Do you feel like your skin simply doesn’t look the way it did when you were younger?
If so, you’re not alone. One of the most obvious signs of the aging process is change to the skin. Exactly how your skin changes, and to what extent, can depend on a number of factors: Your eating habits, your lifestyle, and your personal hygiene, among others.
In this post, we’re going to take a closer look at some of the factors that cause your skin to age, highlighting some of the things that you can control as well as some of the things that you can’t
What are the Signs of Aging Skin?
To begin with, consider some of the most common signs that your skin is aging.
- It gets rough, dry, and itchy.
- You experience a loss of elastic tissue, meaning you have a lot of loose, slack, or “droopy” skin.
- Your skin becomes thinner, perhaps even becoming transparent.
- You notice that your skin is a lot more fragile than it used to be.
- You bruise more easily.
- Your skin develops lesions and non-cancerous tumors.
These are just some of the obvious indicators that your skin is changing… and that age is the underlying impetus.
What Causes Aging Skin?
And yet, to say that it’s all about age is a little bit of an oversimplification. As you get older, the effects of your lifestyle habits start to accrue, and that’s really what causes your skin to change.
Consider a few examples:
- Overexposure to sun. If you’ve spent a lot of time in the sun, without taking the proper precautions, then you’ve allowed UV rays to damage certain skin fibers (notable elastin). This can lead to sagging and loose skin, as well as to a greater vulnerability to bruising and tearing. These effects are easy to mitigate with simple protective measures, including sunscreen.
- Obesity. If you’re significantly overweight, it could lead to a number of problems with the skin, including skin tags, stretch marks, varicose veins, and dark patches around the skin.
- Sleeping position. If you sleep on your stomach or side, with your face pressed against the pillow, you may be increasing your vulnerability to wrinkles and fine lines.
- Smoking. Smoking interferes with normal blood flow to the skin, which can often result in more wrinkles and fine lines.
- Loss of sweat and oil glands. As our bodies age, we tend to lose these important glands, which can result in dry, itchy skin. The use of moisturizing skin products, along with consistent hydration, can minimize the problem.
- Gravity. As the skin loses its elasticity, gravity can lead to effects like jowling or the lengthening of ear lobes.
These are just some of the primary factors that contribute to your changing skin. The good news is, there are plenty of effective, aesthetic treatments available to mitigate these effects. We’d love to tell you more.
Reach out to Luminary any time you’re ready to chat about proper skin health.
