Loose, saggy skin on the face and body can unexpectedly creep up on just about anyone. While many factors affect your skin health, here are those most commonly known to cause an excess of loose, saggy skin.
Aging
The most common cause of loose skin is unavoidable, and that is the aging process. As you age, your body produces less collagen and elastin, causing your skin to lose its natural elasticity and firmness. Elastin fibers are proteins that allow the skin to stretch when we engage in movement or make facial expressions. Collagen is a protein that forms the skin’s underlying structure. Both of these proteins diminish as the skin ages.
UV exposure
Unprotected exposure to the sun’s UV rays also affects your elastin and collagen production, but at a faster rate than aging. Sun damage caused by UVA and UVB radiation can alter your skin’s DNA by creating mutations, resulting in abnormal cellular processes and the accelerated breakdown of collagen and elastin. The result of this is that your skin can look saggy and wrinkled even at a younger age.
Weight Loss
Losing large amounts of weight in a short amount of time through dieting, bariatric surgery, pregnancy and childbirth, or illness can lead to the loss of volume in your skin. The result is a thinning of the fatty layer beneath your skin and the stretching of connective tissue.
Sometimes it is difficult for your skin to shrink back when you lose weight. Depending on the amount of weight lost, significant amounts of saggy skin may result.
Pregnancy
Some degree of loose, saggy skin is common after pregnancy. Women who have carried twins or triplets or have had multiple successive pregnancies may experience more sagging skin around the abdomen than those who carried only one baby.
Smoking and Excess Alcohol
Cigarette smoke and certain lifestyle factors, such as inadequate nutrition and drinking excess alcohol, damages your skin in several ways. These result in skin that is saggy and unhealthy.
Hormonal Changes
After menopause, your ovaries decrease their production of estrogen. As estrogen levels fall, skin cells start making less collagen and elastin, and the existing collagen and elastin aren’t repaired at the normal rate. With this decline in estrogen levels, the sagging and laxity may worsen due to damage and collagen and elastin loss.
How Can M Spa Face and Body Help with Saggy Skin?
Contact us at M Spa Face and Body, in Webster, Texas, where we’ll review your concerns and tailor a plan specifically for you. Shauna McLaughlin PA-C and Deborah Miller M.D use their skill, experience, and extensive training to provide natural-looking results. Call us today at (281) 886-7006, or contact us online to learn more!
