YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → How to Boost Collagen After 30: Red Light Therapy, Retinoids and More

How to Boost Collagen After 30: Red Light Therapy, Retinoids and More — Transcript

by Doctorly · 3,593 words · 534 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00All of us are losing collagen every
0:02single day. And this starts to
0:04accelerate especially in your 30s. And
0:07in this video, we're going to be talking
0:08about how to support and build your
0:10collagen as we age. We're going to talk
0:12about why you lose it, the changes of
0:13aging both intrinsically and
0:15extrinsically, and what you should do
0:17and can do to stop this. What's up
0:19everyone? We're back. I'm Dr. Shah.
0:21>> Dr. Maxfield.
0:21>> Welcome back to our channel Doctorly,
0:23where we talk about all things skin care
0:24and dermatology and how to take care of
0:26your skin as you age. And in this video,
0:28we're going to be deep diving on
0:30collagen. How it breaks down as you age.
0:32Why does it break down? Is it just the
0:33sunlight? Are there other factors that
0:34play a role? We have some very
0:35interesting stuff from studies and why
0:37it's actually important to intervene
0:38relatively early and we'll be going over
0:40that in this video. And then we're going
0:41to be talking about simple interventions
0:42that you can take in order to preserve
0:44your collagen as you age.
0:45>> So everything building collagen, here we
0:47go. Here we go.
0:52>> So when we think about collagen, we have
0:54to think about where it is in the skin.
0:56So at the very top layer of the skin,
0:57you have the epidermis. That's where
0:58your skin cells are. And then below the
1:00epidermis is the dermis and that's the
1:01collagen layer of the skin. And this is
1:03what gives our skin volume. And we have
1:04to think about the actual cell that
1:06creates collagen and that is the
1:08fibroblast. And so as long as the
1:09fibroblast is working properly, you'll
1:11continue to produce collagen. But just
1:12like any other cell in the body, the
1:14fibroblast eventually gets fatigued as
1:15we age and it just doesn't function as
1:17well. And it actually turns out that
1:18this is a self-perpetuating cycle.
1:20Meaning that once your collagen starts
1:22to get damaged, those fragments actually
1:25send signals to the fibroblast to stop
1:26producing collagen. And then when you
1:28have less collagen, your fibroblast,
1:30because they're not as tightly held
1:32anymore, they start to become less
1:33efficient. So what you see here is
1:34actually a self-perpetuating cycle of
1:37collagen loss. Once it starts, it
1:38actually starts to get worse because
1:40it's perpetuating itself. This is why
1:42it's very important to start to
1:43intervene earlier to make sure that it
1:45actually becomes reversible rather than
1:47intervening later. So when we're talking
1:49about this, here are our top five tips
1:50to help support your collagen. So first
1:52step, we have to talk about prevention.
1:54So the first thing that I would say is
1:56sunscreen. You want to look for a broad
1:57spectrum sunscreen, at least SPF 30.
1:59That's going to protect you against UVB
2:01rays, but specifically you also want to
2:02protect against UVA rays cuz these are
2:04longer wavelength and they actually
2:05directly damage your collagen. And so
2:07you want to look for something broad
2:08spectrum in the United States. Outside
2:09of the United States, you'll see
2:11something called PA+++++
2:13on your sunscreen. These protect you
2:15against UVA and so that's going to be
2:16very important. You want to do that
2:17every single day for your skin, which is
2:19why people who use tanning beds always
2:20look a lot older is because of that
2:22direct collagen damage. The second thing
2:24you want to look for is an antioxidant
2:25in your skin care routine, which is very
2:27important in the morning. Something like
2:28a vitamin C is going to play a big role
2:29here, scavenging free radicals to
2:32prevent damage to your cells. And then
2:35finally, diet. So when it comes to diet,
2:37one of the most consistent things you'll
2:38see is that a high glycemic index diet,
2:40which means something like a simple
2:41carbohydrate is rapidly converted to
2:43free glucose or free sugar in your
2:45blood. This is pro-inflammatory.
