BAD COLLAGEN, BAD!

Pig flesh biologically resembles human flesh. We have successfully been using it in the medical world for tendons, heart valves and more, which is why I chose pig flesh to demonstrate the effects of heat on human flesh. Once the flesh shrinks, it hardens and becomes crispy and brittle. We call it bacon.

A fascinating video from TED explains more about how closely we resemble pigs and in fact how a diverse group of our products are actually made from pigs. Totally off today's subject, but still fascinating all the same.


Our own flesh does the same thing when heat is applied to it or devices cause the cells to create its own heat in resistance to the frequencies. The collagen fibers shrink and fat melts from the heat produced with the assistance of lasers, radio frequency and other non-ablative (non-surgical) devices. In turn the body produces collagen, an inferior collagen, that resembles the same tissue as stretch marks. That's why the skin tends to look shinier after these treatments.

While the initial results of these devices may be a satisfactory or even a stunning lifting, tightening and wrinkle elimination, the long-term results can result in a collapse or breakdown of the facial structure because the collagen is essentially brittle scar tissue.(Please check out wikipedia for more information on collagen and tissues HERE). I call the effect paper long face. We're starting to see this in many well-known celebrities (whom shall remain unnamed) out there who are getting a little greedy with these devices. The tell-tale signs are the thinning around the hollows of the cheeks and layers of papery laugh lines.

Another widely reported side effect of many of these machines is facial fat loss (lipolysis). This is what you don't want to happen in the face. The discovery of this fat loss is actually good news for those who want to destroy fat cells elsewhere in the body. I will be talking about some of the companies that are doing this safely and successfully in the very near future. (P.S. please make sure you go to someone safe for these treatments. You can actually cook your organs with the wrong devices or an ill-trained technician).

A couple of years ago I attended a respected Medical/Anti-aging Convention. I approached a company that had the newest technology and asked them how they could sell these devices knowing that it was destroying people's skin no matter how amazing the technician was. The sales rep who happened to be a director for this well-known company said "well, we're dialing down the temperature on these machines. At one time we were 60-90 degrees Celcius on the equipment, but now we range from 26-44 degrees Celcius because we realized we were creating permanent damage at higher temperatures." He failed to mention that they were adding PRP, fillers and a bunch of other costly bells and whistles to the procedures to make up for the damage that was being created even at those 'lower temperatures'. Just to get another opinion from a neutral party I asked another doctor at the same convention what he thought of some of the newest anti-aging devices. His reply was "you're basically microwaving the cells with most of these new devices." Doesn't sound like that's a good thing to me.

At this point you might be saying "Mary's full of crap! My doctor said it's fine and I go to and pay for the best." Despite my expertise in stem cells in cosmetics and cosmetic procedures and cellular rejuvenation I understand what I preach still sometimes falls on deaf ears. It's been a struggle to get the editors, publishers and the public alike to listen to me. I think people fail to realize you don't have to be a doctor to see the skin initially looks better and then worse than before the procedure. My observations were precisely the reason I got into skincare- to better understand why people looked amazing after these procedures and figure out where it went wrong. I think the part I hate most is seeing the thinning of the skin. Thin skin makes it tough to even get a good facelift after that.

Only recently a small number of people are starting to realize what I'm saying might be valid. Customers are coming to me asking why their skin looks worse like I warned them it would or why their friends are looking so bad.

In my own opinion I think these devices can be good at much lower temperatures in conjunction with stem cell growth factors and a high nutrient diet. I also have seen customers with very thick skin do well with ONE treatment from the newer machines.

Please also keep in mind this is not a medical journal entry. There are hundreds of factors I have not included in this Tuesday Tip such as the bacon is being melted by an outside source, not an internal mechanism. The sole purpose of using bacon and heat is to demonstrate how heat shrinks collagen fibers.

I'm going to leave you with a few older links that I ran across over the years from doctors and other experts. This way you can do your own homework.


An old link that says these devices are good by the NIH:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16392146

But I see more negative information published in the following:

http://www.ageless-beauty.com/thermage-three.html
http://iplandlasersupport.blogspot.com/2009/02/fat-lossatrophy-from-cosmetic-devices.html
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/9781934854280.185
http://archderm.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=411465
http://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622%2808%2900083-2/abstract

If you really want to get scientific, Stanford University:
www.stanford.edu/.../SPIE%205695%20pulsed%20heating.pdf