Collagen Boost is the practice’s name for three treatments that prompt the skin to build its own collagen: a heavily diluted injectable skin wash, PRF made from the patient’s own blood, and dissolving threads. Coastal Dermatology + Aesthetics offers all three at its San Luis Obispo office. Results begin at about four weeks and peak around four months.
What Collagen Boost does for your skin
Collagen is the scaffolding under your skin. It is what makes skin snap back instead of crease, and you lose it steadily from your twenties on, faster in the places the sun got to. Filler puts volume back where volume went missing. It does not make thin skin thick again. Only new collagen does that.
All three treatments on this page ask your body for new collagen, from three different directions. A heavily diluted skin wash spreads a signal across a wide area and improves overall quality. PRF) uses a concentrate made from your own blood. Dissolving threads hold tissue up and leave collagen along their path as they disappear. Same destination, three roads, and which one suits you depends on what actually changed.
The trade is the same with all three. Nothing much shows the same day. What arrives over the following months reads as better skin rather than as work, because it is your own tissue.
What Collagen Boost is good at
- Improving crepey, thin skin across the neck, chest, arms and backs of the hands
- Firming early looseness along the jaw and cheeks without surgery
- Softening fine lines from underneath instead of filling them in
- Restoring some support where tissue has started to drop, using threads
- Improving under-eye quality and scalp health, where PRF is the right road
- Building a result that keeps looking like you, because your body made it
Different collagen-building routes offered here, rather than the one a practice happens to own. The skin wash for wide-area quality, PRF from your own blood, and dissolving threads for support. The recommendation follows your face, not the cupboard.
How treatment works
We work out whether this is a volume problem or a quality problem
A hollow cheek and a crepey neck are not the same complaint. No amount of filler makes thin skin thick again, and no amount of collagen work refills a cheek that has emptied out. Getting that right at the start is most of the outcome.
We pick the road that matches what changed
Quality over a wide area points to the skin wash: a filler material watered down far enough that it stops adding volume and starts acting as a signal. Wanting to use your own material, or wanting the under-eyes and scalp handled too, points to PRF. Tissue that needs actual holding up rather than better texture points to threads, made from the same absorbable material surgeons have closed wounds with for decades. [2]
Your own collagen, over months
Whichever road you take, your skin builds the result over the weeks that follow. First signs land around four weeks and the real change at three to four months, which is why all three are planned as a short course rather than a single visit.
When the first signs typically show. What you see at two weeks is not what you are paying for. Judge any of these three at three to four months, and take a photo on day one, because gradual change is easy to miss on your own face.
Which of the three is yours
Most practices in this market sell one collagen-stimulating treatment and everyone who walks in gets it. Here is the actual decision, written out, so you can see where you land before you book.
| If this is what changed | The road is | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Crepey, thin, dull skin over a wide area: neck, chest, arms, backs of the hands | The diluted skin wash | It spreads a thin signal across a large area rather than adding volume in one spot, so it improves quality where there is nothing to fill |
| You want your own material used, and the under-eyes or scalp are part of the picture | PRF | It is made from your own blood at your appointment, and it is the one that goes comfortably into delicate areas |
| Tissue has started to drop and you want support, not just texture | Dissolving threads | They physically hold tissue and leave collagen along their path as they dissolve, which nothing injected can do |
| Pitted acne scars and rough texture | Not this page | RF microneedling reaches scarring better than any of these three |
| Skin that has gone past holding up | Not this page either | That is a surgical conversation and we will say so |
Plenty of people end up doing two of these in sequence rather than choosing one. That is a plan, not an upsell, and you will get it costed in full before anything is booked.
How long threads are reported to hold. The collagen your skin lays down along their path does not disappear when they do, which is why the second course usually asks less of you than the first.
Areas we treat
Face
Improves overall skin quality and firms early looseness across the cheeks.
Neck
Treats the crepey, slack texture that usually gives your age away before your face does.
Chest
Improves the thin, lined skin left by years of sun on an area no filler helps.
Jawline
Threads restore some definition where tissue has started to drop, without surgery.
Hands
Thickens and improves the skin quality that makes hands look older than the face above them.
Under-eyes
PRF is the road here, in an area too delicate for most other approaches.
Services are prompt, friendly, professional and most of all comfortable…it was an extraordinary experience.
The Coastal difference
Having all three means we can tell you which one you do not need
A practice that owns one of these recommends it to everybody. Having all three means the recommendation follows what is on your face rather than what is in the cupboard, and sometimes the honest answer is none of them. A chemical peel, a course of RF microneedling, or simply the right products at home can be a better use of your money, and we would rather tell you that than sell you a course.
It also matters that a board-certified dermatology practice is doing it. The diluted skin wash is a calcium-based material and it cannot be dissolved the way a water-based filler can, so it is placed carefully and slowly by someone who knows exactly where it is going. [1] Threads go into layers where knowing the anatomy is not optional. And when loose skin has gone past what any of this reaches, we will tell you that too, because that is a conversation with a surgeon rather than a course of treatment here.
Is it right for you?
Collagen Boost is probably a good fit if:
- Your skin has gone thin, crepey or dull and products are not touching it
- You want firmer skin without surgery and without looking filled
- You would rather build a result over three months than chase a quick one
- You are willing to do a short course and keep it up over time
- You like the idea of a result made from your own tissue
We will steer you somewhere else if:
- What is actually bothering you is lost volume, which is a filler conversation
- Your main concern is pitted acne scarring, where RF microneedling reaches further
- Your skin is infected or inflamed in the area right now, which needs settling first
- You have a condition or medication that slows healing
- What you want is a lift, which is surgery and not this
Not sure which of those you are? That is what the consultation is for, and it is why we do not sell any of these over the phone.
What to expect afterward
Expect some swelling, tenderness and possibly a little bruising at the treated spots. With the skin wash and PRF most people look normal within a day or two. With threads, expect a pulling or tight feeling for several days and a few days of looking slightly different before everything settles.
In the first week, do
- Keep the area clean and leave it alone
- Sleep on your back for the first few nights after threads
- Wear sunscreen every day, because UV is what took the collagen in the first place
- Tell us about anything that feels wrong rather than waiting for your follow-up
In the first week, don’t
- Massage, press or work on the treated area unless we tell you to
- Book a facial, a peel or dental work in the days right after
- Do heavy exercise or anything that overheats you until we clear you
- Expect to see the result yet
Call us immediately about unusual pain, skin that turns white, dusky or blotchy, vision changes or any sign of infection. We would far rather hear from you.
Concerns treated
Collagen Boost works on skin quality and support rather than volume. Pick a concern to see how we approach it.
What treatment costs
The price follows which of the three you take, how much area we are covering and how many visits it needs. All three are treatments where more than one visit is normal, so a single-session price is a misleading number and we do not lead with one.
You get an estimate across the whole plan before anything is booked, including what keeping it up looks like over a year. We do not discount our way into a treatment, and if a cheaper option would serve you better that is the one you will be offered.
Treatment time
30 to 60 minutes, depending on which of the three
Downtime
Minimal for the skin wash and PRF; several days of tightness with threads
Results appear
First signs around 4 weeks, the real change at 3 to 4 months
Results last
Threads are reported to hold 12 to 15 months; the collagen they leave behind stays
Collagen Boost frequently asked questions
The collagen you just paid to build is lost fastest to UV. Broad spectrum, SPF 30 or higher, water resistant, every single day. Nothing on this page outperforms that habit. [3]
Offered at
Ready to start? Request your consultation
Fill out the form below, book online in Santa Maria (opens online scheduler), or give us a call. Cosmetic and aesthetic appointments need no referral. For medical dermatology, we are accepting new patients by referral from your primary care physician; send the referral across and then use the same form.
Cosmetic consultations are $125, paid at booking and credited toward the cost of treatment.
Sources and medical review
1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Dermal Fillers (Soft Tissue Fillers).” Calcium-based fillers cannot be dissolved the way hyaluronic acid fillers can; supports the warning signs in the footer note. https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/aesthetic-cosmetic-devices/dermal-fillers-soft-tissue-fillers · Regulatory
2. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Surgical Sutures: Class II Special Controls Guidance Document for Industry and FDA Staff.” Absorbable surgical suture is a long-established regulated device class; supports the description of the thread material. https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/guidance-documents-medical-devices-and-radiation-emitting-products/surgical-sutures-class-ii-special-controls-guidance-document-industry-and-fda-staff · Regulatory
3. American Academy of Dermatology Association. “How to select a sunscreen.” Broad spectrum, SPF 30 or higher, water resistant. https://www.aad.org/public/everyday-care/sun-protection/shade-clothing-sunscreen/how-to-select-sunscreen · Medical Organization
Content on this page is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Radiesse® and NovaThreads® are registered trademarks of their respective owners. Swelling, bruising, tenderness, firmness and small lumps at the treated site are common and usually settle. With threads, a pulling or tight feeling for several days is expected, and puckering, thread migration, visible thread ends and infection are recognized risks. The FDA notes that filler injected into a blood vessel is rare but can block blood flow and cause skin loss, sores or, very rarely, blindness or a stroke. Calcium-based fillers cannot be dissolved. Call us immediately about unusual pain, skin that turns white, dusky or blotchy, vision changes or signs of infection. These treatments are not suitable where the skin is infected or inflamed, and your medications and medical history are reviewed first. Individual results may vary. Cosmetic consultations are $125, paid at booking and credited toward the cost of treatment.