It's been a while since I spoke to the great man himself, in fact since 1998, when I was originally trained by him in the Environ Skincare concept. It was quite timely therefore to be entering the building prior to the seminar at exactly the same time as Dr Des, and to be greeted warmly and acknowledged by him.
The masterclass itself didn't disappoint; Des is such an enthusiast, and fearless in his practice and belief in the idea that we can make serious improvements to skin appearance without surgical intervention.
Always ahead of his time, Des was promoting the benefits of Vitamin therapy for skin, in particular vitamins A, C and E, long before the mainstream caught up with him. Environ Skincare products are now widely used throughout the world, and endorsed by medical experts and celebrities alike.
Dr Des was asked many questions during the masterclass, and was able to correct some misleading information that has emerged recently from other skincare companies offering a similar treatment to CST (Medical Skin Needling)
The 'mythbusting' surrounded comments from competitors that the skin doesn't need to bleed in order to produce the desired results for the client. The fact is, no bleeding = no growth factors.
The length of the needles used in this procedure need to be a minimum of 1mm, in order to penetrate the papillary dermis. Only by penetrating the papillary dermis will we induce the collagen stimulation. 0.5mm needles are therefore ineffective in achieving the desired effect.
What are growth factors? They are released as a result of the skin needling process. There are 4 main growth factors which are active on the application of blood-induced medical skin needling:
TGF -a leading to a thicker, healthier epidermis
TGF - b3 for scarless healing and regeneration of the skin
PDGF & CTAP-III for increased collagen production
The most important growth factor is thought to be TGF-Beta-3 which seems responsible for scarless healing and regeneration.
What does this mean for clients undergoing medical skin needling using Dr Des's method?
Research at Hanover Medical School by Professor Matthius Aust in association with Dr Fernandes's research and methods, showed that natural growth factors in skin are stimulated by 2 main things:
Topical application of Vitamin A
Medical Skin Needling
These findings are documented in papers released by Dr Aust and Dr Fernandez
The final conclusions are that the 0.5mm needles have no influence on growth factors as they do not induce bleeding, and that when topical Vitamin A (used in Environ Skincare) is applied for a time prior to needling with 1mm neeedles, and afterwards, the thickness of the epidermis increases by 658% after 4 treatments. No surgery, no scars, just firmer, smoother skin.
Medical skin needling or CST can be used successfully on scars and stretch marks, with visible results after 3 treatments.
The 'science bit' mentioned above is crucial in ensuring that if you undergo CST medical skin needling, you do 3 things:
Ensure your practitoner uses a needling device which has needles of 1mm in length
They are fully trained (ask to see evidence of proper training and Insurance)
Look for an Environ practitioner, who can advise on your particular skin concerns and produce a treatment regime that will lead to results
www.watersedgeclinic.co.uk www.environ.co.za www.iiaa.eu
