Why Is Collagen So Important To Our Skin?

You’ll have heard us talk about collagen a lot at AP Skincare – it supports the underlying structure of your skin, making it vital to the smooth functioning of a whole heap of key processes. In fact, it’s basically one of the building blocks of not just your skin, but your entire body! This week on the blog, we’ll go into a little more detail about it, as well as exactly why you should care about your collagen.

What Is Collagen?

To give you the dictionary definition, collagen is a fibrous protein that’s found in connective tissue. That means it’s in our bones, our organs, our joints, and it’s a major component in our skin. To give you some idea of how important it is, it even affects the lustrous quality of our hair! The word itself – collagen – comes from the Ancient Greek word which translates to glue. That’s pretty accurate, as it literally holds our body together. There are several different types of it, and together they make up around a third of our body’s proteins. And if we’re continuing with the glue analogy, collagen is mind-bogglingly strong. Gram for gram, Type 1 collagen fibrils are actually stronger than steel.

Our skin contains 14 types of collagen in total; 80% of that is Type 1 Collagen, and 15% is Type 3. Type 1 supports skin strength (as demonstrated above!), while Type 3 maintains our skin’s elasticity. It’s this quality which makes it so good at reducing the signs of cellulite and stretch marks. It’s useful when we’re injured, too. When we break the surface of our skin – say by falling over, or by catching our hand on something sharp – our body produces collagen to reconnect our skin tissue and heal the injury.

In short, collagen keeps our skin strong, youthful-looking, and fends off wrinkles and the other signs of early ageing. It’s probably no surprise that it’s known in scientific circles as the Youth Protein!

How Does Age Affect Our Collagen?

As we age, our collagen production gradually decreases, resulting in weaker connections in the skin. One of the most visible signs of this is that it loses its elasticity, showing wrinkles, and making cellulite more easily visible. What’s more, as our collagen production decreases our skin’s ability to heal is similarly affected, leaving us more vulnerable to injury.

The good news is that there’s plenty you can do to boost your skin’s collagen. Your skin needs plenty of Vitamin C to maintain its collagen, which you can get through fruits and vegetables like strawberries, kiwi and broccoli. Meanwhile, you can find valuable proteins in beef or fish. You can even take advantage of our own expertise here at AP Skincare; our EDermaroller Collagen Therapy is specifically formulated to encourage your skin’s natural collagen production. Meanwhile, our Retriderm skin rejuvenation serums use soluble collagen as an active ingredient, similarly stimulating your skin’s natural collagen production.

Our EDermaroller Collagen Therapy is just one of a number of core skin treatments we have at AP Skincare. Why not pop into our Blackburn treatment centre to book one in person, or give us a call on 01254 297 000. We’re here to help!

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