There’s nothing you can do. Time moves only forward, so aging is inevitable. Somewhere along the line, the excitement of growing up exchanges for unease about the effects of getting older. Nowhere is this more obvious than your skin.
Your skin is vulnerable to other factors too, from sun exposure to personal choices, each of which plays a role that affects your appearance. Age affects other parts of your body too, and some of these combine with skin changes to make you look older.
Although Alexis D. Furze, MD, FACS specializes in otolaryngology and reconstructive plastic surgery, aesthetics are always on his mind when treating patients. Dr. Furze and his team offer cosmetic plastic surgery as well as minimally invasive aesthetic treatments including injectable anti-aging services.
Knowing the effects of aging on your skin can help you develop an effective skincare regimen to slow time’s progress and improve your appearance. Here’s what you need to know.
You’re on your own timeline when it comes to skin aging. Everyone ages in a unique way. You can influence some factors, while others remain out of your control. Your schedule starts with your genetics. Biological programming at the DNA level dictates when and how many aging factors progress.
Add to that the effects of life and lifestyle in the form of sun exposure, subcutaneous fat distribution, cigarette smoking, body weight, and even the amount of stress in your life and you develop a formula for aging that’s yours alone. Let’s look at the primary factors.
Though you won’t know when or how quickly your skin starts to age, you can expect certain changes that result in older looking skin. Transparency in the epidermis, the outer skin layer, increases due to thinning. Skin becomes lax when the elastic components in the middle layer start to subside.
Bruises happen more easily as blood vessels become fragile, while the flattening of the dermis and epidermis causes similar fragility in your skin itself. Loss of subcutaneous fat in the bottom skin layer further aggravates these changes.
Sun exposure is perhaps the largest preventable skin aging factor, but the effects of the ultraviolet (UV) portions of sunlight are cumulative and there’s no way to fully undo the effects of sun you’ve already received. One of the primary effects of UV light is changes to the dermis. That’s right, UV penetrates your outer skin and starts to break down elastin, accelerating lax skin. Skin pigments also start to clump, and your skin’s DNA begins to change, leading to mutations that may become cancerous over time.
Loss of bone mass around the chin and mouth changes the skeletal support of your face, and you could begin to notice puckering and sagging. Combined with the drying and laxity caused by dermis tissue loss, lines and wrinkles deepen, and overall, your skin is more susceptible to gravity.
Time takes an extreme toll on your skin and to receive the best medical direction, you need a practitioner who knows all the angles. Contact Alexis D. Furze MD, FACS, to arrange your consultation. Find out how Dr. Furze and his team can help you manage the effects of skin again. Book your appointment now.
