Collagen is the building block of skin. It helps with healing, repairing, making new cells, and more. The body makes it naturally, but levels decline with age. Fortunately, you can learn how to stimulate collagen production in the skin in other ways, from dietary changes to specialist treatments.
Collagen is a skin protein – the most prevalent protein in the body. About 30% of all bodily protein is collagen. It is easy to see why it is so abundant, as it has many uses, like making new skin cells and building muscle, bone, and tendons. It is also found in lots of bodily organs and blood vessels.
Collagen is everywhere in the body, but its biggest impacts and benefits are visible in the skin.
Collagen plays numerous roles which include:
A sufficient supply of collagen is necessary to get the most out of these positive effects. That is not necessarily a problem in your younger years, as the body produces a healthy amount of collagen. However, that amount decreases with age and exposure to certain environmental or lifestyle factors (exposure to lots of sunlight, for instance).
That is why, later in life, it is essential to figure out how to naturally produce collagen in more significant quantities or introduce it to your body via other means to continue enjoying its effects. If not, symptoms of low collagen can include more wrinkles and fine lines, sagging skin and having skin that looks and feels older, weaker and drier, and slower wound healing.
Now we have covered the importance of collagen, let’s see how to improve skin collagen through simple lifestyle changes that anyone can simply implement. We will also explore one more advanced method you might consider that will result in an almost immediate and very impactful increase in collagen levels.
Some examples of protein-rich foods are:
It is no secret that staying hydrated is great for overall health and is very effective for helping your body’s collagen levels and skin strength. This is why many skin care products are sold according to their hydrating or moisturising properties to give skin cells the moisture they need to stay plump and strong.
There are many ways to stay hydrated or improve your hydration habits. Obviously, drinking a good amount of water daily is a fine way to start. Try to avoid excessive temperatures, too—that means no intensely hot showers or baths. Be careful about harsh cleaning products and chemicals, and opt for natural, gentler solutions where possible.
The sun is not collagen’s best friend, nor is it great for skin in general. A little exposure to sunlight is fine and helps stimulate vitamin D production. But too much – especially without protection – deals a lot of damage, both on the surface and to the deeper parts of the skin. It dries cells and inhibits collagen production.
To mitigate these risks:
Supplements are the answer if you are looking for a quick and easy way to increase elasticity in your skin without having almost any tangible impact on how you live your life. You can take collagen tablets (or gummies and other formats) daily to instantly add collagen to your system or look into other supplements that can trigger natural collagen production, such as retinoids and vitamins C and B3.
Note that expert opinions vary regarding the actual effectiveness of these supplements, and some are invariably more effective than others. So, it is best to research and find products that can help you get results. And you will see those results faster and more prominently if you combine supplements with other recommended lifestyle changes – a better diet, less UV light, etc.
We have seen some simple, traditional options. Now, let’s look at a more advanced and modern form of collagen stimulation treatment: laser treatment.
Laser treatment involves using focused beams of light targeted at critical areas of the skin to produce various benefits. It is excellent for helping scars fade or treating patches of skin that are weak, damaged, or discoloured.
The laser essentially stimulates the skin’s natural healing and regenerative processes. A laser to remove scars, for example, can help new cells develop and replace the old, damaged, scarred skin layers. This also works on sun damage, acne scars, wrinkles, and more.
Some specific lasers—like CO2 or fractional lasers—can boost collagen production. With more collagen, you can enjoy smoother, firmer, and more youthful skin without the need for major lifestyle changes or medications.
A significant aspect of laser treatment is that various laser types are available, and intensities can be adjusted to suit each patient’s skin type, sensitivities, and needs. It is not a one-size-fits-all solution; laser treatment is surprisingly variable and can work for almost anybody.
The Lumenis UltraPulse® CO2 is one of the best lasers for collagen stimulation therapy.
Widely regarded as the gold standard in skin laser technology, it functions on scars, burns, and signs of ageing (wrinkles and fine lines). It works by actually causing a light and controlled injury pattern on the skin which triggers the skin to respond by making extra collagen to repair the damage. Once the repair is finished, the skin is left looking and feeling younger and smoother.
There are many ways to stimulate collagen production. However, relying on just one will likely not help you get the desired results. Instead, it is much wiser to take a holistic approach, adopting as many collagen-boosting lifestyle changes as you can manage while also considering more direct treatment modes suitable for your skin type—like laser therapy—to achieve and maintain genuine long-term results.
