Aging Skin: Three Fixes That Really Work

According to a University of Michigan review of a decade’s worth of studies, there are three treatments that effectively work to help recapture skin's firm, youthful appearance: injections of dermal fillers, laser resurfacing, and topical retinol.

Our skin gets its “plump” from a supporting structure of collagen. As we age, the amount of collagenase, an enzyme that breaks down collagen and the fibroblast cells that produce collagen, increases. A woman in her 80s experiences four times the collagen breakdown compared with a woman in her 20s, which causes the appearance of sagging and wrinkling as the collagen support system breaks down in mature skin. These crucial fibroblast cells are not heavily influenced by genetics, and they can be stimulated to produce collagen.

Dermal fillers such as Restylane can be injected into the skin to help limit the breakdown of collagen and support the skin’s underlying structure. “Actual collagen can also be used as a filler,” says Gary Fisher, PhD, a professor and a researcher in the University of Michigan’s dermatology department. “But the structure and organization of collagen that is injected into the skin differs from that of collagen that is produced in the skin by skin cells.” A nice benefit of using a product such as Restylane is that it also stimulates the fibroblast cells to start forming new collagen.

Also available through your dermatologist or plastic surgeon is laser resurfacing, and studies show that carbon dioxide lasers are particularly useful for promoting the growth of new collagen. Carbon dioxide lasers use very short-pulsed light energy to remove thin layers of skin with minimal heat damage. Laser resurfacing is an outpatient procedure that uses local anesthesia and usually takes less than two hours to complete. Wrinkles around the eyes, mouth, or forehead may be treated individually, or the whole face can be resurfaced.

Finally, there’s a treatment that can be done at home. Retinol, which is a form of vitamin A, is found in some skin care products and has been proven to increase collagen production in the skin. It appears on a product's ingredient list as retinol, retinyl palmitate, and retinylaldehyde, as well as tretinoin or retinoic acid on prescription-only products such as Renova and Differin.

— Michele Deppe