Only 30 and "too young" for all collagen boosting
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Sat Aug 02, 2014 3:53 pm

Hi everyone,
I suffer from rather severe collagen and elastin loss in my face after years of an * spam alert * to marijuana (I was in a band, unhealthy environment and bad choices ensued). I would know that Vitamin C or copper peptides with AHA's would be the way to go if I was older but I'm only 30 and every treatment seems to be too strong, based on all the medical literature, for someone of such a young age. Taking into consideration the damage isn't devastating though the paper thin skin look has been unfortunately achieved, with what product would anyone suggest I start with to repair the collagen and elastin loss in my skin without causing further damage because of being "too young" for its use?
Thanks so much to anyone who can help...it means a lot.

free skin care · Sat Aug 02, 2014 4:28 pm

Hi Christopher, I'm not well versed in copper peptides, but hopefully the following will be of some use for delaying the inevitable.

For vitamin C I recommend, Cosmetic Skin Solutions C E Ferulic serum. Exactly the same as Skinceuticals but at a fraction of the cost. I use it once in the morning and once at night.

Vitamin A derivatives are a good choice- I use Avene Eulage concentrate but perhaps something like Renova may be better suited for some serious skin regeneration.

Sunscreen is of critical importance. Most on EDS prefer physical sunscreens- zinc/titanium dioxide that sit on top of the skin deflecting rays. Personally, I use a combination of physical and chemical suncreens to prevent skin degeneration. My personal favourites are:

-Skinceuticals Ultra Facial Defense spf 50 (New chemical filters Mexoryl XS and XL, Tinosorb S and Octinoxate). No avobenzone which is a chemical filter that is a concern for some.

-Ducray Melascreen SPF 50 (New chemical filters Tinsorb S and hybrid chemical/physical filter Tinosorb M, plus octinoxate, and octocrylene).

- I apply a high zinc sunscreen over the top of either one- Invisible Zinc, Burnout, Topix Replenix Sheer Spray are good choices.

If you are looking for a less demanding spf, I do think that La Roche Posay SPF 15 everyday moisturiser is ideal.

- To help with skin thickness I would recommend Nia 24 Intensive Recovery Complex. For me, its more hydrating than La Mer and the Niacin helps skin naturally retain its own moisture- so the longer you use it, the better your skin will become. Imo this, is a true moisturiser and my personal HG.

Healthy lifestyle is also a must. Look into some green juices, low carb/sugar diet (sugar degrades collagen and elastin), and antioxidants-astaxanthin, raw cocoa, matcha green tea and turmeric are great for the body and specifically the skin. For summer months you may also like a daily dose of Heliocare which was developed by Harvard scientists to prevent, with topical sunscreens, UVA induced skin aging. I take it when exposed to the intense summer sun, but due to concerns over vitamin D deficiency I skip it in winter and make do with topicals.

Hope that gives you some avenues to explore Smile

Sun Aug 03, 2014 2:26 pm

Thanks LondonJamie for the advice on a good skincare regimen for maintaing collagen and elastin. I actually never knew that sugar was detrimental to collagen and elastin. I'll be sure to alter my diet quite a lot based on that.
The only issue that possibly remains for me is that I'm trying to "repair" damage done to the collagen and elastin as well as prevent its degradation. Is your regimen meant much more so for the prevention of the loss of collagen or for the repair of damaged collagen as well?
When I read about repairing collagen damage on this website such things as copper peptides in combination with AHA's and Vitamin C and Vitamin A topical creams come up and yet they say that these can only be used beginning at certain ages as they'll do more damage than harm when at my age of 30 for example. This is where all of the confusion comes into play for me. I simply don't know "where to start." I want to use a strong treatment to repair my skin's collagen loss and yet all strong treatments are supposedly going to do more harm than good for my skin at my age.
With all of this in mind, would you (or anyone else) happen to know the strongest and most apt treatment I could begin to repair the damaged collagen and elastin in my face that I've caused without inducing any further damage to my skin because of its being too strong a treatment for me?
Anyway, I'll cut myself off there and once again thanks for your response LondonJamie...any piece of advice I can get regarding my skin's issue at this point I appreciate so much and your response was a good start to say the least.

free skin care · Wed Aug 06, 2014 7:04 pm

You may want to look into META therapy...with needles or maybe microcurrent.

