TOPIC: And the stupid question of the day is......

Hi guys, its been a while since i\'ve been here but christmas has arrived and i\'ve got some time off so internet exploring ahoy
Let me start the holidays off with my usual ignorant and remedial style of question that i just can\'t seem to answer myself:
If PMMA works by forming new collagen to replace the bovine collagen or whatever other carrier is used and in the process encapsulates the PMMA microspheres then why do we need the PMMA in that process?
Could we not just repeatedly inject the carrier and keep forming layer upon layer of newly formed collagen thus giving the same effect as PMMA but without any of the worries about having permanent plastic microspheres in our cocks?
I am sure there is a good reason why this wont work otherwise it would already be a procedure offered to us but i don\'t have enough of a background in biology to know why not myself and was hoping you guys could offer an explanation.
I did try and use the search btw but with search terms including the words PMMA and collagen the list of results was endless.
Any help answering this question would be much appreciated - i\'m quite interested in the mechanics of how all this stuff works, its fascinating to be honest.
cheers guys
swamps

The bovine collagen is just the carrier. It\'s the actual PMMA beads that stimulate the collagen. With the PMMA used for PE, it\'s water based carrier, the absorbs after a couple of days. In short the volume we see from PMMA is the bodies immune reaction to the tiny beads. These beads are foreign bodies, so our immune system tries to wall then off, by producing collagen to encapsulate them. So the bovine collagen carrier or water based carrier aren\'t that part of the product that caused the encapsulation.

hoddle10 - amazing mate thanks for that, just what i needed to know, i obviously got my wires crossed in respect to what role the carrier plays in the whole process.
Cheers again and happy xmas mate
swamps

What i don\'t understand : why is the bovine collagen carrier absorbed ?
Or more specifically : suppose you don\'t get an allergic / immune system response to the collagen, why is it still absorbed ?
Collagen are quite strong fibers, they don\'t just \"dissolve\". Your own collagen doesn\'t dissolve either, it stays for years in your body, ie. in scar tissue (very visible) but also in the dermis, in ligaments, tendons, ... (it isn\'t replaced as far as I know).
Or doesn\'t it ? Is your own collagen constantly broken down and replaced by new collagen ? So that the initial + extra collagen you inject, will after a certain time be broken down, and only replaced by the initial amount of collagen ?

Would it be possible to keep the injected collagen in place, even without PMMA ? Ie. by injecting more complex collagen-based structures, that cannot be absorbed but don\'t create foreign body reactions either, instead of PMMA spheres ?

Or would it be possible to increase the body\'s own collagen production, ie. by making a culture of your own body\'s fibroblasts and injecting them, so they produce more collagen then normally in the injected location ?

As far as I understand, by injecting PMMA spheres into your dermis, you essentially create scar tissue around it.
Would it be possible to create scar tissue with something less permanent then PMMA spheres, so that this material is absorbed by the body in the long run, but the scar tissue that was formed around it remains ?
That would totally remove the risk of foreign body response.

(just trying to understand what\'s going down beneath the skin, ...)