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AGING CHANGES IN THE SKIN
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The changes in the skin caused by aging are often easy to see just by looking in the mirror. It is said that the skin is the only organ that we can daily watch getting older. Imagine how we would feel if we could see our heart or liver aging!
There are three main changes in the skin caused by aging. These are decreased thickness, loss of elasticity and less of adherence to the deep tissue. When these effects are combined with thinning (atrophy) of the deep layers of fat, muscle and bone it is not surprising that we get sagging. In the face this sagginess is most obvious around the eyes, in the jowls and neck, and in the fold between the nose and mouth called the nasolabial fold.
If we look more closely we can explain the changes in the skin which are visible to the naked eye. Under the microscope the skin is visibly thinner. The dermis, the deep layer of the skin, has a decrease in the amount of elastic tissue and collagen. This explains why when older people pinch up the skin it does not go back to its original shape immediately.
There is no operation which can reverse the changes of aging. Cosmetic surgery attempts to change the texture of the skin by resurfacing, using lasers or peels, or to remove the excess skin with facelifting or eyelid tightening.
Sunlight accelerates the changes of aging but also has effects of its own. |
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