When Angelina Jolie attended the Cannes Film Festival this year, she caused a stir -- and not just on the red carpet. Beauty boards buzzed about her radiant skin, speculating on the recent transformation. Was it plastic surgery? A chemical peel?
British magazine Grazia claimed to have the inside scoop -- derma rolling. Also known as needling or Percutaneous Collagen Induction (PCI), derma rolling has been around for at least the last five years, but a recent interest in DIY med-spa treatments has propelled it back onto the beauty scene, and into the realm of celebrity conjecture.
The technique seems oddly primitive, especially in these days of lasers and cosmeceuticals. Its primary tool is a hand-held derma roller, a small, narrow device (rather like a tiny paint roller) studded with almost 200 fine surgical steel micro-needles -- common lengths are 0.5 millimeter, 1 millimeter and 1.5 millimeters. (Smaller lengths are designed for the face; longer lengths are used for the body.) The device is rolled over the skin and produces multiple mild pin pricks.
The object of the process, which can be quite painful, is to stimulate collagen production by injuring the skin through those hundreds of punctures.
"Theoretically, any injury to the skin should instigate a process of wound healing by stimulating the production of more fibroblasts and collagen," says Denver-based plastic surgeon Dr. Christine Rodgers.
And more collagen theoretically means smoother skin, as collagen is the protein responsible for skin elasticity; its breakdown leads to wrinkles and scarring.
South African plastic surgeon Dr. Des Fernandes pioneered derma rolling, and a study conducted in South Africa and Germany and published in 2008 evaluated its effects on 480 people. Each participant first applied topical vitamin A and C creams, then each was treated with a derma roller up to four times weekly for four weeks. Scientists evaluated tissue samples from 20 participants and found a "considerable increase in collagen and elastin," according to the report.
Plastic surgeon Leonard B. Miller, clinical instructor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, offers Percutaneous Collagen Induction treatments at his practice and says the procedure is particularly effective in improving skin texture and reducing wrinkles on the forehead. But he emphasizes that not all skin reacts the same way -- some will have excellent results while others may see little change.
