What is cold plasma treatment?
A plain explanation
Cold plasma turns up in search results and skincare marketing without much explanation attached. Here is what the term actually means, and an honest account of how it relates to what we do.
People arrive at this term from very different directions. Some have read about plasma in a research context, some have seen it on a skincare label, and some have been told a device uses cold plasma without being told what that means. It is worth untangling, because the word is used loosely and the loosest uses are usually the ones trying to sell you something.
Plasma is often called the fourth state of matter, alongside solid, liquid and gas. Cold, or non-thermal, plasma is plasma that stays near room temperature, and it is being researched for uses including wound healing. The plasma skin treatment we offer at the clinic is NeoGen Plasma, which uses controlled nitrogen plasma energy to regenerate the skin. It is not a cold plasma device, and we will not describe it as one.
What plasma actually is
In everyday terms, plasma is an energised gas. Give a gas enough energy and its particles become charged, and it starts behaving quite differently from ordinary gas. That energised state is what makes it useful, because it can carry controlled energy to a surface such as the skin.
In skin treatments, that energy can be used to prompt the skin’s own repair and regeneration processes. Different devices use plasma in different ways, at different temperatures and intensities, which is exactly why two treatments both described as plasma can be nothing alike.
What cold plasma means specifically
Cold, or non-thermal, plasma refers to plasma kept near room temperature. It is a legitimate and active area of research, particularly around wound healing and antimicrobial effects, and there is genuine scientific interest in it.
What I would caution against is assuming that any product or device using the phrase is drawing on that research. The term has commercial appeal, and appeal travels faster than evidence.
What we actually offer
NeoGen Plasma converts nitrogen gas into plasma and delivers it in measured pulses across the skin, treating the whole area uniformly and prompting genuine regeneration. It addresses texture, tone, fine lines, surface laxity and pigmentation together, and it can be tuned from a lighter session with modest downtime through to a deeper treatment.
If you are comparing it against other plasma devices, our guide on plasma pens versus NeoGen covers why a handheld pen and a NeoGen system are not equivalent.
Two treatments can both be called plasma and have almost nothing in common. The word tells you about the physics, not about the result.
Being precise about it
Here is where I could blur a line and will not. NeoGen is not a cold plasma device, and I am not going to describe it as one because that is the phrase people are searching for. Cold plasma means non-thermal plasma specifically. NeoGen uses controlled nitrogen plasma energy with a thermal effect, and that thermal effect is central to how it regenerates skin.
So if you arrived here searching for cold plasma hoping to improve your skin, the honest answer is that the established, clinically supported plasma skin treatment we provide is NeoGen. It may well be what you want. But you should know it under its correct description rather than the one that matched your search.
Questions worth asking anyone selling plasma
Ask this
- What is the device actually called, and who makes it
- What does it do to the skin, in plain terms
- Who is operating it, and what is their registration
- What evidence supports the specific claim being made to me
Be wary if
- The answer is a scientific-sounding phrase rather than a description
- Nobody will name the device or the manufacturer
- The evidence offered is testimonials and nothing else
- The words used shift when you ask a second time
Be sceptical of anything sold to you on the strength of a scientific-sounding term alone. Ask what the device is, what it does to the skin, who is operating it, and what evidence supports the claim being made. If those questions produce vague answers, the term was doing the selling.
Ask us the same questions and you will get straight answers. NeoGen is a clinic-grade system with real evidence behind it, it treats texture, tone, fine lines, laxity and pigmentation in the same session, and I deliver every treatment personally. If plasma is what brought you here, that is the treatment worth your time, and finding out whether it suits your skin costs nothing.
Dr James
Common questions, answered
Cold, or non-thermal, plasma is plasma kept near room temperature, and it is being researched for uses such as wound healing. Plasma itself is an energised gas that can carry controlled energy to the skin. The established plasma skin treatment we offer is NeoGen Plasma, which uses controlled nitrogen plasma to regenerate the skin.
No, and we would rather be precise than blur the terms. Cold plasma refers specifically to non-thermal plasma. NeoGen uses controlled nitrogen plasma energy with a thermal effect that is central to how it regenerates the skin. If you are interested in plasma for your skin, NeoGen is what we would discuss with you.
NeoGen Plasma can improve skin texture, tone, fine lines, surface laxity and pigmentation, treating several concerns together. Whether it suits your skin, and at what intensity, is confirmed at consultation.
At The Plasma Doctor, NeoGen Plasma is delivered personally by Dr James Corcoran at our Warrington clinic.
Find out if NeoGen suits you
Book a consultation and I will tell you honestly whether NeoGen Plasma is right for your skin, and what I think it would realistically achieve.
This article is general information about treatments we offer, not personal medical advice. Individual results vary, and suitability can only be established at a face-to-face consultation with Dr Corcoran. Every treatment carries risks and limitations, which we discuss in full before you consent.