Highlights
- Premature aging is a common concern nowadays because of our stressful lives and poor living habits.
- We can’t avoid aging but can avail of treatments to prevent its signs.
- Our dermatologists can reverse the aging signs.
- You should know the skin anatomy, aging causes, and treatment options to make the right choice.Ā
What Are The Ageing Issues?
The natural and biological body processes affect the skin surface as you age in the form of aging issues, such as sagging skin, laugh lines, fine lines, folds, and wrinkles. Certain internal and external factors cause skin aging.
Such factors may include genetic level changes, environmental influence, and external catalysts, which speed up the natural aging process. As you age, your skin starts looking dehydrated, tired, dull, saggy and filled with lines or burrows that make you look older than your age.
Types and Classification
Here are the different types and classifications that you may experience:
- Genetic or Intrinsic Ageing:Ā
Intrinsic Aging is a slow process that shows dry, pale, smooth, and less elastic skin with fine wrinkles that aren’t visible until you get old. Your intrinsically aged skin will show dermal and epidermal atrophy,Ā less collagen, more Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs), and a decrease in fibroblasts.Ā The structural changes in Dermal-Epidermal Junction (DEJ) increase skin fragility and decrease nutrient transfer between epidermal and dermal layers.
- Sagging Skin: It occurs due to the breakdown of elastin and collagen proteins present underneath the skin.
- Age Spots: UV exposure usually leads to pigmentation and uneven skin tone causing age spots.
- Fine lines and wrinkles: As we age, our skin gets thinner, less elastic and drier; it forms folds, creases or ridges also known as wrinkles.
- Dry, thin and transparent skin:Ā This may be due to lowered due to sweat and sebum secretions in the skin. Hormonal (estrogens)slow down especially in females may reduce the hydration and increase the dead skin layers making it look dull and dry.
Apart from the above factors, secondary causes that contribute to ageing include the following ā
- Mechanical Ageing: It refers to the fine lines which appear due to wear and tears we put our skin through during physical movements or repetitive facial expressions such as frowning, smiling, squinting, laughing etc. Mechanical ageing includes: Dynamic wrinkles around eyes, brow and mouth
- Extrinsic or Environmental Ageing:Ā Extrinsic Aging is caused due to smoking and exposure chronic to solar ultraviolet irradiation (photoaging). Your skin loses elasticity and gets mottled hyperpigmentation and coarse and deep wrinkles. Facial skin gets aged when it stays exposed to the sun for a long time. Your skin may get premature aging and cancer.
Photosged epidermis reflects abnormal keratinocyte maturation.Ā Dermal changes accumulate elastic material (solar elastosis) and lose elastic fiber integrity. Such changes decrease elasticity in your skin and form wrinkles. Smoking promotes aging, degrades elastic fibers, and increases facial wrinkles.Ā
Smokers have deeper and narrower wrinkles than nonsmokers. The wrinkling pattern is known as āsmokerās faceā and tends to have gaunt features, and atrophic, gray, uneven skin color. Plus, squinting and pursing the lips when inhaling smoke may form sharply contoured crowās-feet and prominent perioral lines.
Hormonal and Catabolic Aging
As the skin is a hormone-based organ, the reduction of hormone secretions during menopause promotes skin aging. Menopause degrades the skin quality in women. Estrogen mainly has a significant effect on the skin, which increases extracellular matrix production and prevents the decrease in collagen, skin thickness, hydration, and epidermal barrier function.
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The main symptom of postmenopausal aging is increased sagging. Catabolic aging degrades the older skin further through the effect of a specific chronic disease, like diabetes, cancer, hypothyroidism, or infection.
What Causes Ageing?
Primary and secondary factors cause skin aging. Primary factors trigger aging-related issues, while secondary factors accelerate aging.
Here are the primary causes of aging:Ā
- Sun Exposure āĀ Chronic exposure to UV rays cause structural instability by breaking down elastin and collagen fibers in your skin. The exposure causes age spots, fine lines, wrinkles, and other premature aging signs on your skin.
- Smoking āĀ Smoking causes premature wrinkles and accelerates the skin aging process. Tobacco can speed up the natural aging process by triggering degeneration in the skin. Smoking accumulates free radicals in your skin, which damages it and delays its healing process. It may decrease the capillary blood flow to your skin and deprive it of oxygen and vital nutrients.
- Dehydration ā As we age, our skin loses its ability to retain water. If our skin stays dehydrated, it dries out and eventually develops fine lines or wrinkles.
Secondary factors that trigger ageing include ā
- Alcohol Consumption āĀ Alcohol intake causes nutritional deficiencies and dries out your skin causing premature aging.Ā
- High-Stress Levels āĀ Consistent stress can damage your skin, mainly on your face, and cause fine lines, folds, and wrinkles.
Diagnosis
A dermatologist is always the right person to help you identify the skin aging issues you may be suffering from and what caused them. Our expert may suggest a treatment option after performing a thorough examination to control aging issues suited to your skin type.Ā Ā
Are You At Risk For Premature Aging?
You are at risk for premature aging if you work for long hours in the sun. You will develop aging signs much earlier than others who don’t spend hours in the sun. If you smoke or drink every day, your skin will develop premature wrinkles. Otherwise, you are free from the risks of premature aging.Ā Ā
Prevention And Management:
You can prevent and control signs of skin aging if you follow the tips below:
- Apply sunscreen with SPF30 or higher to protect your skin from UVA and UVB sun rays.Ā
- Quit smoking and drinking alcohol
- Drink a lot of water every day to keep your skin hydrated and moisturized
- Use an air humidifier
- Follow a balanced healthy diet including vital nutrients, such as Vitamin A, C, and E, to prevent age spots
- Maintain a proper skincare routine by applying the right gels, creams, and ointments.
Premature Ageing Skin Treatment
Here is the most effective premature aging skin treatment:Ā
- Micro-Needling Fractional Radio Frequency (MFRF)- MFRF uses extra sharp microneedles to heat the dermis depths, and remodel dermal collagen. This treatment can always tighten your skin, reduce wrinkles and lighten acne scars.
- Chemical Peels – Our dermatologist applies a chemical solution to your skin to remove the top layer. You need to attend a few sessions to get a light or medium peel. Chemical peels can treat wrinkles, discolored skin, and scars on your face.
- Botulinum Toxin Injections and Hyaluronic Acid Fillers: We give Botulinum Toxin Injections and Hyaluronic Acid Fillers to your skin to remove wrinkles and premature signs of aging. Nowadays, you can also find hyaluronic acid serums to apply on your skin every day to rebent signs of aging.
- Laser Resurfacing: Laser resurfacing reduces facial wrinkles and skin defects, such as blemishes and acne scars. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Erbium are common types of lasers used in resurfacing. The laser vaporizes skin cells damaged at the surface level.
- Laser Toning: Laser toning is a safe and advanced treatment that works to treat melasma, hyperpigmentation, scars, dark spots, wrinkles, age spots, and signs of aging. You will get plumper skin after this treatment.
Delivering World-class dermatology solutions is our mission! Redefining the quality of care is a passion!
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