Understanding Facial Aging

Your facial skin begins to change in a few different ways as you grow older. The harsh effects of aging can appear differently in each individual. Over time, the collagen and elastin in your body, which help to maintain your skin’s youthful appearance, will begin to fade away. Some of the most noticeable changes include:

• Loss of elasticity – Your skin becomes drier and thinner, losing its ability to flex and tighten over the structures of your face. This results in wrinkles and a more translucent appearance over time.
• Loss of facial volume – Facial fat atrophies, or reduces, as we age, especially in the cheeks, causing the cheek bones to become less defined.
• Tissue displacement – Loss of elasticity and loss of facial volume, combined with the simple force of gravity, tends to pull the tissues of your face downward, causing hanging skin and fat to develop in your lower face (jowls), brow, and eyelids.
• Muscle conditioning – Over time, your muscles become conditioned to repeat and even anticipate routine contractions, such as smiling, furrowing the brow, squinting, and pursing the lips.

This causes permanent lines and folds to appear in the skin. BOTOX® and Dysport is specially designed to relax these over-conditioned muscles, smoothing out your skin in the process.

• Fat accumulation – Your eyes tend to get puffier, and fat can accumulate in the jowl and neck area. This makes your chin seem “weaker,” and contributes to a loss of definition in the neck.

When you are young, the cells of your skin can quickly rejuvenate on their own, ensuring every cell on the surface is young and new. As you age, however, this natural process slows down, resulting in older cells on the surface of your skin that are more susceptible to damage. Laser skin resurfacing or chemical peels can be used to stimulate your skin’s natural rejuvenation process, restoring newer cells on the surface and creating a more youthful overall appearance. There are a number of other plastic surgery procedures that can be used to rejuvenate your youthful looks as well.