What happens to your skin as you age?
As you age, your skin loses elastin and collagen, leading to reduced elasticity; this is called elastosis. Both elastin and collagen are structures that support elements of the skin. Elastin keeps the skin tight and collagen gives skin its firmness.
Both of these fibers are plentiful in young skin. The picture below shows how perfectly aligned these fibers are in young skin. As you age, they start to deteriorate and look like a broken mesh. As a consequence, the skin loses its shape. This is called intrinsic aging.
As your skin ages and begins to lose elasticity, you might notice your jowls, or the lower cheek and jaw areas on either side of the mouth, begin to sag down.
With aging, the outer layer of skin (epidermis) becomes thinner, even though the number of cell layers remains the same. The number of pigment-containing cells (melanocytes) decreases and the remaining melanocytes increase in size. Aging skin looks thinner, paler, and clear (translucent). Large pigmented spots, including age spots, liver spots, or lentigos, may appear.
Elastosis It is more noticeable in sun-exposed areas (solar elastosis). Elastosis produces the leathery, weather-beaten appearance common to farmers, sailors, and others who spend a large amount of time outdoors.
The blood vessels of the dermis become more fragile, leading to bruising, bleeding under the skin (often called senile purpura), cherry angiomas, and similar conditions.
Sebaceous glands produce less oil. Men experience a minimal decrease, most often after the age of 80 but women gradually produce less oil beginning after menopause. This makes it hard to keep the skin moist, resulting in dryness and itchiness.
The subcutaneous fat layer thins so it has less insulation and padding. This increases your risk of skin injury and reduces your ability to maintain body temperature and because you have less natural insulation, you are more likely to get hypothermia in cold weather. Some medicines are absorbed by the fat layer so losing it changes the way that these medicines work.
The sweat glands produce less sweat making it harder to keep cool. Your risk for overheating or developing heat stroke increases.
Skin tags, warts, rough patches (keratoses), and other blemishes are more likely to develop with age.
My question to you is - how do you look after your skin?
References
Cavazos M (2013) What is the best thing for firming sagging skin? (online at www.livestrong.com) [Accessed 27/02/2017].
Gardner SG (2015) Effects of aging on skin. (online at www.webmd.com) [Accessed 27/02/2017].
Martin LJ, Zieve D (2017) Aging changes in skin. (online at medlineplus.gov) [Accessed 27/02/2017].
Wiley S (2015) Can facial exercises really lift sagging jo0wls. (online at www.livestrong.com) [Accessed 03/03/2017].