For aging skin in need of collagen, just any kind of microdermabrasion won’t do

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Makeup is one thing, but microdermabrasion might actually be able to make skin look younger underneath the added layers of color and powder and lotion. But to do so effectively, it needs to stimulate collagen production. Researchers are trying to assess how best to achieve this -- and they’re making progress.

Previous studies have shown that microdermabrasion using aluminum oxide produces less-than-stellar results along these lines. So in a new test, researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor used a medium-grit handpiece and a coarse-grit handpiece. The former may have made the skin feel smoother, but only the latter prompted the skin to respond as if it were healing from a wound by creating collagen and ‘remodeling’ the skin.

Here’s the abstract published today in the Archives of Dermatology; the news release, via EurekAlert; and a video from InsiderMedicine.

But please, don’t try to re-create this effect at home. Bad things can happen.

-- Tami Dennis