What is collagen banking, the sexy new buzzword in aesthetics?

Prevention is always better than cure, and this rings especially true in aesthetics today. This is why aestheticians and patients worldwide are uttering a new buzzword: Collagen banking.

As you might imagine, collagen banking is about saving the exhaustible collagen in our skin, and preventing the collagen loss that inevitably occurs with age. Collagen banking is also known as prejuvenation.

In the past, many would wait till they saw their first wrinkle before looking at ways to rejuvenate the skin. But as a result of the widespread proliferation of skincare knowledge and advancing technology, younger individuals in their 20s and 30s are now just as serious as older clients about protecting their youthful glow.

In other words: Collagen banking is no longer only for the middle-aged.

If you’re a young individual who would like to maintain a healthy, refreshed, and natural complexion for longer, prejuvenation is your answer. Read on to find out about what collagen banking is, and the treatments available for you.

What is collagen banking?

While the focus has long been on staving off ageing, we are now becoming more interested in maintaining youth.

Prejuvenation, or collagen banking, is different from rejuvenation in that the former means “to prevent the loss of youth”, while the latter means “to make young again”[1].

Prejuvenation involves a series of thoughtfully planned steps that are meant to impede the loss of collagen, and prevent the symptoms associated with aged skin, such as fine lines, wrinkles, and brown spots.

Most importantly, collagen banking is meant to be started early on in life. The sooner one begins, the less damage they will have incurred; it is more effective to prevent rather than treat the signs of ageing.

Why is collagen banking important?

Firstly, we all have finite amounts of collagen in our bodies, and largely, once lost, it cannot be recovered[2].

With time, and external stressors such as pollution, stress, sun exposure, and toxins, our bodies ability to produce collagen starts to deplete in adulthood. Upon hitting the age of 20, a person will start to produce about 1%[3] less collagen in their skin each year thereafter. Therefore, investing in your skin while it’s healthy is crucial.

The effects of collagen loss are incremental – as soon as their 30s or 40s, people finally start to notice obvious signs of ageing in the form of wrinkles, saggy skin, dryness, and an overall loss of vitality in their faces.

How is collagen banking carried out?

Prejuvenation can be carried out in ways both big and small:

• UV protection
  Having proper protection from the sun is one of the easiest, most inexpensive methods of prejuvenation. Regular use of sunscreens will not only protect your skin from skin cancer, but will also help prevent fine wrinkles, sun-induced brown spots, and loss of collagen.
• The use of retinoids
  Retinoids are an effective topical agent when it comes to stimulating collagen, preventing wrinkles, retaining skin hydration, and more[4].
  
• Neuromodulators like Botox
  It is not uncommon to see patients in their early 20s with deep and prominent forehead wrinkles and frown lines. Neuromodulators such as Botox help relax the muscles that form lines and wrinkles on the face. The early use of Botox not only helps treat current wrinkles, but can help prevent the progression of them.

  At Ozhean Zoey Aesthetics, we include the use of buffered saline in our Botox treatments – this helps dilute botox solution and consequently reduces the pain and discomfort that comes with the injection.

• Collagen stimulators like Juvelook
  Collagen loss is often combated by using HA fillers which are composed of naturally occurring sugar molecules. The use of hyaluronic acid fillers can help stimulate[5] the production of your skin’s collagen. When it comes to fillers, selecting the right type of filler and being treated by a skilled injector are paramount.

  In Korea, dermatologists now prefer collagen stimulator treatments like Juvelook over traditional HA fillers like Rejuran, largely due to its longer lasting results.

This highly viscoelastic gel improves skin by:

• Stimulating dermal fibroblasts and the deeper layers of the skin.
• Acting as a scavenger of unstable molecules that damage skin (free radicals).
• Promoting the metabolic activity of cells to restore youthfulness.
• Producing new collagen in the skin for a natural lift and volumisation.

Fun fact: Nucleofill is derived from biocompatible salmon DNA which offers the skin a younger, healthier appearance.

What is Juvelook?

