In the aesthetic world there are many versions of the now beloved Cryo Facial ranging from cold air being blown on the face and neck to hot and cold being applied by a wand.  

Let’s begin with an overview of “Cryo” which is the Greek word for cold.  The traditional Cryo facial is simply performed by a technician blowing cold nitrogen gas over your face and neck.  This treatment can last from five to fifteen minutes depending on the facility.  The cold air feels very invigorating and can trigger endorphins.   The feeling after the treatment is analogous to having skied for an afternoon in 20-degree temperatures without a hat or mask.  Your face feels tight and has a healthy red glow to your cheeks.  Improvement in circulation is a side benefit as the skin goes through a period of vasoconstriction followed by blood flowing back into the capillaries for a few hours following the treatment.     

There are however no anti-aging benefits to a Cryo Facial as cold does nothing to release collagen stored at the deeper levels of the dermis.

Collagen And Elastin

Collagen is the most abundant type of protein in the human body. It serves as the main building block of our skin, bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and more, providing them with support and structure. It also forms part of our blood vessels, intestine, and other organs. It even helps in the replacement of dead skin cells, and in keeping our skin elastic, along with other health benefits.

As we age, our bodies create less collagen, and existing collagen is used up more quickly as well. If you’ve started noticing that your skin is becoming wrinkled, sagging, or crepey, or there’s hallowing around your eyes or in different parts of your face

Besides the normal effects of aging on the skin, there are other factors that lead to skin damage. This includes sun exposure, excess alcohol consumption, sleep deprivation, smoking or exposure to cigarette smoke, and even exercise.

All of these—whether intentional or not—can lead to skin damage, which result in visible signs of skin aging. 

Due to the normal aging process as well as various environmental factors, our skin loses elasticity over time. Aging leads to a decline in the elastic tissue of our skin (called elastin), which causes our skin to gradually hang loosely. Because of gravity, our eyebrows and eyelids will eventually droop. Looseness and fullness also become visible under our cheeks and jaw (commonly referred to as jowls and double chin), and even our earlobes grow longer.

In general, our skin begins losing elasticity in our 30s.  Most people begin seeing lines on their face—such as horizontal lines on the forehead, vertical lines above the root of the nose (the area called glabella), or small lines around your temples, upper cheeks, eyes and mouth.

The Benefits of Heat

Heat is needed to reinvigorate dormant collagen and elastin, which is stored at the deepest layers of the skin to come back to the surface.  Cold alone cannot induce a resurgence.  Heat also induces vasodilation in which blood rushes to this area.

A Hot And Cold Approach

Now that we have outlined the benefits of hot and cold individually let’s examine what happens when we combine these elements into a combination known as Thermal Shock.  

If you’ve ever been to a Physical Therapist or Chiropractor, you’ve experienced or witnessed them employing hot packs and cold compressed to specific areas.  Alternating hot and cold has many benefits in physiotherapy.  By starting with vasodilation (increased blood flow) followed by vasoconstriction (reduced blood flow) and alternating hot and cold back and forth several times circulation is increased and the tissue becomes more oxygenated.  

When using this approach in performing a facial or skin rejuvenation treatment on the neck it delivers far more benefits than using hot or cold independently.   

While the word Shock can cause alarm or give the perception of pain this is not the case so using the term Cryo Facial is much easier and less 

When we begin with heat, we are inducing vasodilation.  Heat also reinvigorates dormant collagen and elastin stored at the deepest levels of the dermis to come to the surface.  We follow this period of heat with cold, employed for an extended period of time which serves to lift, tighten, reduce inflammation and reinforce the muscle skin relationship which weakens as we age.   Remember that cold also induces vasoconstriction.  The final approach is a return to heat which serves to reinforce and extend what we began in the first heat cycle. This hot/cold/hot approach boosts circulation and oxygenation of the tissue.  With just a few treatments this process reduces the orange cast that appears on our skin as we age and can even reduce hyperpigmentation.  

Thermal Shock

The hot / cold “thermal shock” approach to skin rejuvenation is clearly superior to cold or heat alone.  When we induce thermal shock in the tissue by migrating from hot to cold to hot again with a device that can add or subtract hot or cold very quickly the effect on the tissue is far more dramatic. Pagani was the first company able to create a wand that was capable of immediate hot / cold exchange in a single wand head.  The Pagani wand can drop from 107F to 0F in less than :60 seconds.   Hot and cold delivered through dermal contact has proven to be far superior to nitrogen vapor or other devices that maintain dermal contact but are not capable of a hot/cold exchange in the same delivery mechanism.

Thermal Shock has a great range of applications that extend far beyond the Cryo Facial to include: tightening loose skin; reinvigorating elasticity in aging skin (turkey neck, sagging skin at the knee and elbow); establishing greater definition on clients with low BMI and good muscle tone; improving the texture of crepey skin, and: accelerating injury recovery and neutralizing chronic pain.   

After purchasing a Pagani Cryo or STAR T Shock we recommend listing treatments on your menu as a Cryo Facial for consumer recognition purposes and have the technician explain the science while the client is undergoing a session.