Facial Aging: Causes & Treatments for Aging Skin
Our aging skin suffers a continual barrage from the elements. The skin’s defenses, which work so well when we are young, can’t keep up with the need for renewal. So we all show signs of facial aging, some less gracefully than others.
Facial Aging Causes
Part of it is hereditary. Some people are more fortunate in having genes that allow sufficient collagen production for a longer time. But eventually time catches up to everyone. Dead skin cells linger; new skin cells take longer to grow. We start looking for inner beauty.
Most of the factors that cause aging skin are environmental. The sun is such a powerful facial aging factor that the term “photoaging” is used to describe its effects on the skin. Dry skin is a short-term effect; age spots, freckles, and leathery skin are long-term effects.
But cold weather can also cause aging skin. Cold winds dry out the skin. We take refuge in a warm room but our skin still suffers from the dryness.
Apart from the weather, other factors that cause facial aging are constant exposure to cigarette smoke, alcohol and gravity. Gravity? As we age, our skin loses its elasticity, its ability to spring back into shape. Drooping eyelids, sagging skin, longer earlobes, even a downturn in the tip of the nose are all caused by gravity pulling us down.
Smoke dries out the skin and alcohol dilates the small blood vessels restricting blood flow. Alcohol also causes blood vessels in the face to break creating that flushed look of the chronic drinker. Stress and loss of sleep and lack of Vitamin C are also factors.
Aging Skin
Unfortunately, the face, the most exposed part of the body, suffers greatest from aging skin. Unable to spring back into shape, the facial skin becomes furrowed on the brow, crinkled around the eyes, creased around the mouth. It sags around the jaw and under the eyes. Loss of underlying fat creates hollows.
We can’t stop facial aging, but we can avoid those factors that cause prematurely aging skin. Avoiding smoke and alcohol, protecting yourself from the sun, and keeping the skin sufficiently moist are simple remedies that will go a long way in slowing down facial aging.
Facial Aging Treatments
Slow down or eliminate facial aging with these anti aging treatments.