Wrinkled and Crepe Like Skin
Whether we like it or not, aging skin is as certain as death and taxes. But though it is natural, we do not exactly welcome it into our own lives with open arms and a hot cup of cocoa.
The problem is — as we grow older, our skin may slowly become looser and thinner — it is crepey skin. And even though it’s likely to happen, there are a few things you can to do help reverse or even postpone the damage.
Turns out, crepey skin can happen almost anywhere in your body — such as your neck, shoulders, décolletageback, torso, face, and hands.
We might not be able to turn back the clock, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t study aging skin a little deeper. Since some lifestyle factors can greatly contribute to speeding up, or slowing down, the pace at which skin visibly ages.
To start with, there are various types of skin aging, each unique in it’s own way.
What Are Wrinkles?
Wrinkles first arrive as creases in the skin and, as time passes, they could look similar to deep crevices. When we’re young and we utilize our facial muscles, our skin folds back, but with age, the skin does not spring back as quickly — a groove begins to form in that spot. That groove finally becomes a full blown wrinkle.
The kinds of wrinkles which we may control a little better are those caused by prolonged exposure to environmental factors, like UV sunlight or smoking. Ultraviolet radiation levels up the normal aging process by breaking down skin’s natural elastin and collagen fibers, which lie at the deep dermis layer of skin. Smoking constricts the blood circulation, and therefore the oxygen source, to your own skin — that also degrades these elastin and collagen fibers.
What’s Crepey Skin?
Well, crepey skin is what happens when your body reacts to reduced levels of collagen and elastin — these would be the natural proteins which enable your skin to stretch and contract. When you get older, your body produces fewer and fewer of these proteins. The effect — soft, fragile, and paper-thin crepey skin.
Crepey skin is related to the thinning of larger areas of the epidermis, both the upper epidermislayer and the deeper dermislayer, in addition to a drop in production of collagen and elastin. The skin starts to appear more saggy, crinkly and lean, like a bit of tissue paper or a crêpe — and hence the expression”crepey” has been born.
Crepey skin may take years to look, but often it starts to look in your 40s — although other causes may make it appear earlier or even later.
Genetics may also play a part in when you first start to see the signals of crepey skin. People may joke about you getting those good genes from your mother, but there’s really a whole lot of potential for you in case your mom did age nicely.
What causes Crepey Skin?
Age is the largest, most unavoidable”inherent” factor involved in crepey-looking skin. Genetics is another.
Crepey skin may be caused by several factors, such as a slowing down in the creation of polyunsaturated fats elastin and collagen. These once allowing the skin to stretch and bounce back with a young suppleness that we probably took for granted. However, if the body slows down its production of those proteins, the skin starts to wrinkle and sag. The skin also becomes much drier with age, as less oil is produced. Additionally, fewer fresh skin cells are made. Skin care skin is another big catalyst when it comes to crepey skincare.
Let’s review that one additional time within an easier-to-digest format:
Which are the key causes of crepey skin?
1. Habitual muscle movement– muscle patterns can be the source of wrinkles and fine lines which develop on your eyes, mouth, knees, elbows, and hands — anywhere skin is continuously stretched and pulled.
2. Exposure to sunlight — Sun may bring about the breaking down of elastin.1And when your skin loses these fibers, in addition, it loses elasticity, and it can not quite stretch how it should — or snap back into its normal taut position.
3. Time– Most of us start to notice crepey skin when we enter into our 40s. Based on where you live and how long spent in sunlight, crepey skin may also begin to make itself known as early as in your 20s.
4. Weight gain/weight reduction — should you just happen to be someone who has gained and lost weight — and we are talking about more than your typical five pounds upward, 5 pounds — then you might observe crepey skin earlier than others. Since the skin thins and doesn’t possess the usual fatty layer underneath, tiny wrinkles may form.
Now, when cared for properly, your skin’s elastic fibers can fix themselves, but if they’re just left to degenerate over time… or they’re hammered by sunlight time and time again, they will lose their capacity to bounce back — they become slack.
So, What Actually Happens To Earn Skin Crepey?
To begin with, as collagen and elastin production slow, skin begins to wrinkle, droop, and sag. Obviously, everybody’s different. Some people may discover a couple of very deep lines and facial crevices as they age. Others might observe plentiful wrinkles which appear throughout their faces, necks, and hands.
Now, the process of skin aging includes two independent processes.
Intrinsic skin aging – this procedure is just the consequence of chronological aging– it is the normal process that affects your skin and inner organs as well.2
Extrinsic skin aging– is the consequence of external factors and environmental influences, like exposure to sunlight and ultraviolet rays (UV) rays. Smoking, insomnia, malnutrition, and contamination also fall under this class.3
As a consequence of these processes, crepey skin just does not have the thick, plump appearance of skin that is moisturizing. The distinguishing feature is its thinness. Like the thin paper or wrinkly pancake for which it’s named, the thinning of the dermis and epidermis make skin shrivel.
That is when you can really begin to tell that the elastin and collagen are wearing down — because your body is not producing the correct quantity.
Each these variables play havoc with the very sensitive collagen and elastin proteins that we currently know are crucial to maintaining a youthful look.
Fairer skin tones, that are also the most susceptible to sun damage, tend to see signs of crepey skin quicker. African American skin is thought to offer more security against”photo-aging” out of UV light. This can be seen in not only a lower incidence of sun-related skin disease but also in visible signs of aging.
Unfortunately for women, a drop in female hormones also contributes to drier skin, and therefore a predisposition to crepey skin.