Word: collagenous
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...Today he could wryly add, "So plastic surgeons to your very wish will bow." Over the years, the cosmetic wizards have conjured many escapes from the ravages of age, from chemical peels to skin abrasion to surgical lifts. Now they are wielding a new magic wand: syringes filled with collagen. Injections of the whitish gel smooth away time-worn creases as well as acne and surgical scars. And at a relatively affordable price: treatments run $300 to $1,500, about a third of the price of a typical face-lift...
Since 1981, when the Food and Drug Administration gave the nod, more than 300,000 people have indulged themselves with collagen shots. Enthusiasts range from society matrons to aging baby-boomer executives to fitness freaks who are intent on looking their best. "Most people who have the treatments are in their late 30s to 50s and are still very active," says Dr. Henry Roenigk, chairman of dermatology at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "People used to accept aging, but today they just don't want to look old. The fact is, however, collagen doesn't last forever...
...Collagen, which is used in cosmetic creams, is a natural protein found in connective tissue, including the skin and bone. The injectable variety, developed by the Collagen Corp. of Palo Alto, Calif., is derived from the hides of cows. In a typical treatment, the collagen is inserted just under the skin in a series of ten to 15 shots. Used primarily to combat forehead furrows and the lines that extend from the nose to the lips, collagen fills in the space behind and around wrinkles and sags, much like the way air fills a balloon and makes its skin grow...
...there are drawbacks. The benefits are temporary: the collagen breaks down and is absorbed by the skin in anywhere from three months to two years. Though patients are tested for allergic reaction beforehand, about one out of every 50 who pass the exam develops a delayed reaction to the shots, usually tiny bumps that disappear in six months. Some doctors also fear that repeated injections might compromise the body's immune defense system and cause later illness...
...push their treatments, manufacturers have buffed up an old gambit: the scientific slant. Names, and often prices, are suggestive of proprietary drugs: Estee Lauder's Prescriptives, L'Oreal's Biotherm and Revlon's European Collagen Complex. The list of ingredients in many concoctions would make the witches of Hampstead Heath envious, from plant extracts like soybean and avocado oil to miracle chemicals. In May, Shiseido will introduce a 24-hour cream, BH 24, containing biohyaluronic acid. La Prairie boasts that its Cellular Wrinkle Cream has proteins from the placentas of black sheep (because they are so resistant to disease, explains...