How Age Effects Our Skin

Ageing:

Ageing is a natural process which is caused by biochemical reactions that take place inside our body. The rate of these biochemical reactions varies due to our lifestyle, habits, and the way we take care of our skin. Skin is the first organ which shows the effects of ageing followed by the body processes and organs. Another factor which determines the rate of ageing inside the body is the mental health.

Normal morphological changes of ageing:

As we age, our skin becomes dull due to the thickening of stratum corneum and decrease in the rate of cellular turnover. It also becomes slack and sags due to the breakdown of collagen, elastin, and loss of hyaluronic acid from the skin. The skin becomes more transparent, and fragile because the boundary between the epidermis and the dermis becomes thin and the layers fuse together. It is also easily bruised due to the loss of support around the vessel walls.

 

Changes below the skin:

Collagen and elastin are not the only things which are lost and breakdown due to ageing. As we age we lose fat from the cheeks, temples, chin, nose, and eye area. This loss of fat lead to skin loosening and wrinkle formation. The skin acts like adrape, and one of the substances which support the drape is fat. Another substance that we lose with age is the bone. The osteocytes are always regenerating inside our body. The old osteocytes are recycled, and new osteocytes take their place. Similar to cellular turnover, the rate of osteocyte recycling is also affected by the ageing.We start losing the bones from the jaw causing the puckering of the skin around the mouth.Nasal tip droops down after we turn 60 because of the loss of cartilage; as a result, the bony structures of the nose are accentuated.

 

Other skin changes:

The secondary factors which contribute to the shifts in the skin with age include gravity, the frequency of the facial movements, and sleeping positions. When the elastin and collagen breakdown, the gravity comes into play and drags the skin and the muscles down. This cause the classic V-shape of the face to convert into a square shape which can be seen in the people nearing 70 years of age. Their jaw lines droop down, and the skin of the neck form folds.

Constant facial movements lead to wrinkle formation, and the primary factor behind this is the loss of elasticity. When we are younger, our muscles contract and relax at the same speed. With age, the contractile ability weakens, the muscles do contract, but they don’t come back with the same intensity. As a result, the lines of expressions become etched into the skin. Later on and if left untreated, these lines become folds. Typical lines associated with expressions are frown lines, glabellar lines, crow’s feet, and laugh lines.

 

Sun exposure:

A healthy tan is anything but healthy. A tan or a sunburn is a sign that the harmful UVA and UVB rays of the sun have penetrated inside the skin and overstimulated melanin synthesis. Melanin is the protein which is not only responsible for the pigmentation, it is the first line of defence against cancer-causing sun rays. As soon as you venture out unprotected into the sun, the melanocytes kick into gear and start producing melanin to protect the skin. If melanin is not present or is present in a small amount (in fair skin toned people), the sun rays inoculate free radicals into the skin which bind to the collagen and elastin and break them down prematurely leading to wrinkles.

You can protect from the harmful sun rays by wearing sunscreen and including antioxidants in your diet and skincare regime. These antioxidants bind to the free radicals produced by the sun rays and prevent them from reaching collagen and elastin.

 

Smoking:

Smoking is not only bad for your lungs, its plain bad for your skin as well. There are several levels at which the sun rays harm your body. By holding the cigarette, nails become yellow and course due to tobacco. Secondly, the puckering of the lips to hold the cigarette causes wrinkles and lines to develop on the vermillion lines of the lips. The mouth is the first area which shows the signs of ageing due to smoking. Thirdly, the tobacco leaves behind free radical species, like sun rays, which bind to the collagen and elastin and break them down. Smoking takes 20 years from your skin, so it’s better to leave it.

Skin clinic Nottingham is offering multiple anti-ageing treatments sat very affordable rates. If you want to rejuvenate your skin and turn the clock back by ten years or so, they contact them.