Enerpeel® - Chemical Exfoliation Technology
Enerpeel® is a complete program of medical devices designed to perform various types of chemical exfoliation at various skin depths, to exfoliate and stimulate dermal remodelling.
There is a big difference between exfoliation and dermal remodelling. Remodelling gives you longer term results of tighter more lifted skin which is elastic with fewer lines and wrinkles.
Exfoliation delivers an immediate brighter clearer skin but unless repeated often only gives a short term effect on lines and wrinkles and skin quality. Also the greater the exfoliation the greater the level of reddening, swelling and pain, so the degree of exfoliation is limited by the surface side effects of the treatment, however exfoliation is part of the rejuvenating process, so one aims to induce exfoliation but minimize swelling, reddening and pain
The key aim of any rejuvenating skin treatment whether it be using light sources, physical or chemical is to induce deeper skin changes in the dermal fibre matrix. Collagen and elastin fibres become bound together and more rigid and less elastic over time, so when we smile or frown, the fibres do not move freely and tend to create creases and lines.
The aim is to break these fibres down and replace them with new fresh more elastic fibres which are not rigid and bound but flow and flex, so that skin movements from facial expressions easily and completely return back to their resting original position without leaving lines and wrinkles.
Changes in fibre ‘type’ is supported by inducing an increase in hyaluronic acid fibres which combine with water molecules to form a jelly like filling substance which the new collagen and elastin fibres are embedded in. This jelly keeps the fibres apart when we alter our facial expressions so that the new collagen fibres do not come into contact and bind.
Generating new collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid, while encouraging the breakdown of old rigid bound fibres is the real key to remodeling and long term youthful looks.
Superficial treatments tend to focus on exfoliation whereas as you move to medium and deeper treatments the emphasis is on deeper remodeling fibre changes. The problem is the deeper and stronger the treatment the greater the surface effects which includes reddening, swelling and pain. No rejuvenating remodelling procedure has been able to get round this – UNTIL NOW.
Skin Indications
The ideal exfoliating remodeling range should offer different levels and use different solutions which have particular effects on the skin. Some solutions are surface acting and reduce oil in the upper layers of the skin and are ideal for acne prone skins, whereas other solutions are more focused on slowing down pigment production and these are ideal for reducing uneven skin tone or used in conjunction with solutions which are really focused on remodeling fibres to reduce the risk of triggering pigmentation increase while we trigger fibre changeover.
Chemical solutions are therefore designed for the treatment of several kinds of age-related skin damage and also act as a prevention factor from damage caused by exposure to UV radiation - including keratinic lesions - which are potentially pre-cancerous.
Enerpeel® is also indicated for the following:
Age Related Skin Issues:
Actinic keratosis (also called solar keratosis, or AK) is a premalignant condition of thick, scaly, or crusty patches of skin. It is more common in fair-skinned people, especially those who are frequently exposed to the sun, as it is usually accompanied by solar damage.
Solar elastosis is a degenerative condition which affects the connective tissues of the skin. Normally, the skin undergoes gradual degeneration. Frequent exposure to sunlight or ultraviolet light may accelerate this degenerative process through a process which is termed photoaging.
Solar lentigo is a hyperpigmented lesion caused by exposure to UV light. Solar lentigines are benign, but they do indicate excessive sun exposure, a risk factor for the development of skin cancer.
Alterations of Pigmentation:
Hyperpigmented Lesions are patches of skin that is darker than the surrounding skin. It is a very common condition and usually harmless. An excess production of melanin, the pigment that produces normal skin color, is the cause.
Melasma is a tan or dark facial skin discoloration. Although it can affect anyone, melasma is particularly common in women - especially pregnant women and those who are taking oral or patch contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medications.
Thread Veins and Reddening Skin often appear later in life but can be a problem earlier. There are solutions that can increase the resistance of the skin in developing these and also in helping to reduce them once they have appeared.
