Aesthetic carboxytherapy: the effect of CO2 on skin regeneration processes

Lyudmila Amelina , dermatologist, cosmetologist, trainer at Medgarant (Ukraine)

Injection carboxytherapy is not as advertised among patients as, for example, injections of botulinum toxin or fillers. But the method has something to offer and surprise! Let's talk about the physiological properties of carbon dioxide and its effects on the body.

In the fight for beauty and youth in aesthetic cosmetology, injection techniques are increasingly being used. And this is natural, because the frantic rhythm of cities and the constant employment of our patients create conditions for the rapid provision of cosmetic services.

Injections become a habit. Everyone is hearing about Botox, fillers, and hyaluronic acid. Advanced patients know what plasma lifting is and are already interested in the processes taking place in their skin after the administration of drugs.

But very rarely interest arises in injection carboxytherapy. But this is a natural biological method of correction of the face and body, stimulating its own regeneration of the epidermis and dermis.

CO2 in the human body

The principle of the method is to introduce medical carbon dioxide into the subcutaneous tissues with 30–32 G needles.

The procedure is painless, safe and non-toxic, since carbon dioxide is constantly produced by the cells of our body. It is an end product of metabolism that is transported by the blood and exhaled by the lungs

CO2 injections are a method that is known all over the world and is actively used by the most famous resorts in Australia, South Korea, Singapore, South America and Europe. It was first used in France in 1932.

An independent international organization engaged in research in the field of carboxytherapy, the International Scientific Carbondioxide Therapy Group (GISC), was created in the Italian city of Siena.

Italian scientists have proven that subcutaneous injections of carbon dioxide can be a solution for people prone to obesity and prevent the onset of many diseases associated with excess weight, such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disorders.

Carbon dioxide is a colorless, odorless gas with a slightly sour taste. Its concentration in the atmosphere averages 0.038%. Solid carbon dioxide is called dry ice. At elevated pressure and normal temperatures, carbon dioxide turns into a liquid state.

Carbon dioxide easily transmits the sun's ultraviolet rays and visible rays, which warm the Earth. According to its chemical properties, carbon dioxide is classified as an acidic oxide. Dissolving in water, it forms carbonic acid. Reacts with alkalis to form carbonates and bicarbonates.

Carbon dioxide plays one of the main roles in living nature, participating in many metabolic processes of a living cell. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is the main source of carbon for plants. However, it would be a mistake to say that animals only emit carbon dioxide, and plants only absorb it. Plants absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, and without light they also release it.

A high concentration of CO2 in the air provokes hypercapnia - suffocation. A lack of carbon dioxide is also dangerous: hypocapnia develops.

Liquid carbon dioxide (liquid food carbon dioxide) is liquefied carbon dioxide stored under high pressure (~ 65–70 atm.). Colorless liquid. When liquid carbon dioxide is released from a cylinder, part of it evaporates, and the other part forms dry ice flakes. The art of breathing is to exhale almost no carbon dioxide, to lose as little of it as possible. Yogi breathing exactly meets this requirement. And the breathing of ordinary people is chronic hyperventilation of the lungs, excessive removal of carbon dioxide from the body, which causes the occurrence of about 150 serious diseases, often called diseases of civilization. Among them are hypertension, atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, bronchial asthma and others.

Hyperventilation for a short time (several tens of minutes) leads to death due to the body's loss of carbon dioxide. Everyone can verify this for themselves: if you breathe frequently and deeply, you will feel dizzy, even to the point of losing consciousness. And if a person continues to hyperventilate his lungs, for example, with the help of an artificial respiration apparatus, death will occur. And, conversely, if you limit yourself in breathing for five minutes, breathing shallowly, minimizing the supply of oxygen during inhalation, you will feel a surge of energy (which, with an excessive supply of oxygen, was spent mostly on compensating for the oxidative process) and an improvement in your condition. When losing consciousness, a person stops breathing incorrectly, as he loses volitional control, breathing becomes superficial, shallow and reaches a physiologically acceptable level, less carbon dioxide is removed from the body, and the person comes to his senses.

