Ellacor™ was recently cleared by the FDA to treat people with moderate-to-severe wrinkles in the mid … [+]
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Think that going under the knife is the only way to treat loose, aging skin?
Think again.
Here’s how ellacor™, the new FDA-cleared system, creates small holes in the skin to tighten and improve deep facial lines sans scalpel.
Skin aging is a normal process.
As we age, collagen, which is a key protein that helps skin appear firm and youthful, reduces by more than 50% and decreases in quality, contributing to the appearance of wrinkles. Unfortunately, skin aging is inevitable, although sun-exposed skin tends to age faster. It is important to note that aging is more than skin deep; the appearance of an aged face is also due to changes that occur in the fat, muscles, and bones.
Removing tiny cores of skin can lead to scar-free skin tightening.
Anytime the skin is cut or injured, the wound healing process is triggered. This involves multiplication of cells, called fibroblasts, that produce collagen, as well as special types of fibroblasts, called myofibroblasts, that contract to help wounds close.
Ellacor™ intentionally creates wounds by removing thousands of very small cores of skin in a pattern that leaves some intervening skin intact. The wound healing process is stimulated from removal of these micro-cores, which results in collagen production and contraction that tightens skin. The cores are full-thickness, meaning that they penetrate both layers of the skin (epidermis and dermis), but are small enough in diameter (less than 0.5 millimeters) that they do not create visible scars and close almost immediately post-procedure. In an animal study, this micro-coring technique nearly doubled skin thickness compared to untreated skin, and also demonstrated tissue remodeling that may correlate to skin tightening.
Unlike lasers, ellacor™ does not use energy or heat, and also produces less inflammation; therefore, it does not carry the same risk of unintentional burns or prolonged downtime. Unlike a rhytidectomy, or facelift, there is no associated visible (or microscopic) scarring, or need for general anesthesia.
ellacor™ Micro-Coring Technology showed promise in clinical trials.
In clinical studies, ellacor™ was well-tolerated, an entire facial treatment took less than 30 minutes, and the post-procedure recovery time was short (~3-4 days). Thousands of micro-cores were removed each session, which could equate to about 5-10% of treated skin, resulting in a tightening effect that opposes the skin’s natural tendency to sag downward. Ellacor™ was associated with high patient satisfaction and data from two pooled trials showed that more than 90% of treated patients had an objective improvement in their skin appearance at 3-6 months post-treatment.
There are other treatment options, too, for sagging or wrinkled skin.
Ellacor™ appears to be a promising, heat-free, minimally invasive treatment for facial wrinkles and loose skin. It is expected to become commercially available in early 2022. Larger studies in diverse patient populations will be helpful to confirm the promising data from early trials.
There are other non-surgical treatments that are currently used to improve the appearance of aging skin. These include energy-based devices that use radiofrequency, ultrasound, or fractional lasers. Of these, treatments that break the skin barrier (i.e. create a wound or puncture) are more likely to tighten than their non-invasive counterparts.
A facelift is a surgical treatment that is usually performed in an operating room to substantially lift skin, as well as deeper structures, like the fat or muscles. It is important to note that these deeper layers are not treated by ellacor™ or other energy-based devices that target the skin alone.