2:46Psoriasis, acne, metabolic syndrome, and
2:49it causes something called end product
2:50glycation where it directly damages
2:52cells either in your skin or your whole
2:54body. So we know that sugar directly
2:56glycates collagen, making it stiffer,
2:58making it less functional, and
3:00definitely contribute to aging. Now our
3:01next tip is topical treatments for your
3:03collagen. This is some of the most
3:05common steps that people will take, most
3:07common things people will incorporate
3:08into their routine to try to help the
3:10health of their skin. So there's four
3:12things that I would essentially look for
3:14in this category. Number one would be
3:16argot, which is retinoids. Now these are
3:19a lot of different products out there.
3:21So you have your retinol, you have your
3:22retinaldehyde, you also have your
3:24retinyl in adapalene, tazarotene, right?
3:27Anything in this retinoid family is
3:28going to directly stimulate collagen
3:30production. It's also going to speed up
3:31skin cell turnover, which is another
3:32sign that happens as we age. And so this
3:35is going to be probably the number one
3:36ingredient to look for. The next
3:37ingredient that I would look for is an
3:39alpha hydroxy acid. Alpha hydroxy acids,
3:41specifically like glycolic acid, can
3:43actually send signals into your dermis
3:45to stimulate your collagen production.
3:46Next I would look for peptides and there
3:48is a array of peptides. So definitely
3:50not a one-size-fits-all here. But one of
3:52the ingredients like Matrixyl, which is
3:54a combination of two different peptides
3:55that play a role in collagen synthesis,
3:57would be something to look for. Now,
3:58there are other proprietary ones like
4:00ones from Neutrogena that can also have
4:01a similar effect on the skin. And then
4:03finally, I would say topical estrogen in
4:06people that have gone through menopause
4:07could play a role, but the data is a bit
4:10iffy and the safety is a bit iffy as
4:12well.
4:12>> Right. And that one is uh perhaps more
4:13thoughtfully introduced into each
4:15person's routine. Again, very
4:16personalized, individualized. I do think
4:18that it is going to be beneficial for a
4:20lot of people and we do know that
4:21estrogen decrease during menopause
4:23sharply increases the amount of collagen
4:26loss. It accelerates it rapidly. So, I
4:27do think that can be helpful for a lot
4:28of people.
4:29>> Right. And this is definitely something
4:30you want to have a discussion with your
4:31doctor. You want to make sure first that
4:33you're taking the right form and second
4:34that you're not risking any issues that
4:36can be exacerbated by using topical
4:38estrogen. And so, this is something that
4:39you want to closely talk to your doctor
4:40with and this is a sort of an advancing
4:42and evolving part of the scientific
4:44realm of dermatology. So, definitely
4:45check back with us as this sort of
4:47evolves.
4:47>> And then also grabbing one of our
4:49antioxidants that we talked about
4:50before, vitamin C. This is also an
4:52essential cofactor for collagen
4:53synthesis. So, topically it does double
4:55duty.
4:55>> The next tip would be using LED therapy.
4:58Now, there's in-office LED therapy
5:00actually and then there's also these
5:02at-home options that are available. But
5:04how this works is that like you said,
5:05the fibroblast plays a big role here and
5:08we actually have a lot of really good
5:09data. We did a video maybe 5 years ago
5:11on LED, which we can link and talk about
5:13all the science behind LED. But there's
5:14a process called photobiomodulation and
5:16this specifically happens with red light
5:18and near infrared light where basically
5:20it directly stimulates those fibroblasts
5:23to produce more healthy collagen. And it
5:25also has some anti-inflammatory benefits
5:27to the skin, which is important because
5:28once the collagen starts to break down,
5:30these inflammatory cascades start to
5:32happen that continue to create that
5:34collagen breakdown. And so, it does two
5:36things. One, it increases collagen
5:37production through your fibroblasts, but
5:39it also decreases the inflammation that
5:41causes that cascade of collagen
5:43breakdown. And so, this is where LED
5:44plays a big role in aging.
