Anyone who has seen some of my older posts knows that I initially found this site in despair over my very suddenly aged and crepe-paper like body skin. I initially attributed it to my tanning history coupled with an overly zealous exfoliation routine, specifically strong AHA use.
I have since been made aware of at least one person on this forum who has experienced something similar from using copper-peptides. At first I did not link my situation to hers, especially since this was not even brought up at my last dermatological exam.
Since this time I have done my own research in various medical journals as well as reading many horror stories similar to mine on many forums and am very sorry to report that, while copper peptide are great for some, they have a very real potential to damage skin!
Chronologically and with my skin type (Type III-IV) damage to the extent I am experiencing at present is not likely photo-aging and thus is neither intrinsic or extrinsic aging. What I found out in my quest for concrete research astounded me and I feel that I need to warn others.
Firstly, little is written on this subject. Studies generally agree that Copper Peptides are very good for wound healing. The use of CP's in cosmetic dermatology is limited to a few companies and most of the usage is based on findings of Loren Pickard, a Ph.D who has done research and developed SkinBiology's line of products and is largely credited with the findings that lead many to believe CP's are an important weapon in the anti-aging arsenal.
The problem is that this research is severely limited and based only on the presumption that damaged skin is injured skin. Unfortunately this is possibly not always the case and many factors, most as of yet unknown, work in tandem to cause aging.
The little research which contradicts Loren Pickard's findings is buried deep in a very small number of medical journals. As most are also theoretic none of this is widely discussed or accepted and as CP's are merely a cosmetic cream, the research is not promising outside the cosmetic industry.
The down side is that CP's have been found, on healthy non-ablated (not cut or injured) skin to cause a collagen and elastin BREAKDOWN! This is polar opposite to what one who treats would want. This is mediated by mmp-2 and mmp-9 and the articles, found on a secured medical site so sorry I cannot give a link, were written for the Journal of Invstigative Dermatology and can be purchased via their website for anyone interested or if you are a medical professional then you should be able to access them via most medical search engines under Copper Peptides and mmp-2/9 decrease.
To put it in lay people's terms--copper peptides are thought to be helpful in wound healing and Dr. Pickard has in fact done decades of research which has been substantiated by medical studies worldwide. BUT a wound and intact aged skin are not the same. A wound requires an increase in collagen production during the initial healing phase BUT excessive collagen causes scars...so decreasing levels of collagen are thus a good thing! So if initially CP's stimulate the production of collagen it is great for a wound, BUT then they need to slow it. So in theory the damage to skin from Copper Peptides comes with continued use as, opposed to the desired effect, they actually impede collagen production thus causing a LOSS of elasticity which in some is even greater than MANY years of sun damage.
This is not to say that those who use CP's ALL get this, that is not the case as it seems. But for some and possibly many of us this is the case. I personally am reeling from my experience with CP's and now definitively feel I have the answer as to why I experienced a sudden and rapid deterioration in my skin texture and as a result if I can help/save ONE person from this I will be happy.
I have since been made aware of at least one person on this forum who has experienced something similar from using copper-peptides. At first I did not link my situation to hers, especially since this was not even brought up at my last dermatological exam.
Since this time I have done my own research in various medical journals as well as reading many horror stories similar to mine on many forums and am very sorry to report that, while copper peptide are great for some, they have a very real potential to damage skin!
Chronologically and with my skin type (Type III-IV) damage to the extent I am experiencing at present is not likely photo-aging and thus is neither intrinsic or extrinsic aging. What I found out in my quest for concrete research astounded me and I feel that I need to warn others.
Firstly, little is written on this subject. Studies generally agree that Copper Peptides are very good for wound healing. The use of CP's in cosmetic dermatology is limited to a few companies and most of the usage is based on findings of Loren Pickard, a Ph.D who has done research and developed SkinBiology's line of products and is largely credited with the findings that lead many to believe CP's are an important weapon in the anti-aging arsenal.
The problem is that this research is severely limited and based only on the presumption that damaged skin is injured skin. Unfortunately this is possibly not always the case and many factors, most as of yet unknown, work in tandem to cause aging.
The little research which contradicts Loren Pickard's findings is buried deep in a very small number of medical journals. As most are also theoretic none of this is widely discussed or accepted and as CP's are merely a cosmetic cream, the research is not promising outside the cosmetic industry.
The down side is that CP's have been found, on healthy non-ablated (not cut or injured) skin to cause a collagen and elastin BREAKDOWN! This is polar opposite to what one who treats would want. This is mediated by mmp-2 and mmp-9 and the articles, found on a secured medical site so sorry I cannot give a link, were written for the Journal of Invstigative Dermatology and can be purchased via their website for anyone interested or if you are a medical professional then you should be able to access them via most medical search engines under Copper Peptides and mmp-2/9 decrease.
To put it in lay people's terms--copper peptides are thought to be helpful in wound healing and Dr. Pickard has in fact done decades of research which has been substantiated by medical studies worldwide. BUT a wound and intact aged skin are not the same. A wound requires an increase in collagen production during the initial healing phase BUT excessive collagen causes scars...so decreasing levels of collagen are thus a good thing! So if initially CP's stimulate the production of collagen it is great for a wound, BUT then they need to slow it. So in theory the damage to skin from Copper Peptides comes with continued use as, opposed to the desired effect, they actually impede collagen production thus causing a LOSS of elasticity which in some is even greater than MANY years of sun damage.
This is not to say that those who use CP's ALL get this, that is not the case as it seems. But for some and possibly many of us this is the case. I personally am reeling from my experience with CP's and now definitively feel I have the answer as to why I experienced a sudden and rapid deterioration in my skin texture and as a result if I can help/save ONE person from this I will be happy.
