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What Are The Changes That Occur In Skin Because Of Aging?
What changes occur in the skin because of aging? To understand this we have to find out more about skin and know how it changes. This helps us in knowing how to prevent the changes.
Skin has three layers:
1. Epidermis (outermost layer),
2. Dermis (middle layer), and
3. Subcutaneous layer that is below the dermis.
Let us find out how these three layers undergo changes with aging.
Epidermis:
Epidermis is the uppermost layer of the skin. With age, the epidermis becomes thin. Skin also begins looking pale. The melanocytes or the cells that contain skin color pigment decrease in number. Though melanocytes decrease in number, they increase in size. This gives a pale look to the skin.
Liver spots or lentigo appear on the skin. These spots are also called age spots. They are dark brown spots that appear on the skin in middle age. Know more about age spots.
Dermis:
Dermis is the layer below the epidermis. With aging, the blood vessels in the dermis begin to lose strength. This increases bruising and bleeding under the skin.
Subcutaneous Layer:
This layer is located below the dermis. The subcutaneous layer gives fat padding to skin. As we age, this layer becomes thin. This increases the risk of skin injury. Both sweat glands and sebaceous glands also become less active. That makes skin dry.
Other Changes In The Skin:
With age, skin loses its suppleness, texture and strength. Because of reduction in strength, it becomes easy for skin to suffer damage.
Healing of skin becomes slow. Healing may become four times as slow in old age compared to youth.
Skin turns dry and your sense of touch, heat etc., reduces considerably.
Other growths such as skin tags and warts begin appearing with age.
Skin becomes wrinkled. As the underlying fat in the subcutaneous layer is lost, hollowness appears on the cheeks and eye sockets. Jowls (loose flesh of the lower cheek and jaw line) develop because of gravity.
The hair grays and turns white. Some people lose hair while some grow hair at unwanted places.
The nails become thin and half moons on the nails disappear.
Sun damage can accelerate the skin aging considerably and can also cause skin diseases such as skin cancers. Regular care of skin is necessary along with protection of skin from the harmful rays of the sun for proper anti-aging skin care.
Know more about what skin problems may arise because of aging.
Article created on: June 19, 2006
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