5:46>> Right. And LED is one of those things
5:47we've always talked about kind of that
5:48complements a complete routine. So, make
5:51sure you have your sun protection, make
5:52sure you have your gold standard topical
5:54treatments, and then LED is a great way
5:55to add a completely different mechanism
5:57to help support your skin. Now, we've
5:59talked about multiple different ways to
6:01use this in helmet and mask, and this
6:03one we're going to highlight today from
6:05CurrentBody. Shout out to them for
6:06sponsoring this video is a panel. Now,
6:09this panel is very versatile. I've been
6:11using this now well for quite some time,
6:13but consistently I've hit it for the
6:14last month in different settings. And I
6:16particularly love the way you can really
6:18just personalize this or use it in
6:20different areas to treat not just your
6:22face, but your whole body. So, this is
6:23the CurrentBody LED panel, which is
6:25actually pretty cool, and you can get it
6:27alone with just the panel, or you could
6:29get it with the dock and essentially be
6:31able to set up on the table, put your
6:32face in it. And it has this handheld
6:34remote, which allows us to have more
6:35power essentially to it. And so, what
6:37you have here is this flexibility,
6:40right? So, you can have it flat, so you
6:41can treat your chest where a lot of
6:42people have that wrinkling that occurs
6:44on the décolletage, so you can use it on
6:46the chest. You could use it on the back.
6:48You could use it on the arms. You could
6:49use it on the stomach. So, it just gives
6:50you flexibility. You can also wrap it
6:52around your face, use it as a face mask.
6:54You can also stand further back from it,
6:55so they have a low power mode, and the
6:57low power mode actually mimics what they
6:58have in their mask. So, similar sort of
7:01power and irradiance in that. And so,
7:03you're able to put your face directly
7:04into it, or you're able to actually put
7:06it in high power mode and stand 6 in
7:08away from it. And then that way you can
7:10get basically more of a wider treatment
7:12area, and it can treat other parts of
7:14the body. You can stick it on your back
7:16with a strap. There's many different
7:17ways that you can use this. What's cool
7:18about this is it has both the red light,
7:20near infrared light, and deep infrared
7:22light, and that's really going to be
7:23targeted more towards your aging. And
7:24then it also has the blue light, which
7:26is targeting a bit more of that
7:27acne-prone skin. So, if you wanted to
7:29use the blue light setting because you
7:30have breakouts on the face or even on
7:32the back like I do, you could customize
7:35this so that it's treating the different
7:36areas and the problem concerns that you
7:37have. All right, now we're going to talk
7:38about the technical specifications of
7:40this device, and I particularly love the
7:43level of candor they have. I mean, go
7:44right to their website, it tells you 136
7:46LEDs with four chip sets. It's 544,
7:49breaks down the wavelength, breaks down
7:50the treatment time, whether it's 10 for
7:52low mode, 20 for high level, and then it
7:54also breaks down the actual strength per
7:57mode and per setting you've got it on.
7:59The whole dosage, it's all there that
8:00you can just actually look up on your
8:01own. And I love how that's quantified.
8:03And the other interesting thing that
8:04CurrentBody does in general is that they
8:06test each LED light to make sure that it
8:09falls within the specifications.
8:10>> And so, they actually have a small
8:11margin of error to actually the
8:13wavelength that you're trying to deliver
8:15in the skin, right? So, you'll see that
8:16it's 633 nm plus or minus two. And they
8:19test each individual bulb before they
8:21set it into the mask or into the panel.
8:23And And so, that that level of precision
8:25can give you the confidence that it's
8:26going to deliver the light that you need
8:28to actually have it work. Some of the
8:29ways that I've been using it, I'll kind
8:31of cater it towards my face. Again, I
8:33like the high mode, so turn it on. It
8:35comes with these goggles, which are very
8:38important. If you're going to use the
8:39high setting, this is a very strong
8:41light. You want to make sure that you're
8:43wearing the goggles to protect your
8:44eyes.
8:44>> Right. And so, you want to be about 6 in
8:46away. That's one way to use it. Now,
8:48other ways you can use it, and I've used
8:50it, too, you can be shirtless and panel
8:53for your body. And then also, it comes
8:54with these straps. You can attach it to
8:56yourself, it's adjustable, arms, legs,
8:59chest, I mean, abdomen, back. It
9:01actually does make it treatable and
9:02reachable to areas you'd have a lot of
9:04difficulty with otherwise. So,
9:05ultimately, there's a lot of flexibility
9:07in how you can use this panel, and we'll
9:08put a link below for you to check it
9:10out. Now,
9:11>> whatever type of LED that you're using,
9:13the main thing is you have to be
9:14consistent to see results. So, no matter
9:16which one you get, you have to use it at
9:17least three days a week. I would venture
9:19up to five days a week to really see the
9:21results that you want to see when you're
9:22supporting your collagen.
