Skin naturally changes throughout our lives. One of the most noticeable changes is a gradual loss of elasticity, which can cause the skin to feel less firm and lead to fine lines, wrinkles and sagging. While this is a normal part of ageing, several factors influence how quickly these changes become visible.
Knowing the reasons for the loss of elasticity will help you to take proper care of your skin. If your skin loses its firmness and changes in texture start to bother you, you can also explore suitable treatments.
What Is Skin Elasticity?
In simple terms, the skin’s elasticity is its ability to stretch and return to its normal form after being extended. When we are younger, the skin generally feels firm, smooth and resilient because it contains healthy levels of important structural proteins, particularly collagen and elastin.
Collagen is the main structural protein in the skin that gives it strength. Elastin is the other main skin protein that allows the skin to return to its normal state after stretching. Together these two proteins enable the skin to have smooth, firm and elastic texture.
With ageing of the skin, the amount of structural proteins such as collagen and elastin decreases. Already present collagen and elastin fibres are attacked by ageing processes.
Why Does Collagen Decrease With Age?
Collagen is a crucial protein for healthy and youthful skin. As people get older, the production of collagen decreases. The supportive skin structure becomes weak and causes wrinkles, fine lines and sagging skin.
As collagen levels decrease, the supportive structure beneath the skin becomes weaker. This can contribute to fine lines, wrinkles, changes in facial contours and areas of looser skin.
Wrinkles, fine lines and other signs of ageing develop gradually and most often start to appear in specific parts of the face first. You might initially notice small changes around areas of the face that move frequently, such as around the eyes and mouth.
How Does Elastin Affect Ageing Skin?
Elastin is also an important skin fibre and is responsible for the skin’s flexibility. Elastin allows the skin to move and to stretch, for example when you make a face expression. After stretching the skin returns to its normal position with a ‘springy’ feel to it.
Over time these elastic fibres can weaken, and the skin no longer returns to its original form. Instead the skin begins to sag and lose its firmness. This is why as we age, our skin loses its flexibility and begins to lose its shape.
Does Sun Exposure Reduce Skin Elasticity?
UV radiation can cause damage to the skin’s collagen and elastin fibres. This type of damage can cause premature ageing of the skin, such as wrinkles, loss of skin firmness, uneven pigmentation, and changes in skin texture.
The damage that UV radiation does to skin causes photoaging, which can lead to early signs of ageing, such as wrinkles and loss of skin firmness. In addition, photoaging causes uneven pigmentation and in some cases, can cause dry, rough, scaly skin.
Protecting your skin from the sun during the day using suitable sun protection will help to protect it from further damage. Even though sunscreen cannot stop natural ageing of the skin, it can prevent premature signs of ageing.
What Else Can Affect Skin Elasticity?
In addition to ageing of the skin, there are a number of factors that can affect how your skin ages. Smoking, diet, hydration, and sleep are all factors that can affect your skin and how it ages.
There are some people who experience signs of ageing earlier than others of the same age and with similar lifestyles. These differences are mainly due to genetic factors.
As we age, the hormone levels in our body can decrease. These decreased hormone levels can affect the production of collagen and the skin’s hydration, leading to the skin’s thickness decreasing. This in turn can make the skin’s loss of firmness more noticeable.
Can You Improve Skin Elasticity?
You can’t reverse the ageing process but you can keep your skin healthy and looking good while you’re getting older. Losing some skin elasticity is a completely natural part of age. However, looking after your skin and protecting it from unnecessary damage can help to maintain its appearance.
Aesthetics play a large role in the treatment of loss of firmness in the skin by producing more collagen, refilling of volume and improving the quality and appearance of the skin. This would need to be assessed on an individual basis and a treatment plan put in place to achieve the desired results.
Supporting Your Skin as It Ages
Losing some skin elasticity is a completely natural part of getting older. Reduced collagen and elastin production, combined with environmental and lifestyle factors, gradually changes the structure and appearance of the skin. If you would like to know more about the treatments that we offer here at Nuovo Clinic for signs of ageing then please contact us to arrange a consultation with one of our medically-led practitioners.
Get in touch with Nuovo Clinic to arrange a consultation and find out more about treatments designed to support healthier, firmer and more rejuvenated-looking skin.
