Collagen Considered

WASHINGTON - Restylane, a popular cosmetic treatment for temporarily plumping out wrinkles, actually makes the skin produce more collagen, the natural stuff that makes skin look young, researchers said Monday.
That means the product, which millions of people have had injected around their lips, cheeks and foreheads, has effects beyond even what its manufacturers claim, the team at the University of Michigan Health System reported.

The researchers tested Restylane, marketed by Q-Med AB of Uppsala, Sweden and Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. It and rival products use hyaluronic acid, which holds onto water in the skin.

“Everybody had thought that the whole story with this stuff is that you inject it and because of its volume-filling nature that … it would go in and fill up whatever defect is there and that is why it made people look better,” dermatologist Dr. John Voorhees, who led the study, said in a telephone intervew.
“What we are saying here is … that in addition to the space-filling concept, is it forcing your body to make its own collagen.”

That could mean regular injections could have long-lasting effects, Voorhees said. “The half-life of collagen is 15 years. It is going to last a whole lot longer than what a whole lot of people are thinking.”

In the February issue of Archives of Dermatology, Voorhees and colleagues wrote that Restylane’s plumping action stretches the fibroblasts, the cells in the skin that make collagen, and prompts them to make more of it.
It also may interfere with the breakdown of existing collagen.

The company did not pay for the experiment and does not know what the report says, the researchers said.

Different fillers, different effects?
Rival Allergan Inc. makes a similar dermal filler called Juvederm and privately held BioForm Medical Inc. makes one called Radiesse.

But Voorhees said he did not test them, and their products are different enough that they may have different effects. “The various fillers are not going to be identical,” he said.

Voorhees’ team injected Restylane into the arms of 11 volunteers who had sun damage and were aged 64 to 84. They then cut out little plugs of skin to analyze them.

“A fibroblast is normally spindle-shaped with arms that stretch out. When attached to collagen the way it is supposed to be, it is a stretched fibroblast, and this is what you see in young people,” Voorhees said.

Healthy, stretched fibroblasts also make lots of collagen, which gives young skin its firm appearance, Voorhees said.

“In both photoaging (caused by the sun) and natural aging the fibroblasts are basically collapsed and sitting in a sea of broken collagen. We said to ourselves maybe if we could figure out a way to re-stretch those collapsed fibroblasts, maybe we could find a way to make those cells act young again.”

The looked at Restylane, which had been used safely for years, and found what they were looking for when they looked at the plugs of skin taken from the volunteers.

“They made a lot more collagen and the fibroblasts were stretched,” Voorhees said.

The search is on now to find out what causes the change in the cell. Understanding this could help scientists find a way to regenerate many types of cells, not only skin cells.

“The stretch must be signalling the nucleus of the cell to turn on collagen. The question is what is being turned on,” Voorhees said.

I have declared war on my phallus. I think some changes are in order and “he” seems to prefer the status quo.

Since most of our tissues are made up of Collagen in one form or another, I have been thinking about way in which to manipulate these tissues to enhance the concepts behind Inflammation, Proliferation, and Remodelling (IPR). IPR? Why not? Everybody else seems to be jumping on the wagon…and there is quite of lot of medical research to fall back on.

ModestoMan is right (big surprise) we still have not nailed down the subtleties of the processes involved with IPR. The timing for each phase is particularly confounding subject.

This purpose of this thread is to muddy the water even further.

In past experimental threads I have considered using Infrared Light to stimulate cell metabolism…I was disappointed by the results of that.

I even considered the use of vibration in weakening the connective tissues. I abandoned the experiment for lack of privacy…but I still think mechanical vibration could contribute to plastic deformation.

Today, I am all about the collagen.

I have a slight bend that I would like to eventually “correct”. I have read alot about Peyronie’s Disease and various treatments. During this search I ran across several medical techniques that are meant to weaken scar tissue (a collagen type) in order to improve elasticity. I read a bunch of Modesto’s Chemical PE thread…FASCINATING stuff to be sure. I am now crazed and more motivated than ever to break the will of my phallus and turn him into Frankenstein’s “friendly” monster.

So, this is what I am thinking I might do…it really is all about mitosis:

*goon begins talking to self as second person*

1) Detox. Quit taking all the vitamins and supplements that might actually be building up your bodies resistance to change. Do not become UN-healthy…just live clean for a while. Drink a LOT of water, it promotes healthy cellular function and mitosis. Consider this a decon break and refrain from PE for six weeks.

2) Use a Collagenase applied topically to penis to soften up connective tissues and loosen skin. Begin an I-Phase of PE work. Set a reasonable length or girth goal to achieve and continue to exercises until it is reached. I have chosen 1/4” on BPFSL. Record the time it takes to reach this goal, that is your new PE quotient…it is a known value = “X”

3) Once goal is reached, stop the heavy PE exercises and switch to ADS or “remodelling work”. Using and ADS as much as possible (minimum of HOURS a day, every day) Stop taking the collagenase and switch to high protein & Vitamin C, also a good Vitamin A supplement should be included. Remember to drink plenty of water. These should encourage the formation of new collagen fibers in the lengthened state. Do this for a time period equal to 1.5 times “X”. We might consider this a cementing phase?

4) Measure frequently during the cementing phase to make sure gains are not being lost. Once the gains have been in place for 1.5 time “X”, then we take a decon break of a period equal to 2 times “X”. During this period we do marginal PE at the most. It is similar to step 1 above…no vitamins, no protein shakes. Spend this time exercising the rest of your body and getting good sleep.

5) At the end of the last Rest period. Record what has happened. Daily measurements taken at the same time every day would be a decent way to track results. Keep a log of circumstances and notes. Was the 1/4 gain kept through the decon? If so, why not tweak the routine to see if time or different exercises could improve the result?

Basically, I am more interested in the chemicals than the IPR protocol at this point.

Collagenase, Relaxin, Verapamil, and some others…Anyone?

Gold_member, are you absolutely certain neither of these molecules would be able to penetrate the skin even with DMSO as carrier?

So Goon I have just read through your thread and I got to the end to find…Nothing! Did you ever end up trying any of the stuff you spent so much time researching?

I think Some of it had promise, though other such stuff also appeared a bit dangerous. It was good for me anyway, learned a bit about prostoglandins and other treatments that are used to peronies that I think could be useful for targeting another specific area I have in mind.