, and everyone wants to avoid wrinkles. As a practicing physician, I only use techniques that have been proven to work through scientific studies and trials.
Right now, there are only four cosmetic intervention techniques that fulfill that criteria.
- Sunscreen, daily: ultraviolet (UV) light and natural aging causes most damage to the skin. Protecting your fibroblasts from UV damage lessens their impairment. It also protects the epidermis, melanocytes, and skin-associated immune cells from UV damage.
- Retinoids: A retinoid (topical derivative of Vitamin A) applied to the skin helps fibroblasts “wake up.” The activation of fibroblasts produces more collagen. Since fibroblasts lose function with age, retinoids help restore fibroblasts and repair normal function
- Fillers: Adding volume to the dermis actively stretches the fibroblasts and wakes them up. As a result, fibroblasts begin to produce more collagen, much like the response to retinoids.
- Carbon Dioxide Laser Resurfacing: Usually a laser will remove a thin layer of tissue. Then stem cells from hair follicles resurface new dermis and epidermis.
I recommend that my patients use options 1-3. Resurfacing works, but it’s expensive, risky, and involves significant down time.
In conclusion, these four techniques are the only cosmetic intervention methods that scientific evidence can back. Though this may seem limiting, there is ongoing research into other techniques, as people are eager to seek out alternative methods. But since there is nothing scientific to back up alternative methods, we’ll just have to wait and see.