With chronic hyperventilation of the lungs, due to frequent and deep breathing, a person also loses more carbon dioxide than is acceptable. If the defense mechanisms do not work well, the nervous system becomes overexcited and the acid-base balance of the internal environment of the body shifts to the alkaline side, which disrupts metabolism. This is expressed in decreased and impaired immunity (tendency to allergies, colds and inflammatory diseases, salt deposition, obesity or weight loss, disruption of the endocrine glands, etc., up to the development of tumors).

Most often, since carbon dioxide is vitally important, when it is lost excessively, defense mechanisms are activated to varying degrees, trying to stop its removal from the body. These include:

• spasm of blood vessels, bronchi and smooth muscles of all organs;
• narrowing of blood vessels;
• increased secretion of mucus in the bronchi, nasal passages, development of adenoids, polyps;
• membrane compaction due to cholesterol deposition, which contributes to the development of tissue sclerosis;
• increased thyroid function.

All these points, together with the difficulty of oxygen entering the cells when the carbon dioxide content in the blood decreases (Verigo-Bohr effect), leads to oxygen starvation and a slowdown in venous blood flow (with subsequent persistent dilatation of the veins).

Oxygen starvation of vital organs causes an increase in blood pressure, hypertension and excitation of the respiratory center, which leads to even greater hyperventilation and the removal of carbon dioxide from the body. Spasms of the coronary vessels lead to myocardial hypoxia up to the development of a heart attack. Spasms of the cerebral arteries cause headaches, dizziness, insomnia, disorders of brain function, and stroke.

Sclerosis of blood vessels causes their fragility, loss of elasticity, hemodynamic and metabolic disorders, and premature aging. All these are the consequences of hyperventilation, which affects almost all of humanity. When breathing is normalized, the carbon dioxide content in the body reaches the proper level and all the above pathophysiological conditions are eliminated.

The effect of "gas injections"

When administered subcutaneously, gas injections stimulate lymph and blood circulation, which allows saturating tissues with oxygen and activating metabolic processes. CO2 triggers the formation of biologically active substances and collagen in the skin, leading to regeneration, tightening and rejuvenation of the skin. In lipolytic procedures, carbon dioxide thins the walls of fat cells, and the injected volume of CO2 has a traumatic effect due to an increase in internal pressure. The body's reaction to the injected gas is vasodilation, increased oxygenation of tissues, increased metabolism, which leads to the breakdown of fats.

Aesthetic carboxytherapy

Using a carboxytherapy apparatus, sterile medical gas is administered in doses. Injection It is done using an ultra-thin needle subcutaneously. In the first few seconds, there may be a burning sensation in the affected area, but overall the procedure is completely painless.

The patient will never forget his delight from the effect of injection carboxytherapy. After all, this is a natural biological method of correction of the face and body, stimulating its own regeneration of the epidermis and dermis

Depending on the indications, the number of procedures and their frequency in a course of aesthetic carboxytherapy varies: from 3–6 procedures for the correction of wrinkles, to 10–12 procedures for the correction of cellulite and local fat deposits (carried out from 1 time per month to 3 times per week respectively). Injections with natural gas do not require a rehabilitation period. All that is necessary is not to get the injection area wet for two hours. It is not recommended to visit the sauna or overcool the treatment area until the swelling subsides and the redness disappears.

On average, the effect of one course of treatment lasts from 6 to 12 months, which depends on the area of ​​treatment and the condition of the skin before treatment.

The results of the application are amazing - there is a local reduction of adipose tissue, smoothing of skin irregularities, improvement of local blood circulation, increase in the elasticity of the vascular wall, improvement of metabolism, restructuring of intradermal collagen.

Before/ After the procedure

In addition to cosmetology, there are many indications for use : keloids, ulcers, stretch marks, cellulite, reduction of subcutaneous fat, lipomatosis, correction of shapes after liposuction, postoperative wounds, alopecia, arteriopathy, onychorrhexis, psoriasis, varicose veins, trophic ulcers.

Contraindications for this procedure are severe coronary artery disease, acute embolism, thrombophlebitis, renal failure, decompensated high blood pressure, previous brain injuries, pregnancy, lactation, acute infectious diseases, elevated body temperature, increased blood clotting.

So, the advantages of the injection carboxytherapy method are obvious: without surgical intervention, the method is minimally invasive, non-toxic, convenient for the patient, not financially burdensome, without side effects and, most importantly, lasting results.

First published in "Les Nouvelles Esthétiques Ukraine" 6 (112) 2018