Juvelook is a collagen skinbooster that contains two very important ingredients for anti-aging – HA and PDLA.

As a hybrid filler, it offers the immediate filling effect of HA and the long-term collagen stimulation of PDLA, which is found in other collagen biostimulators like Sculptra.

• HA (Hyaluronic Acid) fills in wrinkles and fine lines by retaining moisture; voluminising effects can be seen immediately.
• PDLA (Poly D-Lactic Acid) stimulates natural collagen growth over a period of six months, provides the skin with extra support, and prevents HA from migrating.

Juvelook is prized for its patented ultrafine PDLA and HA molecule technology, which enables intense collagen production stimulation and offers extremely natural-looking results.

Juvelook also:

• Helps improve acne scars.
• Improves enlarged skin pores.
• Lifts the face without too much volume or puffiness.
• Hugely improves overall skin texture, thinness, and wrinkles.
• Diminishes the risk of bumps and HA migration.
• Does not induce acne outbreaks like some energy device treatments.
• Can be injected superficially, unlike Sculptra, which must be injected deeply as it can easily cause bumps and granulomas otherwise.

The anti-ageing effects of Juvelook can last for around two years, which is significantly longer than the effects of other fillers like Profhilo, Lidocaine, and Salmon DNA.

Juvelook vs Sculptra

	JUVELOOK (PDLLA)	SCULPTRA (PLLA)
Structure	Outside - Round form Inside - Network structure	Outside - Cristal(sharp) Inside - Tightly packed structure
Degree of lactic acid secretion	Mid	Strong
Strength	Smooth	Stiff
Target Area	Sub-Q Dermis	Sub-Q
Target Treatment	Volume augmentation Skin rejuvenation	Volume augmentation

How about thread lifts? Do I still need it?

A thread lift is a procedure whereby temporary sutures are used to produce a distinct and visible skin lift. Instead of removing a client's loose facial skin surgically, skin is instead stitched up and suspended. As such, threadlifts are a great option for those who would like to look more youthful without going through surgery.

While a thread lift yields stronger results out of all the skin lifting treatments available (it is, after all, the closest non-surgical alternative to a facelift), it does come with more pain and invasiveness than an injectable such as Juvelook.

If you’re in your 20s to 30s and would like to protect the collagen in your skin, my suggestion is to opt for Juvelook first. Juvelook can delay the need for a threadlift for many years, and is a more feasible step to take.

When the time for a threadlift comes, OZ threadlifts will work just fine. They are:

• Very strong
• Ultrasound-molded
• Extremely resistant to pressure and last significantly longer

If you have any questions, I’m more than happy to answer them. Feel free to drop me a message.

References 

1. Hogan, S. R., Zachary, C. B., & Arndt, K. A. (2021). Prejuvenation: Definition of the Term and Evolution of the Concept. Dermatologic Surgery, 47(6), 871–872. https://doi.org/10.1097/dss.0000000000002929
2. Kothapalli, C. R., & Ramamurthi, A. (2010). Induced elastin regeneration by chronically activated smooth muscle cells for targeted aneurysm repair. Acta Biomaterialia, 6(1), 170–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2009.06.006
3. Why does skin wrinkle with age? What is the best way to slow or prevent this process? (n.d.). Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-does-skin-wrinkle-wit/#:~:text=After%20the%20age%20of%2020
4. ‌Zasada, M., & Budzisz, E. (2019). Retinoids: active molecules influencing skin structure formation in cosmetic and dermatological treatments. Advances in Dermatology and Allergology, 36(4), 392–397. https://doi.org/10.5114/ada.2019.87443
5. Wang, F., Garza, L. A., Kang, S., Varani, J., Orringer, J. S., Fisher, G. J., & Voorhees, J. J. (2007). In Vivo Stimulation of De Novo Collagen Production Caused by Cross-linked Hyaluronic Acid Dermal Filler Injections in Photodamaged Human Skin. Archives of Dermatology, 143(2). https://doi.org/10.1001/archderm.143.2.155