Why does our skin age?

Monday, February 13 2006 @ 05:56 PM Eastern Standard Time

Contributed by: Selina

There are many reasons why our skin ages. Unfortunately we can’t stop the process, but there are things that we can do to help slow the process down, thank god!

First I am going to discuss the reasons why our skin ages then I will suggest ways to help fight aging of our skin.

1. Chronological aging

Chronological aging is the natural aging process. It is a continuous process that normally begins in our mid 20’s. Symptoms of chronological aging are:

Dry and Thin Skin
When our skin ages the to layer lose more moisture. Older skin renews itself every four to six weeks, while young skin renews every three to four weeks. This causes older skin to have a dry, dull, dehydrated appearance.
Fine Wrinkles
As our skin ages the production of collagen is diminished. This leads to fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes, forehead and other sun-exposed areas. It also causes facial expression lines an sagging folds over the eyelids, neck, jaw, and arms.
Abnormal Blood Vessels
Aging of the skin also causes abnormalities to develop within the small blood vessels which supplies nutrients to the skin. The abnormalities develop mostly over the nose and cheek areas.
Age Spots
Age spots are collections of pigment caused by exposure to the sun. They are most common in people over the age of 55. Younger people are now seeing a different kind of age spot called sun spots which as you guessed it are caused by sun exposure. These spots can appear almost anywhere, especially sun exposed areas such as the face, back, arms, feet, and shoulders.
Benign and malignant skin tumours
These are cause by the deterioration of the skin’s immune system.

2. Extrinsic Aging

Extrinsic aging is caused from external factors. These external factors work with the internal factors which will cause aging. External factors can be prevented. Photo aging, is a term that dermatologists use to describe this type of aging caused by exposure to the sun’s rays. The amount of photo aging that develops depends on:

A person’s skin colour
Their history of long term or intense sun exposure.

Without protection from the sun’s rays, just a few minutes of exposure each day over the years can cause noticeable changes to the skin. Freckles, age spots, spider veins on the face, rough and leathery skin, fine wrinkles that disappear when stretched, loose skin, blotchy complexion, and skin cancer can all be traced to sun exposure.

If you think you only get sun damage from being outside in the sun, think again!

Sun tanning beds are just as bad if not worse for causing sun damage leading to skin aging.

So if you think that you are helping your skin by prepping it for a vacation by going to get a base for a tan at a tanning salon, read on. Tanning beds supple only UVA rays which cause photo aging and skin cancer (UVB rays can cause cancer as well). Getting a pre holiday base like this is equivalent to smoking a couple of cigarettes before you go into a smoky bar to ‘get your lungs used to the smoke’.

3. Gravity

Gravity consistently pulls on our bodies. Changes related to gravity become more pronounced as we age. In our 50’s, when the skin’s elasticity declines dramatically, the effects of gravity become evident. Gravity causes the tip of the nose to droop, the ears to elongate, the eyelids to fall, jowls to form, and the upper lip to disappear while the lower lip becomes more pronounced.

4. Smoking

Cigarette smoking causes biochemical changes in our bodies that accelerate aging. People who smoke will eventually get an unhealthy yellowish hue to their complexion. Smoking causes leathery skin and deep wrinkles especially around the mouth and eyes.
It also slows down the production of collagen and elastin, which causes sagging in the skin.

For Healthier, Younger Looking Skin

Prevention

There is nothing you can do to stop or slow down chronological aging, you can prevent signs of premature aging by protecting your skin from the sun, quitting smoking.

Protect your skin from the sun you can do this by:

Avoiding deliberate tanning, including the use of indoor tanning beds.
Staying out of the sun between 10:00am and 4:00pm, during these hours the sun’s rays are the strongest.
Wearing protective clothing, such as hats, long sleeved shirts, when outdoors during the day.
Applying sunscreen year round. Sunscreen should be broad spectrum (offers UVA and UVB protection) and have a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of at least 15 and higher. Sunscreen should be applied 20 minutes before going outdoors to all skin that will be exposed. It should be reapplied every 2 hours.

Make sure your daily moisturizer contains an SPF because even in the winter you are exposed to some of the sun’s harmful rays.

I hope this article answered all of your questions about skin aging. The most important step that you must take to prevent premature aging is the application of sunscreen!

Selina

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