The Anti-Aging Advisor

Understanding Why Our Skin Ages

The first step in combating aging skin is to understand what causes it. Our skin is our largest organ and bears the brunt of our lifestyle and our genetic make up. And those two factors cause the changes identified with aging.

The natural aging process, intrinsic aging, is determined by our genes. Though not visible until our 40s, the process begins in our 20s with the loss of collagen production, deterioration of elastin (the factor that gives skin its elasticity) and a slower process of new skin cell development.

The second factor, extrinsic aging, includes those environmental or lifestyle factors that contribute to the natural aging process or cause premature aging. The good news on this front is that we can take precautions that keep these factors at bay.

The biggest culprit, we all know, is exposure to the sun. Photoaging causes a list of skin problems, everything from freckles to skin cancer. People with fair complexions experience more damage than those with dark complexions. The impact is cumulative; with repeated exposure, the skin looses its ability to repair itself. Ultraviolet rays break down collagen and retard the development of new collagen as well as elastin. Basically, the sun’s rays cause all the negative impacts of intrinsic aging, just earlier. Skin becomes wrinkled, leathery and less elastic with repeated and unprotected exposure to the sun.

Sun damage is one of the few extrinsic factors that we can prevent. Every time you head to the tanning salon or into the sun for the purpose of getting a tan, don’t. The tan may look great in your teens and 20s, but you will have to live with the negative effects much longer. Try to avoid direct sunlight between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., the period of the most intense rays. Wear protective clothing—a wide brimmed hat and long sleeves. Apply sunscreen all year long. Select a broad-spectrum sunscreen that protects against both UVA and UVB rays and has a SPF rating of 15 to 45. Apply the sunscreen 20 minutes before you go outside and reapply after being in the water or sweating heavily.

Another extrinsic factor is smiling—or any other facial expression. Each time we use a facial muscle, a groove forms just beneath the surface of the skin. We see just where these future wrinkles show up every time we smile or frown. Remember your mother threatening that your face would freeze in whatever ugly expression you’d show as a child? In fact, she was right. As we loose elastin, our skin stops springing back to its crease-free state and the laugh lines, crow’s feet, frown lines at the bridge of our noses and worry furrows in our brows become permanent. This component of extrinsic aging may be the origin of the adage that we have the faces we deserve as we age.

Gravity plays havoc with our bodies and our faces. Everything heads south. As our skin’s elasticity fades, the tips of our noses drop, ears elongate, eyelids fall, our upper lips fade, lower lips become more pronounced and where once our chin line was defined, jowls appear.

How you sleep impacts the formation of wrinkles as we age. Sleep lines formed from resting our faces on our pillows eventually become permanent. If you sleep on your side, wrinkles tend to form on cheeks and chin. If you sleep on your stomach with your face pressed into the pillow, wrinkles will form on your forehead. The only safe position is on your back.

One of smoking’s non-lethal side effects is what it does to our skin. Smokers have more deeply wrinkled, leathery skin with a yellowish hue than non-smokers. If you stop smoking at a young age, you can avoid the impacts. Even if you quit smoking at an older age, your skin tone will show improvement.

Now that you know what causes our skin to age, how can we best protect or repair it?