How to effectively combat skin aging?
Like all organs of the body, the skin is subject to the effects of time. This visible aging effect is greatly influenced by how we take care of our skin throughout our lives.
Aging is a natural process that affects the skin, it is accentuated by the sun which causes an alteration of its appearance with the appearance of wrinkles, spots, not to mention cancerous lesions. Also, sun protection is the main weapon in the fight against the effects of time.
You have to take care of your skin and protect it, avoid exposing yourself to avoid the appearance of wrinkles.
We all have a capital based on our phototype (skin color), but other hereditary and environmental factors also come into play.
How does the skin organ work?
Just like bones, skin cells die and renew themselves every day. In their normal functioning, skin cells renew themselves every 28 days, for a maximum of 50 cycles.
As the skin ages, the renewal of skin cells slows down, and can increase to more than 30 days. The oldest cells can then accumulate and give an impression of a dull complexion and thickened skin, also reflecting the dryness of the skin which is often the first complaint of aging people.
If dryness is not corrected, wrinkles will more easily leave their mark on the skin, especially since the latter also tends to thin.
At the same time, changes in the dermis appear, responsible for the loss of tone and sagging of the skin. The skin also becomes “understretched” due to the melting of fatty and muscular tissue which no longer plays its supporting role, its sagging is also linked to the earth’s attraction.
The volumes and appearance of the face gradually change while wrinkles deepen.
What causes aging?
Aging is linked to an alteration of the repair or maintenance mechanisms of cells. It is determined, on the one hand, by a kind of genetically programmed individual biological clock, and on the other hand, by the cell’s resistance capacities to oxidative damage caused by toxic substances called “free radicals”.
The cellular energy center is called the mitochondria. The aggression of the cell by “free radicals” will lead to modifications of the mitochondria and be responsible for a decrease in its vital energy.
Mitochondrial resistance capacities are genetically determined and also evolve with age in a variable way depending on the individual.
The chromosomes, carriers of the individual’s genetic heritage, shorten with each cell division. When they have become too short, the cells stop dividing and enter senescence.
Certain external factors can accelerate the shortening of these chromosomes as well as indirectly the phenomena of cellular aging. This is the case, for example, with tobacco or stress.
The role of the environment is therefore almost as important as that of physiology in skin aging.
In recent years, specialists have noticed that an unfavorable environment (sun, tobacco, stress, etc.) can modify the genetic capital of skin cells, making them less efficient in their multiplication and more fragile.
The sun is the number 1 enemy of the skin and its negative effects are well known today.
Ultraviolet rays are responsible for weakening skin cells, thus facilitating the development of skin cancers, and preventing them from producing quality elastic tissue (the dermis is more rigid).
Finally, the abuse of UV rays increases the rate of degradation of skin cells compared to the construction, the skin thus becomes thinner and less resistant.
Tobacco is another powerful enemy of the skin, almost as harmful as the sun. The toxic products contained in cigarettes
degrade the fundamental structures of the dermis, in particular hyaluronic acid, and cause a production of bad elastin.
Air pollution plays a role in accelerating the aging of the skin by reducing its immune defense system, lowering its hydration and reducing its desquamation.
Stress is a factor that is difficult to avoid, yet it seems that it can directly increase the production of free radicals in the skin, these oxidized molecules destroying cells and can modify the structure of DNA.
Finally, a sedentary lifestyle, the ingestion of pollutants that modify the intestinal flora, the processing of food by heat which eliminates heat-soluble vitamins, the fashion for fast food, and clothing fashion are the cause of deficiencies in vitamins, calcium, magnesium and iron.
To age well, it is therefore essential to avoid these environmental factors as much as possible, while ensuring a balanced diet and more generally a healthy lifestyle.
Aging is also under the control of a growth factor related to insulin. Skin cells, or keratinocytes, have specific receptors for this growth factor.
Over time, keratinocytes, as well as other skin cells, fibroblasts, lose their ability to respond to this growth factor and the cells can no longer develop perfectly. Thus, fibroblasts no longer produce the essential environment for the life of skin cells as well: reduction of collagen and hyaluronic acid which result in a less taut appearance to the skin.
Many hormones, such as thyroid hormones or sex hormones, play an important role in the growth and appearance of the epidermis. The decrease in hormonal secretion observed over time therefore plays an important role in skin aging.
Treatments for aging
Skin dehydration is a major factor in the appearance of wrinkles. Like the skin of an apple, skin that ages without hydration will sag because its supporting tissue under the dermis is no longer as supple. The more dehydrated the skin, the more pronounced the wrinkles will be.
Wrinkles are often called “expression wrinkles”, because the older we get, the more the muscles will shrink and have to contract more intensely for the same result.
For the muscles of the face, contractions repeated several times a day will pull on the skin and form the wrinkle. And as with time, the skin atrophies and its basic structure deteriorates, it marks more in areas of strong muscular expression (forehead, nasolabial folds, lips, eyes).