My suggestion:
http://www.dermatude.com/discover-dermatude/how-does-meta-therapy-work/

If you do, keep up with the treatments go in every few weeks!it'll cost money and time but it'd probably help...esp. the META.

Sugar is pretty horrible for the body...maybe replace with stevia which is actually shown to have positive effects-as far as I know anyways.

Good luck!

P.S.: the sun's UV rays are also detrimental so a sunscreen is a must!!!
You can find META therapy at medical/clinical spas to some surgeons/doctors offices so Google meta therapy in your area.

free skin care · Thu Aug 07, 2014 12:13 pm

There is no such thing as "too young". Increased levels of collagen will make your skin thicker and that takes time. Start building up your collagen while you are still young.

Fri Aug 08, 2014 3:42 pm

First of all, thanks for introducing me to META therapy heyheymonster. That treatment looks really promising based on what I've looked into about it so far and I intend to start getting that treatment soon as it is available in my area thankfully.
To RussianSunshine, in regards to thinking I was too young for some, if not most, of the collagen building treatments, that primarily came from a bad experience with copper peptides. I was using Super GHK serum bought from Skin Biology once every other day and it just seemed to make my skin porous and the overall texture quite horrible. That combined with reading that treatments with Retinol and other such acids could in effect decrease my skin's thickness overtime made me look at such skin treatments in a very skeptical light thinking that my knowledge of them simply wasn't enough to use them safely.
I'm more than pleased to see that someone who knows what they're talking about is saying I actually can effectively use these treatments. Though with that in mind, would you have any suggestion as to what topical creams and at what strength I should start off with? If you were a 30 year-old with relatively damaged collagen and elastin looking to rejuvenate your skin and increase its thickness what creams in particular and strength of those creams would you use for yourself to achieve the best results possible?
Thanks for all your help. Thinking I was a dead loss in the situation I was in for finding a solution to my thin skin and then reading such uplifting replies has been great.

free skin care · Fri Aug 08, 2014 7:00 pm

Quick reply from my cell phone: vitiman a or retin a does increase cell turnover for younger looking skin, but it does thin the skin.. but vitamin c is a good investment...but vitamin c only really benifits when used with vitamin e. Because c is water soluble and e is fat soluble. .so together they penetrate the all of the cell.id go more into that but since I'm replying via my phone I can't even see what I'm typing...lol. adding protein in your diet should also aid collegen. I have more suggestions which I can try to personal message you on eds later for more in depth discussion. In the mean time, best of luck to you.

free skin care · Sat Aug 09, 2014 4:38 pm

Dermatologists disagree on whether Retin A thins the skin. Some, for example, Otto Joseph Placik, a plastic surgeon from Chicago, believes that:

"Retin-A is probably the one best medical treatment available to thicken skin that is reliable and has been studied and fully evaluated as well as verified."

http://www.realself.com/question/anything-thicken-thin-skin

I have been using Retin for 10 years, & my skin far from being thin.

heyheymonster wrote:

Quick reply from my cell phone: vitiman a or retin a does increase cell turnover for younger looking skin, but it does thin the skin.. but vitamin c is a good investment...but vitamin c only really benifits when used with vitamin e. Because c is water soluble and e is fat soluble. .so together they penetrate the all of the cell.id go more into that but since I'm replying via my phone I can't even see what I'm typing...lol. adding protein in your diet should also aid collegen. I have more suggestions which I can try to personal message you on eds later for more in depth discussion. In the mean time, best of luck to you.

free skin care · Sun Aug 10, 2014 6:51 am

Good point to bring up, from what I've learned in the past, retin a thickens the dermis but thins the epidermis. And I've also heard that the epidermis will thin before the dermis thickens from use of retin a products. I personally have always been on the fence about retin a because of this. I feel like thickening the dermis is great but thinning of the epidermis could be a bad thing if you already have thin skin. Idk...I'm interested in the topic if anyone has anymore links to show me. Lastly, I reccomend Christopher 1962 aviod retin a because the skin is already in a fairly fragile state...I'm still not sure about retin a...maybe if it was used every couple days at night rather than every night?

free skin care · Sun Aug 10, 2014 11:32 am

*Christopher1929...sorry I messed up the name in my last post..still replying via my phone, I can't see the page as a whole,just part of the text box as I text. So I aplogize for spelling, grammar or any general errors/mistakes.

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