Older Skin Care
This causes changes in the skin, which is highly sensitive to estrogen. In older women and men, the slowdown of the sebaceous glands continues and even gathers pace, so that the skin dries and thins. The dermis becomes less resilient, the elastin fibers lose their structure, and the skin grows wrinkled and sags. And as you get older, the signs of earlier sun damage appear. These can range from creases to pigmentation changes, such as age spots or mottled areas, and a leathery, rough texture.
Loss Of Collagen
During the ten years following menopause, the drop in estrogen causes collagen levels to fall by as much as 30 percent. Collagen is the skin's scaffolding. It helps to support other tissues and blood vessels, and holds the skin together. When it breaks down, your skin loses some of its elasticity and firmness, so it begins to droop and wrinkle. The effect is young skin older skin more pronounced if you have spent a lot of time in the sun, because sunlight attacks the orderly bundles of collagen. It disrupts them, causing individual collagen fibers to weaken. A person who has spent much of his or her life in the sun has more wrinkles, and often at an earlier age, than someone whose skin has been protected from sun damage.
Slow To Repair
In younger skin, the cells are replaced about every 21 to 40 days. As you get older, the cells regenerate more slowly, and the rate of replacement falls by about half. As more cells accumulate on the surface, the skin can feel dense and rough, with dry patches. Another effect of the slowdown in cell repair is that aging skin becomes slow to heal - especially in the very elderly. Cuts, scratches, and minor wounds that could have mended rapidly when you were younger now take much longer. This is especially noticeable in the lower legs. The skin in this area becomes notably more fragile as you age. This may be because circulation in this area becomes less efficient with age as the blood has difficulty returning to the heart against the pull of gravity, and the skin therefore has a reduced blood supply. Lack of exercise often worsens the effects of poor circulation in older people.
This causes changes in the skin, which is highly sensitive to estrogen. In older women and men, the slowdown of the sebaceous glands continues and even gathers pace, so that the skin dries and thins. The dermis becomes less resilient, the elastin fibers lose their structure, and the skin grows wrinkled and sags. And as you get older, the signs of earlier sun damage appear. These can range from creases to pigmentation changes, such as age spots or mottled areas, and a leathery, rough texture.
Loss Of Collagen
During the ten years following menopause, the drop in estrogen causes collagen levels to fall by as much as 30 percent. Collagen is the skin's scaffolding. It helps to support other tissues and blood vessels, and holds the skin together. When it breaks down, your skin loses some of its elasticity and firmness, so it begins to droop and wrinkle. The effect is young skin older skin more pronounced if you have spent a lot of time in the sun, because sunlight attacks the orderly bundles of collagen. It disrupts them, causing individual collagen fibers to weaken. A person who has spent much of his or her life in the sun has more wrinkles, and often at an earlier age, than someone whose skin has been protected from sun damage.
Slow To Repair
In younger skin, the cells are replaced about every 21 to 40 days. As you get older, the cells regenerate more slowly, and the rate of replacement falls by about half. As more cells accumulate on the surface, the skin can feel dense and rough, with dry patches. Another effect of the slowdown in cell repair is that aging skin becomes slow to heal - especially in the very elderly. Cuts, scratches, and minor wounds that could have mended rapidly when you were younger now take much longer. This is especially noticeable in the lower legs. The skin in this area becomes notably more fragile as you age. This may be because circulation in this area becomes less efficient with age as the blood has difficulty returning to the heart against the pull of gravity, and the skin therefore has a reduced blood supply. Lack of exercise often worsens the effects of poor circulation in older people.
