Carboxytherapy

 Carboxytherapy for Stretchmarks

Stretch marks or striae distensae, as they are known technically, are a form of scarring caused by tearing of the dermis. Stretch marks are caused by rapid growth or rapid weight changes, typically associated with pregnancy. They will diminish over time but they do not disappear completely. Stretchmarks can also be caused by hormonal changes again with pregnancy but also in: puberty, pregnancy, bodybuilding, hormone replacement therapy.

Although there are a number of treatments for stretchmarks including topical treatments and IPL/Laser (which is not suitable for dark skin types), Carboxytherapy is the only treatment that acts on the root cause of the problem. By actually repairing the and rebuilding the collagen matrix carboxytherapy is not only a more permanent solution it is also suitable for the treatment of old and new stretchmarks and can be used on all skin types.

Carboxytherapy for cellulite

Cellulite refers to the fat bulges on the buttocks and thighs of the overwhelming majority of the female population. Women have developed the ability to build fat in this way over millennia as part of the female body's strategy of storing fat for pregnancy. Not only do women differ from men in this way, the structure of their skin is different, it is regulated by hormones and these fatty deposits do not respond to exercise and diet in the same way as men.

Cellulite is caused by damage to the fibrous septae, a layer of connective tissue formed of collagen, between the dermis and the subcutaneous fat. When the fibrous septae is damaged the fat cells are pushed up through the damaged areas giving the skin the definitive dimpled appearance we know as cellulite.

Carboxytherapy for Dark Circles

Carboxytherapy is really effective treatment for dark circles under the eyes. In the majority of cases these circles are caused by poor blood circulation beneath the lower eyelids, known as vascular pooling.

Injecting carbon dioxide under the skin of the lower eyelid causes circulation to be increased resulting, in a marked improvement in the dark pigmentation. Treatments are short, virtually painless and risk free. The number of treatments required varies between 10 and 20, depending on the nature of the pigmentation and treatments are spaced one week apart.

History of Carboxytherapy

Carboxytherapy is a treatment for clinical and cosmetological conditions such as black circle and fatty deposit under eyes, stretch marks, scars, cellulite, acne, psoriasis, diabetic ulcers.

This therapy was born in France, in the thermal water station of Royat, near Clermont Ferrand. There a group of cardiologist from the hospital of Clermont Ferrand, began to treat patients with peripheric organic and functional arteriopaties (Atherosclerotic, Buerger's disease, Raynaud's disease, etc). In 1953 the cardiologist M.D. Jean Baptiste Romuef, published a paper about his 20 years of experience in the subcutaneous injection of CO2. Afterwards, the Parisian cardiologist M.D. Jerome Berthier, along with M.D. Luigi Parassoni from Gallarate, started its application on patients with cellulite. Until 1983 only 40200 patients had been treated in Royat. By 1994, 20,000 patients were treated per year. This number of patients, not only confirms the efficacy of the therapeutic method, but also the security of this.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an odorless colorless gas, the first one to be discovered in history (Van Helmont, 1648). Intradermal administration of carbon dioxide improves skin laxity by improving dermal collagen. When administered subcutaneously CO2 immediately diffuses at the cutaneous and muscular microcirculatory level. At the vascular level it increases vascular tone and produces active vasodilation at the microcirculatory level, increasing microcirculation, tissue metabolism and oxygenation as well as lysis of the fat cells in the subcutaneous tissue.

Lipodystrophy and Edematous Fibrosclerotic Panniculopathy (EFP) are pathologies in which microcirculatory disorders and resulting interstitial oedema constitute triggering factors that also support the pathological process. Microangiopathy due to stasis is the morphological substrate. Since it improves capillary blood flow and reduces stasis, carboxytherapy contributes to restore the microvasculartissular unit exchanges.

Most of the gas is eliminated through the lungs (expiration), while a smaller portion is converted into carbonic acid at tissue level and then eliminated through the kidneys. Although it is toxic when inhaled (10% in air may cause asphyxia), CO2 trans or subcutaneous therapeutic administration or intra-abdominal administration aimed at video laparoscopy have not shown any toxic effects, even at the highest doses (2-3 liters). It differs from other gases because it does not cause nitrogenous embolisms, unlike, for example, the oxygen-ozone therapy.

At ElysiPhi we offer Carboxytherapy for the treatment of :

skin laxity

stretchmarks

 correction of dark circles

cellulite

Treatments from: £125 per session/area, can also be delivered as part of your bespoke treatment plan.

Carboxytherapy is one of the so called lunch-procedures, as there is no hospitalisation or anaesthesia required. Patients can resume their daily routine immediately after procedure.