Glowing Skin During Menopause
Building collagen and elastic fibers is the best way to keep our skin youthful. Anything that builds collagen in your skin will help to maintain that youthful thickness, glow, and reflectivity.
Creams that build collagen. Renova/Tazorac/Retin-A/tretinon are all names for prescription vitamin-A creams. These are still the gold standard for collagen-building creams.
Scrubs. Scrubs that help to shed the outer, dead layer of the skin build collagen because they send a signal to the deeper layers of the skin to become more active. Twice a week is fine with these unless you have very oily skin.
Injectables that build collagen. The only injectable that really builds collagen currently is Sculptra. The Sculptra sends a signal to the cells that make collagen to make more of it. (Note: Sculptra is FDA-approved for HIV, with broader approval pending).
Lasers that build collagen. Long-wave lasers are known to build collagen (Smoothbeam, Cooltouch, Aramis). Photorejuvenation with intense pulse light devices, or IPLs, also sends a signal to the skin to make more collagen. These are not dramatic but every little bit helps.
Light resurfacing lasers. Light erbium lasers, plasma, and fractional resurfacing devices all build collagen. Erbium lasers have a long track record. Fractional lasers, which are excellent for brown spots, acne scarring, and other issues, seem to have a dramatic effect in some patients, while in others, not much. More science and data on results are coming in all the time on the fractional lasers.