Skinbooster

Hyaluronic acid (hyaluronan) is a glycosaminoglycan produced by the body with an exceptional water-binding capacity: one gram can store many times its own weight in moisture. In the dermis it forms, together with collagen and elastin fibres, the extracellular matrix, which gives the skin firmness and elasticity. With increasing age – accelerated by UV radiation, smoking and oxidative stress – the hyaluronic acid content decreases: the skin becomes drier, thinner and more crepey.

Skinboosters address precisely this point: the flowable preparation without the firm gel structure of classic fillers is distributed over an area as many micro-deposits in the upper to middle dermis, where it acts as a moisture reservoir – an effect that topically applied cosmetics cannot achieve in the same way, as their active ingredients barely penetrate the skin barrier. Because the material is barely or not at all cross-linked, the body’s own hyaluronidases break it down more quickly than filler gels – hence the course principle. At the same time, it is fully degradable and could, in the rare event of need, be selectively dissolved with medically applied hyaluronidase; the superficial injection technique makes complications at deeper-lying structures less likely than with volume fillers.

It is discussed in the specialist literature that the introduced hyaluronic acid and the injection stimulus can prompt the connective tissue cells (fibroblasts) to produce more collagen and elastin. The extent of this biostimulatory effect varies from person to person and is not conclusively established scientifically – we therefore present it as a possible additional benefit, not as an assured effect.

The treatment of skin quality with injectable, non-cross-linked or weakly cross-linked hyaluronic acid is internationally widespread and has been investigated in controlled studies and reviews; described there are measurable improvements in skin moisture, elasticity and surface structure with overall good tolerability. The evidence does, however, have clear limits: small numbers of participants, short observation periods, differing preparations and techniques, not infrequently manufacturer funding – and aesthetic endpoints such as a “fresher complexion” can be objectified only to a limited extent. Results of individual studies are therefore not readily transferable to every product, every area and every person.

For practice this means: Skinboosters are an established procedure with a favourable risk profile for improving skin moisture and complexion – concrete guarantees of results or quantifiable improvements cannot be derived from the body of studies. How pronounced the effect turns out to be varies from person to person and depends, among other things, on the initial condition of the skin; we are guided by the recommendations of medical specialist societies and the prescribing information of the preparations used.