I’m still figuring out what I might use the DEP machine for, and in addition to using it to help serums soak in better, I wondered about hands.
You’ve mentioned possibly using it with radiesse or sculptra. Do you think one of those, or perhaps a filler like juviderm could go in evenly through hands to plumb them up? I would never spend money to have a doc inject my hands, but if this was a simple DIY procedure, not having the hands of a 98 year old would be appealing
Thoughts?
My opinion - it’s wasting of money (for me). I can inject myself and you have to go to a doctor to do that. So what’s wasting of money for me could be a find for you. In other words it’s difficult to advise. The best thing would be to try it at least once. Could you find an aesthetician in your area who has it?
And it will do nothing for your hands. Radiesse or just Juvederm injection will add volume - and it’s a quick and painless procedure that gives immediate results.
That is a clever idea… I will see if anyone in our little tiny town has one and how much it would cost. (They rape and pillage in this area, so one time will most likely cost more than buying the machine!)
I’m not quite ready to pull the trigger (still learning), but if I do, and if you regret buying it, I’d be happy to buy yours vs from a stranger if that helps you out.
I think whoever offers it will charge more for the treatment than the cost of the device. Sculptra is something I haven’t tried but I mean to. Theoretically it’s supposed to be PERFECT for the DEP as it’s very watery.
Can regular ol’ face serums be used, or do we need to use things of a certain molecular weight… and things that are more pure (no preservatives or whatever else would be in otc facial serums).
Also keep in mind that DEP effectiveness depends much on skin age - younger ppl will always have better results. So when somebody half your age tells you that it works wonders for them, take it with a grain of skepticism. We are reaching the age when nothing is going to work. Why do you think Kris Jenner had a deep plane facelift instead of using DEP? 
Serums should not be used because you do not want preservatives and other chemicals pushed into your skin.
I have not seen any information on this. Why do you say this? Why would this be?
It’s just my observation and simple logic. When skin is young it would respond dramatically even to a simple moisturizer. Simple moisturizer would not produce any dramatic results on a 60 - 70 year old face. Skin care recommendations change for different ages.
I don’t see any dramatic results with DEP on my 70 year old face. However @medaura (40?) is very happy with what DEP does for her. The same DEP, but different age categories. DEP works better for her than for me because of the age difference.
I mean those who are over 50-60 shouldn’t expect the same results as much younger ppl.
How Skin Changes with Age
(Copilot search)
• Thinner Epidermis: The outer layer of skin becomes thinner over time, reducing its barrier function and altering how treatments penetrate
• Reduced Collagen & Elastin: Aging skin has diminished collagen and elastin, leading to less firmness and slower repair capacity
• Lower Cellular Turnover: Younger skin renews itself more rapidly, which enhances responsiveness to treatments that rely on regeneration.
• Decreased Vascularization: Blood vessels become more fragile and less efficient with age, reducing nutrient delivery and healing capacity
• Drier Skin: Sebaceous and sweat gland activity declines, making older skin more prone to dryness and less receptive to hydrophilic agents
I don’t know about it being that much less effective with age. Much has to do with WHAT you inject. Did you try dilute radiesse like I did? Did you wait 3-4 weeks like I did to see the end result? Did you repeat the treatment 4-5 times like I did, 4-6 weeks apart? If you do all the things I did as I did them but didn’t get a result worth patting yourself in the back for, then I might be inclined to agree with you that perhaps older skin just doesn’t respond as well.
@Beth you’ll only want to use DEP with solutions which you would have injected otherwise. If it’s safe for an injection it’s safe for DEP. Using it with run of the mill serums and moisturizers meant for topical use will not only not help but quite likely create problems for the reasons LaraPo gave.
It’s not exactly a pleasant experience either so do it with something worth the discomfort. I highly recommend trying Sculptra, dilute Radiesse, and / or any other mesotherapy cocktails / biostimulators, but I think the former two will give you the most bang for the buck. Plan as many vials of Sculptra as decades you are old, 2x that if you want to go heavy, and space them 4-8 weeks apart. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Don’t worry it’ll come to you in some 20-30 years! I know my skin is not the same as decades ago and responds differently on interventions now. Expecting old skin to react exactly the same way as young skin is a little naive imo.
I did not try dilute Radiesse by DEP - I still have injected Radiesse in my face which will last for some time. Didn’t want to overdo.
HA is recommended to use with DEP so I tried it 2 times and compared it to the same by injection. The result wasn’t in favor of DEP. May be if I tried it 5 times or more the result could be better, but it doesn’t make sense to waste so much filler if I can simply inject it once and have a great result immediately that would last at least 6 months.
It’s great that it works for you. And I can see a benefit for those who do not want to do injections. It’s definitely convenient and fast.
So, I wanted to understand this more…
What is the clinical and scientific evidence that older human skin responds more poorly to therapeutics (topical, injections, etc.) for skin health, than does younger human skin?
