Methods of decreasing the effects of aging on skin continues to find new and innovative approaches. The most recent one that I have come across is that of what you can do while you are sleeping…and it doesn’t come from an applied cream or lotion.
Rather it is something that is embedded in pillowcases and it may have a beneficial effect by reducing wrinkles while you sleep…copper-oxide infused fibers. Copper has proven antimicrobial properties and is an important elemental component of many of the body’s tissues. There is a well known association of cooper peptides being used for skin enhancement. Several cosmetic skin products from well known manufacturers have it as part of their active ingredients.
Cupron, the company that makes the pillowcases here in the U.S. and sells them through Bed Bath and Beyond stores, published a study earlier this year in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science. This study evaluated the pillowcase’s effectiveness in the appearance of wrinkles in patients who slept on them. The study looked at the skin of fifty-seven women after two and four weeks of sleeping on the pillowcases. Those sleeping on the pillowcases containing the copper oxide had significant reduction in the appearance of wrinkles, a significant reduction in the appearance of fine lines, and overall improvement of skin glow.
This is an interesting concept and the first one that I have seen that moves a potentially skin-enhancing product into an everyday part of life. And a significant part it is, occupying up to a third of many people’s life.
While the effects of copper on skin emanating from a fabric sounds appealing, there is much science to prove that it actually works. While copper peptides are being effectively used in topical applications, it is copper oxide that is in these fabrics. Copper oxide is a much more reactive form of copper which continuously releases ions. Whether this copper ion release is significant enough to have any effect on stimulating collagen formation in skin is unknown.
Other important considerations are whether the skin can actually absorb any of the released copper ions and how long the fabric releases them. What happens after repeated washings and what effect different detergents and softeners may have on them would also be useful information.
Despite these drawbacks, this fabric-infused approach to wrinkle reduction remains appealing. While it may not be as effective as many other well-established methods, it may have an adjunctive skin rejuvenation role. And a good product to offer as part of a comprehensive skin treatment program.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana