Carboxytherapy for Menopausal Dryness

The Gel for the aging vagina

I went to Brazil about a decade ago to speak in Rio at the first ever Cosmetic Gynecology Congress for Latin America. Went back in 2017 to show off ThermiVa to the Latin physicians. During my visit there I was most fascinated with the injected carbon dioxide under the skin called carboxytherapy. 30 gauge needles were used under the skin of the lower eye lids, face, stretch marks. It was getting injected under the skin of the labia vaginal areas. It looked like a painful and awful procedure. I tried to get a machine and found out it was not FDA cleared or approved. It is still not approved in the United States. So I lost interest. Then I get an email from my friend Gustavo Leibaschoff, M.D., an OBGYN from Argentina, living in Dallas, and President of the World Society of Cosmetic Gynecology. He had a new treatment using carbon dioxide but without needles! So obviously that sparked my interest! We got together and he told me about his new baby. CO2LiftV Gel. Read below how it went from painful injected gas to soothing healing gel.

Over the past 3 years he taught me about the science, the safety, and the efficacy. All very very impressive. So impressive that it is a daily part of my practice and a topic I speak about internationally. I want to give Gustavo all the credit, all the thanks. He gave me his slide set and told me to teach the world. So everything you will see is Gustavo’s. I am just a messenger. If you suffer from vaginal dryness, menopausal changes that cause painful sex then you should look into this. It contains no hormones and is easy to use and is very very safe.

The development of Carboxytherapy has become quite important because of the huge number of women entering menopause. The symptoms of dryness, burning, and pain drove this development.

The first paper on carboxytherapy came from Argentina decades ago.

Carbon dioxide gas was injected under the skin using a tiny sharp needle to get its intended effect.

French cardiologist injected it improve blood flow in arms and legs.

This resulted in higher localized oxygen levels! It helped with healing.

The circulation improved, the vessels became dilated. New vessel formation started. Collagen was stimulated. Below is a description of that Bohr Effect.

The amazing this is that the effects also occurred far away from the place of injection! The vascular flow increased and vessels opened up brought more oxygen to tissues.

Here are the studies listed showing carboxytherapy’s effects:

So here is a summary of the physiologic effects of CO2:

It was safe and non-toxic. However, it hurt due to the sharp needle and the way the CO2 gas stretched the tissues including the skin. Sometimes your treated are felt heavy, could bruising, and form crepitation bubbles. Imagine using this on the genital tissues. It would hurt!

So for 25 years its use in aesthetics grew in many parts of the world such as Latin America. Since it stimulated fibroblasts new and fresh collagen would be made. Tighter and fresher skin! Wonderful for the face, saggy eyelids, lines and wrinkles. It was like a poor man’s filler. But it was painful.

More and more papers came out showing effectiveness for dermatologic conditions.

So injected carboxytherapy gained acceptance for wound care and healing around the world. Except the U.S. The procedure still hurt and injections were painful. The injections of carbon dioxide under the skin would cause a separation of the skin from the underlying tissue. It was actually a physical trauma that initiated the healing cascade. Carbon dioxide bubbles were being made under the skin and you were trying to create crepitis for a short while.

Then the Big Event happened. Yoshitada Sakai of Japan published a paper about a gel that caused the same Bohr Effect without having to inject anything. No needles! No more pain from the dozens of shots needed to get a clinical effect.

A company was created called Lumisque who branded the gel “CO2Lift.” The gel was now used for cosmetics and not just for burn patients and wound care patients. CO2Lift was great for the face and skin and created a fresh and vibrant look. It helped reduce wrinkles and even out the skin tone. Many offices and medusas now offer these CO2LIft masks.

The product was gentle and non-irritating.

Gustavo wrote a paper with Luis Coll and Wendy Roberts and showed the increase in microcirculation using the gel.

Gustavo showed that the injected CO2 and the gel CO2 gave very similar results.

The horizontal and vertical capillaries were increased! More blood flow!

Not only more blood flow but also more density in the blood vessels.

The vessel diameter even widened! That is hugely important because vaginal dryness is actually caused when there is a reduction in blood vessels and blood flow in the vagina resulting in less collagen and elastin produced by cells call fibroblasts. When that happens dryness and rigid vaginal walls happen. Sometimes sex becomes unbearably painful. So with reduced blood blow comes reduced moisture formation because the moistness in the vagina comes from a transudate of plasma going through the walls of the blood vessels. Vaginal moisture is not mainly from glands! It is from the blood flow of the vaginal tissues!

The study conclusion:

So now you wonder if this works in the genital area? A gel for vaginal dryness without hormones perhaps! Read on to see my experience of the past few years. Go to Lumisque and get more info. See the before and after pictures below.