Yes, there is good mechanistic and some clinical evidence that older human skin has a weaker / slower regenerative response than younger skin. But it’s not as simple as “treatments don’t work in older people.” Older skin:
At the same time, classic therapies (retinoids, lasers, fillers) still produce meaningful improvements in older skin — they’re just working against a weaker biological substrate with more accumulated damage.
Full response here:
Because I don’t currently want fillers in my face, it sound like I’d only be using this in my hands now (and for $200, that is still under consideration)… can you remind me how much a vial of sculptra or radiesse is? I’m doing the math to figure out how much I care about my craggy hands 
I think your situation is unique in that you know how to inject already. If I did, I would stick to that and not even bother with DEP.
I don’t assert that older skin responds just as well as younger skin to any treatment. But it might be possible to achieve the same delta in satisfaction with the outcome. And at least your experience so far hasn’t disproved it.
Radiesse behaves very differently when it’s injected undiluted vs diluted. Undiluted it adds volume. Diluted it’s a bio stimulant / rejuvenator. I have used Cytocare and NCFT 135 HA and they gave me a nice glow via DEP but didn’t change my skin. They’d probably work better injected as mesotherapy but I doubt they’d have transformed my skin like Radiesse has because I’ve seen before and after videos of people in their 20s using them and the most that can be expected.
So I don’t know that your skin would react as well as that of someone’s in her 20s or even mine at almost 40, but the improvement compared to your OWN baseline might be huge nevertheless. And maybe it’s not. But so far your experience hasn’t disproved it because the compounds you’ve used aren’t heavy hitters.
Have you thought of using Sculptra?
No, never used Sculptra. I don’t think I need it at this point. My skin looks pretty good and I just need to maintain it that way for as long as possible. My pictures are still evaluated by AI as 39-45 yo. And I’m happy with that.
I started using HA based fillers when I turned 40. Early start is really important as my experience proved. I plan on continuing DEP for hard to reach areas and general hydration. Working now on making my own HA serum for DEP by combining sterile saline with HA powder (by Microingredients) and storing it in sterile syringes for 5-7 days with no preservatives. Will see how it works or if it works at all. It’s pretty inexpensive to try. The main challenge is to keep it not contaminated.
Just to be a contrarian here… I’ve been using a few regular face serums and no issues. And the CGPT analysis previously posted suggested the only issue is higher risk of skin irritation, but I’ve seen none of that. The bigger issue for me is if it’s actually doing anything significant. I’m still in testing mode on that, and am undecided.
Oh, this is excellent to hear! I know we can use regular products when microneedling which is why I thought I could do the same with dep.
I didn’t realize you were using it. Keep us posted!!!
I’d love my fancy serums to be absorbed better on my face, or fillers in my granny hands…
How comfortable or uncomfortable are you finding it? How long does it take to do you face?
Re-read this section if you are trying serums. Not all serums are appropriate, and if in doubt, post the ingredient list to CGPT and check: Dermo-electroporation for Aging Skin Health and Rejuvenation - #30 by RapAdmin
@Beth I’ve only tried the DEP once so far, with a simple HA solution (label said 5% if I remember correctly), 3 ml. I got about a week of noticeably plumper, more hydrated skin. For me that already makes the device worthwhile as a hydration booster, considering how inexpensive it is. One session took around 10 minutes.
I’ve now ordered Fillmed NCTF 135 HA and Cytocare 532, which are usually used for microneedling or microinjections. They’re HA-based serums with a cocktail of vitamins, amino acids, etc., aimed at improving collagen and elastin over time. For me it works out to roughly 15 eur per application (3 ml NCTF or 5 ml Cytocare), which I find reasonable if they actually make a difference.
Plan is to add DEP as a bi-weekly or monthly “skin booster” step. I really hate injections, but I still let my husband inject Sunekos about every 6 months (I suffer every time 
). Next time I’m thinking of using DEP first with some lidocaine to numb the area a bit more.
I’m also thinking about trying Radiesse on my neck, although I’m quite sceptical about how effective it will be there. On the other hand, a 1.5 ml syringe is around 80–100 eur where I’m buying, so I might experiment. If it works nicely on the neck, I’d definitely consider Radiesse for my hands as well, probably in combination with the same serums I use on my face.
If @medaura has a good experience with Sculptra, I’ll probably try that with DEP too. In theory PLLA itself is in the right molecular-weight range (somewhere around 80–90 kDa), but Sculptra is made of solid PLLA microspheres, so I honestly don’t know how much of it DEP can realistically push through the skin compared with proper injections. I’m not sure I’d dare to use it on my face anyway… would you, @medaura?
In any case, if DEP ends up being even 50% as effective as injections, the potential savings are huge. A 5 ml Sculptra “dose” is roughly 100 eur as raw product, while having the same amount injected by a reputable doctor is easily 600–800 € (or more in the US) per session.