an article by Adelajda Visha
Do you think it is possible to travel back in time and rejuvenate your skin? Hyaluronic Acid (HA) molecules might have the answer for you. Surely you have heard about HA and its benefits on the skin. It has unique hydration, moisturizing, anti-wrinkle, filling, and especially rejuvenation properties.
What is Hyaluronic Acid?
HA is a polysaccharide whose most important physical property is to attract water molecules and store them. HA can hold up to 50 times its weight in water, which gives it the ability to provide volume, elasticity, and significant hydration to the skin.
Unfortunately, over the years, enzymatic processes and exposure to external factors such as UV rays and pollutants can cause the degradation of this molecule. The progressive reduction of HA concentration is the cause of a minor skin’s ability to bind and retain water molecules thus determining a loss of skin moisture and elasticity. One of the most critical intermediaries in the degradation of HA is the well-known free radicals species. Antioxidant agents such as Vitamin E or Vitamin C can slow down this degradation process. However, this solution is not entirely convincing, for those skins that no longer have HA molecules to maintain. Hence, an excellent proposal for this type of coat is using external sources of this substance.
How effective is Hyaluronic Acid?
It has been demonstrated that HA-based products are very effective; after a trial of 20 patients with different HA creams, they concluded that after regular use (during 30 days) of this type of cream, the presence of wrinkles could be reduced between 10% to 20%. Currently, countless products are on the market for esthetic use at the epidermal and dermal levels. Nonetheless, it is crucial to know the available product’s differences and its usefulness at the skin level. Since topical products have low absorption their field of action is located in the epidermal layer, which provides luminosity to the skin. However, it is a short-term effect, and it has to be continuously used.
How to Improve HA Formulations?
The use of nanoparticles has become a trending topic because of its absorption improvement and the increase in effectiveness. HA is not the exception. The reduction of the size molecule increases the penetration of HA into deeper layers of the dermis, and consequently, a positive treatment result will be achieved.
What could be a better option for wrinkles?
On the other hand, for eliminating problems such as wrinkles and lines of expression, injectable techniques such as dermal fillers may be one solution. They are perfect for correcting volume deficiencies and loss of hydration from the dermis skin layer. It is also a minimally invasive procedure, but there is a critical doubt about the time that these fillers will remain. Dermal fillers stay longer in the skin but they migrate to other positions. Are the benefits more important than the possible consequences?
We can say that HA is directly responsible for maintaining excellent skin hydration and elasticity. However, the reality is not as magic as it sounds: many aspects have to be considered and many questions still need more answers.