9:23>> next tip are procedures that
9:24specifically target controlled
9:26remodeling. So, what does that mean?
9:27Basically, your body has these injury
9:30mechanisms. And it sounds insane, but
9:32when you start slightly injure yourself,
9:33these wound healing mechanisms also
9:35stimulate fibroblasts, cuz scars are
9:37actually made of collagen. Now, it's
9:39generally disorganized collagen, and we
9:40don't want you to have scarring, of
9:42course. But if you can stimulate
9:43controlled remodeling, then you can
9:44actually build healthier collagen. And
9:46so, this is how actually a lot of the
9:48in-office treatments that we do actually
9:50work for the skin. So, one way is by
9:52microneedling. Microtrauma to your
9:53collagen and your skin cells can signal
9:56to the fibroblasts to produce more
9:57collagen in a controlled manner. And so,
9:59whether you're doing microfusion at home
10:00or whether you're doing microneedling,
10:02which is actually directly stimulating
10:03your collagen, this will actually cause
10:04that
10:05>> controlled remodeling. And there are
10:06other options that we have in the office
10:07as well. And in the office, we'll start
10:08with something that has just a wide
10:10degree of variation, and that's chemical
10:11peel. So, these range from very
10:13superficial to deep. And depending on
10:15the depth, that will determine the
10:17results you get. Now, most peels are
10:19probably superficial moderate to
10:20moderate peels, but even that strength
10:23can have a significant effect at both
10:25improving the texture quality towards
10:26the surface and signaling for deeper
10:28collagen to be stimulated and grow.
10:30Yeah, and I would argue that chemical
10:31peels are actually underrated. We've got
10:32this laser boom, which we'll talk about
10:34next.
10:35>> But I actually think chemical peels, the
10:36result that you get in sort of that
10:37glass skin appearance, is hard to come
10:39by. And I'm going to be committed to
10:40doing more chemical peels myself, cuz I
10:42actually do think the results are quite
10:44good. Now, let's talk about lasers, cuz
10:45this is how a lot of lasers also work in
10:47dermatology. So, when we talk about
10:48fractional lasers or even fully ablative
10:50lasers, basically what they do, when
10:52you're talking about CO2 or Fraxel or
10:55Erbium even, even though can be a bit
10:57more superficial, is that they stimulate
11:00collagen production by causing this
11:01microtrauma to the skin and doing it in
11:03a very controlled way. And you can
11:05actually tweak the settings based on
11:06skin tones, and so you get a lot of
11:07control with lasers. But this is
11:09essentially what lasers are going to do.
11:10They're going to resurface that top
11:11layer of the skin, but they're also
11:12going to stimulate that collagen
11:14production over time.
11:15>> And lasers give you some of the most
11:16dramatic results in terms of texture,
11:18wrinkles, and some of the clinical
11:20endpoints, like the things that we
11:21perceive in the mirror, those are some
11:22of the endpoints of what collagen
11:24destruction, collagen change looks like
11:25over time. And so, lasers give you some
11:27of the most stark contrast before and
11:29afters. It's a a investment, but it
11:31really can be great if your skin tone
11:32can tolerate it. And the last tip is be
11:35cautious of things with a word collagen
11:37in it.
11:38>> This is probably the biggest tip that we
11:39can give here is that collagen, we've
11:42all heard we're losing it, we all feel
11:43we need it. So, brands will throw the
11:45word collagen on a product and then
11:47think that you're somehow going to be
11:48supporting your collagen. But like we
11:49said, none of the tips that we've given
11:51so far have anything to do with the word
11:53collagen so far, right? The mechanisms
11:55are the things that we're really
11:56interested in. And so, what you'll find
11:58is a lot of topical skin care products
12:00>> say the word, you know, loud and proud
12:01collagen on it. And you'll also see oral
12:04supplements that have the word collagen
12:06on it. And so, let's talk about topicals
12:07first.
