What is skin wellness and longevity?
Our internal and external environments, over a lifetime, have a great impact on the skin. Gone are the days of waiting for that to happen unchecked. Let's reorient the traditional anti-aging approach of treating visible effects (such as wrinkles) reactively, with a bandaid-on-a-problem approach.
Welcome to a new era of focusing on skin health.
Skin wellness and longevity refers to optimizing the function and vitality of the skin's cells. It's about empowering the skin to be stronger and healthier, much like how exercise benefits the body over a lifetime. The result is overall health and vitality of the skin, and maintaining a youthful skin age even as one's biological age grows.
We can literally reverse the changes that happen to the skin as we age. The magical result is improvement in ALL aspects of skin aging such as sagging and wrinkles.
Epidermal Thinning
As we age, the epidermis, the outermost layer of our skin, tends to thin. Research indicates that this thinning can occur at a rate of 5-7% per decade. This is primarily due to a slowdown in skin cell turnover, meaning fewer new skin cells are produced.
This thinning of the epidermis contributes to several visible signs of aging, including:
Wrinkles and crepiness
The skin loses volume and becomes more fragile.
Increased fragility
Thinning makes the skin more susceptible to bruising, tearing, and injury.
A more translucent appearance
The skin can become paler and more transparent.
It's important to note that this is a natural process, but factors like sun exposure, smoking, and certain medications can accelerate it.
As we age, a number of changes happen to the collagen in our skin, contributing to the visible signs of aging.
Decreased Production
Starting in our mid-20s, the body's natural production of collagen begins to slow down, with a decline of about 1% per year. This decrease accelerates around the age of 40 and can be more significant for women after menopause due to hormonal changes.
Reduced Quality
The collagen that is produced is of a lower quality and becomes more fragmented and disorganized.
Structural Changes
The once strong and supportive collagen fibers weaken and lose their integrity. This loss of the "scaffolding" that supports the skin leads to a loss of firmness and elasticity.
These changes are a result of both
intrinsic aging (natural body processes) and
extrinsic aging (environmental and lifestyle factors). Key external factors that accelerate collagen breakdown include:
Sun Exposure
UV radiation from the sun is a primary cause of collagen damage, leading to a process known as photoaging.
Smoking
Chemicals in cigarette smoke damage collagen and reduce blood flow to the skin, which impairs nutrient delivery.
Diet
A diet high in sugar can lead to a process called glycation, where sugar molecules attach to proteins, making collagen fibers stiff and brittle.
The visible effects of these changes are thinner, more fragile skin, the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and a loss of skin firmness and volume.
As we age, the vascularity of the dermis undergoes significant changes, primarily a decrease in the number and function of blood vessels. This process is a key factor in the skin's overall aging.
Here’s a summary of what happens to the dermal vascularity:
Vessel Reduction
The number and density of blood vessels in the dermis decrease over time. This is especially noticeable in the capillary loops that extend into the dermal papillae, which flatten out with age.
Impaired Blood Flow
This reduction in vessels leads to a decrease in overall blood flow to the skin. As a result, the delivery of essential nutrients and oxygen to the skin cells is compromised. This can contribute to a paler appearance in aged skin.
Delayed Healing
The diminished blood supply impairs the skin's ability to heal from injuries. Wounds heal more slowly and the skin becomes more fragile and prone to bruising, a condition known as senile purpura, as the vessel walls also become more fragile.
Reduced Thermoregulation
Dermal blood vessels play a crucial role in regulating body temperature. With age, the impaired ability to constrict and dilate these vessels makes it harder for the skin to respond to changes in temperature, increasing the risk of both hypothermia and heat-related illnesses.
Decreased Inflammatory Response
The decreased vascularity also mutes the inflammatory response, which can make it harder to diagnose certain skin diseases in older individuals because the typical signs of inflammation (redness, heat, and swelling) may be absent or less pronounced.