Collagen Induction Therapy

Remember, during last year; in the month of March…I went and got myself a micro needling treatment where I just look like a Red Indian thereafter…I also did blog more of it in last year July.

Well, what happen was…one of my favorite blogger (Karen Cheng; from Perth Australia) also did the same treatment and shares her experience on her blog recently. Below are some of her excerpts which I felt was so beautifully written and express in a way that is exactly how I felt last year, but I just couldn’t get the words & sentences right in my blog. I guess, I am no wordsmith here…hahaha…

Basically Collagen Induction Therapy uses a skin-needling or micro-needling technique (which has been around for hundreds of years). The latest technology in this field is called “Dermastamp” where medical-grade, fine needles are pricked into the surface of your skin to promote your own skin’s boost of collagen growth and to stimulate skin rejuvenation. Because of this natural boost of collagen, your skin becomes firmer, smoother, tighter, improves in texture and reduces the sizes of pores, fine lines, wrinkles and scars. The boosting effect of collagen growth and skin improvement lasts for about 6-12 months (yikes, mine is going to be expired soon).

I was happy to do it because: It’s said to be just as effective as laser, it’s good for getting rid of acne scars, it’s very low risk, almost no pain, almost no negative side effects, it’s “natural” because it boosts your own collagen growth, perfect for Asian skin and perfect for people with hyper-pigmentation.

Dr Michael checked out my skin, and for my acne scarring he recommended I have 2 rounds of skin cleansing facial treatments first (as my pores were really clogged and I needed to improve my skin health) then have a total of 5 CIT treatments, alternated with the facial cleansing treatments. These skin cleansing treatments were called HydraFacials and they were fantastic! Basically a HydraFacial is a facial, but heaps better. They do a light scrub to exfoliate your face, they give you a gentle peel, then they use a special pen that extracts and cleans your pores, while infusing your skin with antioxidants, peptides and hyaluronic acid. It’s soooo much better and more effective than a regular facial. It did wonders for my pores! It’s a great way to prep your skin before a more active skin treatment like CIT. The treatment took about 60 minutes.

(I didn’t have the HydraFacial thingy…but the package that I sign up for…I was also being subscribe to 5 times of the micro needling process. But because I didn’t have a very good experience with it, after my one and only one session...I exchange my package into products).

They applied numbing anaesthetic cream. When the Dermastamp Pen was pressed into my skin, it felt like an electric toothbrush, with light bristles, brushing over my skin. I was told that everyone’s skin reacts differently. Some people look a bit red after the treatment, like they had a touch of sunburn. While others become very red and inflamed for a few days. For me, I looked awful. I looked like I was stung by bees. My face was inflamed, puffy, angry, red, really blotchy and there were places where my skin was broken and I could see tiny bloody dots. I was a bit shocked. Maybe I’m being a bit over the top, and maybe on the scale of possible reactions to the treatment, I wasn’t actually that bad. But for me, my skin had never looked THAT bad! I had to pick up my son from school later, so I swept mineral makeup over my face, even though they told me not to. But there was no way I was going out in public looking like that. I was pretty upset that night. I was thinking OMFG WHAT THE @#$% DID I DO? HOW DID I GET TALKED INTO THIS?!?! (exactly how I feel too!)

The next day?
Woke up the next morning. My face wasn’t as inflamed as the first day, but it was still red, blotchy and beginning to get scabby. I wore more mineral make up and I was happy to leave the house.

Day Three.
Less red and less scabby.

Day Four.
No more scabs. Skin looks pretty good. I’m kind of glowing.

Day Five.
OK WOW. This is impressive. My skin looks tight, plump and radiant!

Day Six onwards.
Holy moly, I can actually see a difference!!

Conclusion
It’s not a miraculous change. But it has made a huge difference to my fine lines, pores, texture, firmness, smoothness and the overall look of my skin – just after 1 treatment. My makeup sits and looks better on my face too. It’s 8 weeks after the treatment and my skin is still GLOWING. It has a lovely radiance and perkiness to it, which is a bit hard to capture in a photo. I love that it’s a “natural glow” from my own collagen. My pigmentation is still there, my pores are still on the large size (but that’s my skin type), but as I said – it’s a huge difference. It’s by far, the most effective treatment I’ve done to my skin. It was so easy and low risk. And I’m so happy that I tried this before trying any lasers.

(My skin structure in thinner, more sensitive too, thus I think that is why I take a much longer days to recover. As for me…I think my skin have also turn out like Karen…but I need to maintain them lor…and this is also where I am lazy lor…I have to watch my food intake, I have to remind myself to put on sun screen, I have to remember to use the oil absorbent paper to keep my pores from enlarging even further etc…)