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Microneedling can significantly improve the appearance of the skin.
July 2, 2024
Juliane Diesner
The trend in aesthetic medicine has been emerging for some time: Content creator Juliane Diesner (@styleshiver) has tested the alternatives to fillers.
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Never before has the desire for naturalness and a method to slightly delay the visible aging process been as great as it is now. The so-called 'pillow faces' — those faces that were often treated too heavily with fillers even at a young age — have been omnipresent as negative examples lately. We have images of celebrities in their twenties who look like they're in their early forties.
The paradox with fillers is that if used improperly, they do not lead to a younger or fresher appearance, but rather the treated person can appear significantly older. So you achieve the opposite of what you had hoped for as a patient. Some even claim that fillers are the new 'tanning beds' of our time.
A synonym for something that has often been used excessively without much thought, even though when misused, it causes more harm than achieving the desired effect. Even though this is by no means meant to bash fillers — with the right application and the right injector, great results can still be achieved — I would like to introduce the really great alternatives to fillers that now exist.
Admittedly, due to the influences of TikTok and K-Beauty, there is now so much offered that it can be difficult to keep track. Below, I discuss my personal favorite treatments and the latest state of research.
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© Juliane Diesner
Our author after microneedling with PRP and a polynucleotide treatment under the eyes
But first, an explanation of what exactly is meant by biostimulators. Biostimulators are innovative treatments in aesthetic medicine that aim to stimulate the skin's natural regeneration processes. Injected into the skin, they also stimulate collagen synthesis. New collagen and elastin are formed, leading to a more youthful and firmer appearance without unpleasant side effects.
Classic microneedling might be a basic treatment in this context, but in my opinion, it should not be underestimated. It is safe, causes hardly any downtime, and gives an immediate great glow, which is why it is one of my favorite treatments that you can indulge your skin with every now and then.
Radio frequency needling involves delivering heat into the skin through additional radio frequency, promising a firmer skin appearance. However, opinions differ on RF needling. Some rave about the treatment as if there's hardly a better one in non-invasive aesthetic medicine, while others, including doctors, remain skeptical.
The assumption is that if applied incorrectly, one's own fat deposits in the face can melt away due to the combination of needling and radio frequency, which should of course be prevented. I have tried RF needling once and cannot confirm this from my own experience.
Especially in combination with the so-called PRP therapy (PRP stands for platelet rich plasma), RF needling can really achieve excellent results. In any case, it is still important to choose the right practitioner who is familiar with the device's settings and has been working with it for a long time.
© Juliane Diesner
PRP (platelet rich plasma) or also called liquid gold. Obtained from one's own blood plasma.
One of the newest and most promising trends and a major topic at this year's IMCAS Paris, one of the world's most important congresses in the field of aesthetic medicine and dermatology, is exosomes.
Exosomes are tiny particles responsible for communication between cells. A distinction is made between those synthetically produced in the lab and those obtained from autologous blood, similar to PRP.
Synthetic exosomes are not yet approved in Europe, so I would like to exclude them a bit at this point, even though they are an incredibly exciting topic and could certainly develop into one of the most important topics in the field of aesthetics in the next one to two years.
Dr. med. Timm Golüke who, in his Munich practice, is one of the first in Germany to offer treatment with endogenous exosomes, explained to me that the procedure for obtaining exosomes is initially more complex than that of classical PRP therapy because the plasma is centrifuged not just once, but twice.
This way, the skin's regeneration processes are more strongly stimulated, and it also has an anti-inflammatory effect. Moreover, fibroblasts are stimulated to form new collagen and elastin. Personally, I am a big fan of working with endogenous options before using foreign materials.
The treatment with exosomes is non-invasive and without significant downtime. I would say that a Munich trip is definitely on my agenda again soon to pay Dr. Golüke a visit at his practice.
Dr. med. Eveline Urselmann in Hamburg offers treatment with Exokine. Here, one's own plasma is centrifuged for a whole six hours, resulting in a higher concentration of growth factors and regenerative factors. The highly purified serum, which is injected back into the skin, is free of white blood cells and other disruptive factors due to the special purification process and thus has a slightly stronger effect in the field of anti-aging.
The latest trend from South Korea: Polynucleotides. Many young women there are already having the skin booster injected into their skin in small mini-dosages. These are nucleotides from salmon DNA. Sounds very fancy at first, and it is.
The naturally obtained DNA/RNA fragments stimulate the skin to renew itself and increase the viability of the fibroblasts, which in turn produce new, fresh collagen and elastin. Particularly under the eyes, polynucleotides are expected to soon outshine the classic hyaluronic acid filler, as they are said to bring no complications or unwanted side effects.
It is fascinating what has happened in this field in recent years and I am very curious about where the journey will go. I think it's right and good to promote skin and self-regeneration processes instead of injecting hyaluronic acid wildly and thoughtlessly, and it also corresponds more to my own ideas.
I haven't even dared to try Botox yet and prefer to rely on the many alternative methods that stimulate the body's own processes instead of paralyzing or plumping up facial areas with injections of Botox or hyaluronic acid. Because all these alternative methods are aimed at preventing one of the main causes of skin aging, collagen loss, and what do we want more in the end!
