Robert Trow, MS discusses the growing popularity of medical needling as a nonablative option for perioral rejuvenation.

This article is devoted to a technique that lends itself to treatment of the face and the body to achieve collagen induction. Although this technique may seem new, we have had centuries of experience with the technique of tattooing, but in this case, there is no pigment used.

Vitamin A is the dominant vitamin of the skin because it has a fundamental role in the control of normal activities of skin cells. Vitamin A is of great importance in controlling normal activities of the DNA of the nucleus of the cell as well as the mitochondria. Current scientific research work is uncovering the complex means by which DNA maintains the normal activities of skin cells.

Vitamin C is ascorbic acid and is naturally found in nature, while some animals have the ability to produce their own vitamin C, human beings do not produce vitamin C themselves and are totally reliant on the vitamin C they get in their diets. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin and we do not have large stores of vitamin C in our body.

In percutaneous collagen induction, an alternative to laser resurfacing, the skin receives multiple punctures with a drum-shaped device that has fine protruding needles, to encourage the production of collagen and elastin. According to the author, advantages include preservation of the epidermis, thicker skin, a short healing phase, and use of local anesthetic alone. (Aesthetic Surg J 2002;22:315-317)