ResearchSafe

GHK-Cu topical vs injectable, anyone done both and noticed a real difference

Posted by student748 in Longevity & Anti-Aging - 5 points, 4 comments.

Been looking into GHK-Cu for skin and general tissue repair stuff. The profile here says 1-3mg topical daily or 200-500mcg injectable 3x a week. For what it is worth i have only ever used a copper peptide serum off and on, nothing structured, and honestly couldnt tell if it did much. Maybe my skin looked a bit less tired? Could just be placebo or just me paying more attention to skincare generally.

Keen to hear from anyone who has done both routes. Is the injectable version noticeably different for skin quality or hair or whatever, or is that overkill if you are just chasing the cosmetic side of things? I gather the systemic effects on collagen and wound healing are the drawcard for injecting but i have no personal reference point for that.

Also slightly nervous about copper imbalance if you go the injectable route long term. Do people cycle it or just run it straight? The half life is short, like 2-4 hours, so i guess frequent dosing makes sense but i dont want to mess with copper levels blindly. Any bloodwork people watch beyond serum copper and ceruloplasmin?

Totally new to this one so cheers in advance for any real world feedback.

Comments

  • sleep_coastal: I tried topical GHK-Cu for about three months and honestly had the same experience you did, maybe slightly better skin texture but nothing dramatic, could've been the moisturizer base doing most of the work. Anecdotally the injectable route hit different for me, seemed to help with an old tendon issue that topical obviously can't reach. Skin-wise I noticed more from injectable but it wasn't night and day. For purely cosmetic stuff I'd say injectable is probably overkill. On the copper worry, I
  • student748: Chur that's actually really helpful. The tendon thing is interesting cos that's the part i was curious about, whether systemic actually does something topical cant. Did you notice the tendon improvement pretty quick or was it more like weeks in? And did you get bloods done before and after or just during? Keen to try a short run like you said, 4 weeks sounds reasonable for what it is worth. The ceruloplasmin thing is a good call, i wouldnt have thought to check that specifically.
  • curious_scientist: I gave injectable a shot for a nagging elbow ache and felt a subtle easing after two weeks, topical never touched that. Skin felt a tad firmer but again could be placebo. Imo the systemic reach matters for deeper tissue.
  • student748: Chur thats actually really helpful, the elbow thing is a good data point for me. I get nagging stuff like that from training so the systemic angle makes sense. Did you run it at the lower end of that 200-500mcg range, and did you do anything for cycling or just ran it straight? Still a bit nervous about the copper imbalance thing long term.

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