Aging is an unavoidable process, something we all must reconcile with in our own personal way. Skin elasticity, which refers to the ability of our skin to stretch and bounce back to its static resting state, starts to decline as the levels of the structural proteins that make it up — namely collagen, elastin, and glycosaminoglycans begin to decrease.
The encouraging aspect, however, is that there are ways of getting ahead of this decline in order to preserve what we all were born with for as long as possible, extending the elasticity of our skin. There are fundamental methods to protect our skin’s elasticity, ensuring that it remains supple and capable of maintaining its natural firmness and resilience for longer than people think. These fundamentals may surprise you as they are not fad concepts in this quick fix era.
What Is Skin Elasticity?
Collagen and elastin are intricately woven into the fabric of our skin, relying on each other to function as a cohesive duo. Collagen contributes to skin volume, while elastin ensures firmness, akin to the restorative properties of an elastic rubber band, helping skin to regain its shape.
What Causes Loss Of Skin Elasticity?
Diminishing skin elasticity, termed as elastosis, naturally occurs as we age. Acceleration of this process can result from environmental influences, the most impactful being excessive sun exposure, and the use of detrimental products and procedures.
Aging
For women, collagen begins diminishing in their 20s, and during the initial five years of menopause, about 30% of their total collagen is lost. This collagen loss leads to the slow progression of sagging skin and wrinkles.
Additionally, as we age, the facial fat deposits diminish, causing our skin to lose overall volume. In addition our skin also loses its ability to retain water by a reduction of its naturally occurring hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is a water magnifier as it possesses the super power of magnetizing and holding water unto itself.
Lifestyle & Environment
Apart from the inevitable aspect of the aging process, environmental factors can also play a role in causing sagging skin. Collagen and elastin, found in the dermis, are vulnerable to environmental influences. The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays, along with smoking and pollution, can cause harm to these essential proteins. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, exposure to UV rays is responsible for up to 90% of skin aging, including the loss of elasticity.
When UV rays interact with dermal cells, they impair collagen fibers and trigger the production of abnormal elastin fibers. These abnormal fibers, in turn, further harm the collagen fibers, resulting in damaged skin that wrinkles and sags prematurely.
Similar to UV rays, smoking and exposure to pollution are detrimental to the skin and can accelerate the aging process. Cigarette smoke is harmful to all cells in the body as it restricts oxygen circulation, leading to impaired delivery of nutrients to our hungry dermal layer. This will contribute to accelerated dermal thinning which contributes to overall volume loss and sagging. All of this is depressing unless you have a wise plan to counteract.
Aggressive Skin Care
Shockingly, conventional trauma-based skin care practices can contribute to the decline in skin elasticity. The mixed bag of exfoliation, astringents, and inflammatory practices will diminish our collagen matrix overtime as well as encourage clogged pores and skin gunk to be stored within the layers of our skin due to chronic inflammation, dehydration, impaired skin barrier function, and induced sun sensitivity. Injectables like botox and volumizers only add more burden to our skin long term though they offer a short term illusion to skin health.
The sustained deep lustrous glow of authentic skin health is being snuffed out to make room for the toxic masquerade of post-procedure trauma shock that produces a different type of “glow” and floods skin with ongoing emergencies of fluid to process. Often, this temporary trauma based puffiness of many conventional procedures is confused with wrinkle reduction and increased “firmness”. Ironically, these are the procedures that claim to regain collagen through “increased blood flow” that, in my opinion, blows past the sweet spot for encouraging the amount of blood flow that is beneficial for skin.
Extreme stretching with incorrect technique or high temperature wax during facial waxing should also be avoided as this can also contribute to loss of elastin, especially around our delicate eye and lip area.
How To Safeguard Skin Elasticity
Preservation is the key to maintaining optimal elastin levels as we age slowly and gracefully. It’s important to note that the practices that stimulate collagen and elastin synthesis in a sustained way that does not exhaust our skin are rooted in holistic approaches. These methods encompass the use of at-home microcurrent devices, various massage techniques, including slapping massage, face yoga, and acupuncture. Additionally, the topical application of stabilized, readily absorbed liposome delivery of Vitamin A, also referred to as Dermal Nutrients, can positively increase our skin’s ability to deliver more oxygen to our dermal layer over time while increasing new skin cell production in a way that extends dermal thickness rather than diminishing it.
It’s essential to strike a balance between obtaining adequate sun exposure for overall well-being and embracing holistic approaches that promote positive blood circulation without undermining the integrity of the collagen and elastin matrix. Skin that has lost volume due to factors like menopause and prolonged sun exposure can still possess a wonderfully smooth texture and a surprisingly glowy appearance. Focusing solely on volume and elastin as the sole indicators of beautiful skin is unrealistic, and pursuing conventional treatments in this regard is likely to yield unfavorable long-term results.
Final Thoughts On Skin Elasticity
The primary issue is that we tend to overlook the importance of skin elasticity until it becomes a concern. It’s only when we begin to experience its decline that we become fixated on finding a solution. The relentless onslaught of slick beauty media campaigns to fix all of our aging woes is often irresistible as they prey on our most vulnerable emotions like all sales strategies no matter the industry.
As the consequences of prolonged sun exposure, astringents, and exfoliation practices become apparent, our desire to rectify the situation intensifies and consumers are sold ways to “fix” it which leads to sabotaging further the aging process with even more and more intense conventional skin practices…a toxic beauty loop.
The reality is that we only delay aging so how is this done? By fixating on skin health that encompasses texture, glow, hydration, muscle tone, barrier, sustained dermal nutrients absorption, epidermal function, sebaceous gland health, and preserves dermal and epidermal vitality by reducing inflammation in every way.
The wise emergence and enlightened approach involves focusing on preserving and fortifying our existing assets. This approach can gracefully guide us along the path of aging well, even into our 90s, glowing timelessly, provided we possess the knowledge and wisdom to do so.