12:08>> topical collagen, this is a large
12:10molecule. And because of that, it has
12:12difficulty getting into the skin and
12:13being significant. So, the way I like to
12:15think about this is there is like a
12:16jellyfish that lives forever. And if you
12:18put the jellyfish on your skin, you
12:19don't become the jellyfish, you won't
12:20live forever. And topical collagen is
12:22kind of the same way.
12:23>> Now, there are things you can do to get
12:25collagen into the skin either by
12:27changing the structure, increasing the
12:28permeability of the skin barrier. And
12:30so, sometimes it's useful, but mostly
12:31it's probably just going to be a
12:32humectant that lives on your skin.
12:34>> Right. So, it's too large to get into
12:35the skin. Now, the little challenging
12:37thing here is that brands know you're
12:38looking for collagen, and so they put
12:39collagen on loud and proud on the
12:41packaging. And in fact, they have, for
12:43example, a peptide like we talked about
12:44earlier that can stimulate collagen
12:46production. So, this is where it gets a
12:47bit tricky between marketing and finding
12:49what you actually need for the skin. But
12:50the key is to look for ingredients,
12:52either peptides that can penetrate the
12:53skin, retinoids that can stimulate
12:55collagen production, alpha hydroxy acids
12:57that can send signals deep into the
12:58dermis. These are the key ingredients
13:00you want to look for to stimulate your
13:01collagen production, and not the
13:02buzzword of collagen.
13:03>> Now, let's talk about oral collagen
13:05supplementation, because this is where
13:06things get a bit tricky. Because
13:08initially we used to say, and I still
13:10hold this to be true, is that if you
13:12were to drink collagen, collagen is too
13:14large to still even get absorbed into
13:16the gut and then somehow end up in your
13:17skin. But if you drink collagen
13:19peptides, which are hydrolyzed collagen,
13:21a breakdown of of the protein itself,
13:23can those get into the gut and can those
13:26fragments be the building blocks that
13:28then your fibroblasts use to produce
13:30collagen? I still think that the data is
13:32up in the air, but there is some
13:33stronger data coming out, but who knows
13:35which type of collagen to take at this
13:37point. And so, I would still be cautious
13:39of oral collagen and finding one that
13:41actually works, but I think that's an
13:43evolving data as well.
13:44>> Yeah, exactly. And we have a softer
13:45stance on that. Could it be helpful?
13:46Sure. For me, with all supplements, I
13:48think that they supplement whatever
13:50deficiencies you have in your diet. For
13:51me, sometimes I'm needing more
13:53supplements cuz I have like a quite good
13:54controlled diet and then I'll take
13:55something like amino acids. And it also
13:57speaks to collagen. You take collagen,
13:58it's broken down into the building
14:00blocks for your skin, like he said. And
14:01if you have a good balanced
14:03complimentary diet, whether that's meats
14:05or whether that's a combination of like
14:06legumes and grains, those also give you
14:08similar or not the same building blocks
14:10for your skin.
14:11>> Absolutely. And then, the same thing can
14:12be said about oral vitamin C. Taking
14:14mega doses of vitamin C, even though we
14:16know that vitamin C is a building block
14:18for collagen synthesis, doesn't
14:19necessarily mean that you're going to
14:20produce more collagen. I think the data
14:22shows that it doesn't. And so, just be
14:23cautious with any oral supplementation
14:25and be cautious of the buzzword collagen
14:27before you spend your money on a product
14:28that's going to stimulate collagen
14:30production. So, this is how we preserve
14:32our collagen in our 30s and beyond.
14:34Hopefully, you find this helpful. Be
14:35consistent, stay healthy, take care of
14:37your collagen.
14:38>> We appreciate you. Thank you for being
14:40on this journey. Shout out again to
14:41CurrentBody for this panel, letting us
14:43share this highlight with you.
14:44Hopefully, that's something you enjoy
14:45and is helpful for you, too. Thank you
14:47so much and we'll see you in the next
14:48video. See you next time.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of How to Boost Collagen After 30: Red Light Therapy, Retinoids and More by Doctorly, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 3,593 words across 534 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.