Other Indications:
- Superficial Scars
- Radiation Keratosis
- Acne Vulgaris
- Acne Scarring
- Plantar Warts
- Sebaceous Hyperplasia
The skin around the eyes and the lip margin are very delicate while the skin of the hands is different to the skin on the neck. Therefore it is important to tailor your exfoliating/remodeling solution for the skin type and the specific skin area to get the best effects and to minimize unwanted results.
Different Enerpeel® exfoliating medical devices have been developed for a range of specific skin areas including the face, neck, chest and hands; as well the contours around the eyes and lips.
Skin Areas and Indications
The skin around the eyes and the lip margin are very delicate while the skin of the hands is different to the skin on the neck. Therefore it is important to tailor your exfoliating/remodeling solution for the skin type and the specific skin area to get the best effects and to minimize unwanted results.
Different Enerpeel® exfoliating medical devices have been developed for a range of specific skin areas including the face, neck, chest and hands; as well the contours around the eyes and lips.
Treatments as Well as Remodelling
Exfoliating and remodeling is the focus of Enerpeel® but the range goes further by introducing key ingredients during the session which directly target skin issues.
Enerpeel® technology also introduces these ingredients into the skin where in other acid solutions they may be damaged or inactivated in the solution. Enerpeel® technology keeps the exfoliating/remodeling solutions under control and protects the treatment ingredients from damage until they are all released into the skin.
Enerpeel® Hands is a combined TCA and Lactic acid peel which also delivers Kojic acid into the skin to reduce age and sun spots, and also keeps pigmentation under control, so it is less likely to flare up due to the treatment.
Enerpeel® SA delivers salicylic acid to the skin but also delivers the two key active ingredients in Aknicare® to form the basis of a fantastic clinical treatment programme for acne.
Enerpeel® Neck (and Chest) delivers Pyruvic acid and Lactic acid into the skin but also provides the raw ingredients to plump the area and boost fibre protecting hyaluronic acid levels.
Enerpeel® also supplies TCA 25% and 40%, Revised Jessner’s, Glycolic 70%, Pyruvic 50% and Enerpeel® Eyes and Lips: a TCA/Lactic acid gel for remodeling the eye and lip areas.
Launching in early 2009 will also be Enerpeel® Mandelic Acid for the management of Rosacea and thread veins.
So you can now have the right solution for the right skin area for the right result for the specific skin situation - Enerpeel® Technology for complete clinical management of skin.
Enerpeel® Carrier Solution Technology for More Homogenous Absorption
A solution using Enerpeel® Technology restrains the natural mobility of protons. This means that the proton movement is slowed down. This reduces the protons’ impact and activity and makes it easier to get these molecules into the skin.
The positive and negative charges of the solution are effectively ‘isolated’ and do not interact with polar charges on and in the skin allowing the molecules to diffuse into the skin, for a greater and more uniform absorption of 2 to 3 times more than in a standard acid solution.
Enerpeel® Carrier Solution Technology for More focused Proton Impact
When the Enerpeel® Technology solution enters the skin and comes into contact with skin structures and molecules, this causes the carrier solution to release the restraining hold on the protons and they accelerate into the skin and interact with water molecules and then intercellular and cellular structures, achieving much greater mobility and have a stronger but more precise impact. These structures include water, proteins and chemical links within organised structures such as desmosomes. The result is a more effective and efficient chemo-exfoliation.
Enerpeel® Carrier Solution Technology for Better Control of Surface Effects
Having protons ‘activated’ once in the skin means you have a more gradual development of surface effects in an even precise controlled way. Reducing surface impact means more precise, more controlled surface effects and exfoliation.
Enerpeel® Carrier Solution Technology for Greater Dermal Remodeling Impact
Accelerating the peeling activity of the protons in the skin, Enerpeel®achieves highly effective stimulation of the key chemical remodeling processes at the dermal level.
- Stimulating fibroblasts to increase production of new skin fibres such as collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid
- Triggering enzymes such as matrix metalloproteases to break down the old fibrous structures
Summary Diagram of Exfoliation and Remodeling Activity
Chemical Exfoliation and Remodelling - What happens?
Peeling solutions tend to work by changing the pH of the skin and increasing the acidity of the skin. This means increasing the number of acid molecules in the skin. An acid is traditionally considered to be any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, donates a hydrogen ion (H+) to another compound. These hydrogen ions are donated to water molecules to make H3O+ known as an oxonium ions. Hydrogen ions are passed onto other water molecules and so on, so it flows through the skin the hydrogen ion interacts with proteins which hold skin cells in place, it can then break these links so the cells detach and shed. The ions can also break down oils in the skin and other molecules.
However at the skins surface there are less water molecules bound up in the skin and hence once created, oxonium ions find it harder to pass on the hydrogen ion to nearby water molecules and they also are pushed away by positive charges on other molecules in the skin. This slows the absorption of the hydrogen ions and they tend to have a harsher surface effect and trigger excessive reddening.
It is much better if you wrap up the hydrogen ions in a carrier solution so they are not repelled by positive charges in the skin and they are absorbed and then released below the surface where there are more water molecules to transport the active ions through the skin so they flow faster and have a more efficient impact in triggering deeper remodeling.
The Different Activity of Different Acids Depends on 3 Main Variables:
Acids are molecules that are willing to give up protons into solution. Different acids are more or less willing than others and this has a bearing on their activity.
Traditionally a strong acid is one which has a lot of molecules in solution which therefore have a lot of protons to donate. However a 50% glycolic acid is not as strong as a 50% TCA even though they have the same number of proton donating molecules in the solution.
pH - is the concentration of free hydrogen protons present in a solution. The lower the pH (more acidic), the higher the concentration of free protons. The number of free protons in solution is a measure of how many protons can be donated to the skin. The greater the number of free protons the more powerful the effect of an acid on the skin.
pKa - is a number which measures how readily an acid molecule gives up its proton into solution. The lower a molecules pKa, the more readily it will give up its proton into solution. So TCA has a very low pKa and this leads to a high level of free protons in solution. Glycolic acid has a higher pKa and hence is less ready to give up its proton into solution and is hence, is less active. This is why a 50% glycolic is less aggressive than a 50% TCA. You can think of the number as the ‘grip’ a molecule has on its proton.
Proton Mobility -When dissociated, (parted from their parent molecule) the protons attach to water molecules creating oxonium ions (H3O+). These molecules are unstable and the proton is passed onto other water molecules and hence move through solution by jumping from molecule to molecule. The more mobile the protons in solution the greater its activity. By restraining this movement you can control the activity of the proton, controlling its impact in the skin. Then you remove the restraint at the right level and speed up its activity and the impact.
Different Peeling Solutions – Different pKas
The strength of a solution is measured by its pKa which can be described as the grip a molecule has on its proton when the molecule is dissolved in solution. The lower the pKa, the faster the proton is released into solution and hence it is more active than a molecule which is slower, more reluctant to release its protons dissolved into solution.
Electrochemically Measuring an Acid's Strength
The movement of protons in solution depends on the network of water molecules.
The proton interacts with one molecule of water forming the (H30+) oxonium ion.
The Grotthuss Mechanism is the mechanism by which an 'excess' proton diffuses through the network of water molecules (or other hydrogen-bonded liquids) by forming and then breaking bonds with associated water molecules.
Chemical Impact of H30+ on Skin Proteins
Peptide link are bonds between peptides making up proteins. Such proteins are found in desmosomes, which are multi protein links between skin cells which hold them in place and also act as signalling pathways between cells. Protons can break these bonds - and thus break the desmosomes – which leads to the detachment of skin cells (skin shedding), thus increasing skin cell turnover.
The breakdown of desmosomes results in detachment of keratinocytes
and therefore enhances epidermal cellular turnover.
If you require more information on the Enerpeel range, please use the information request on the left hand side at the top of the page or call us on 08701 909369.
