All of us dream of aging gracefully and retaining our youthful appearance well into old age. Unfortunately, unless you’re lucky enough to have amazing genes and take excellent care of your skin all your life, that’s exactly what that notion is—a dream. As you get older, your skin tends to naturally reduce its collage production, and this causes sagging skin.
Collagen keeps your skin hydrated, moisturized, and helps retain its elasticity over time. Hence, as collagen production slows down, the elasticity of your skin diminishes. Fat cells that once plumped up your cheeks and forehead begin to migrate downward toward your jawline and eventually settle beneath your neckline. This is where the term “turkey neck” comes from.
Fortunately, there are certain preventative and responsive measures you can implement in your regular skincare routine that can help reduce and hold off skin sagging.
What Causes Skin Sagging?
As mentioned, skin sagging is a very natural part of the aging process. However, there are certain bad habits that many of us engage in that can unnecessarily speed up that process.
One of the worst offenders is constantly looking down at your phone. We all do it. Staring at your screen for hours on end whether you’re binge-watching your favourite show, answering e-mails, texting, or aimlessly scrolling on social media can be very harmful to your skin health.
Holding your head in a downward position for long periods of time places a great deal of pressure on your facial skin, particularly in the jowl area. The longer you hold your head like this, the longer your skin is stretching out. As you get older and the fat cells in your face decrease, your skin will continue to sink lower and lower beneath the neckline.
The obvious solution is to simply spend less time looking at your phone or tablet, but we know that’s not a realistic answer. Better yet, make a habit of holding your phone or tablet up higher so you’re not spending as much time looking down at it.
Another factor that accelerate the skin sagging process the way people sleep. Most of us tend to sleep on our sides and this is a big problem. Sleeping on your side causes your face to rub up against your pillow for eight consecutive hours (provided that you’re getting the recommended amount of sleep every night) and this can increase the development of under-eye wrinkles and fine lines.
It’s recommended that you sleep on your back if possible or at the very least use a soft pillow that’s not as abrasive on your face.
How to Prevent Your Facial Skin from Sagging
In most life situations, it’s preferable to be able to put your best face forward. That’s why it’s important to take extremely good care of your skin before it starts showing those inevitable and undesirable signs of aging.
Come Up with a Personal Skincare Routine
There’s no such thing as a magical overnight sagging skin cure. The best way to take care of your facial skin is to wash and moisturize it daily. Most skin moisturizers have fewer oils than body lotions to smooth out your skin without making it feel greasy. Try to find one that also contains sun protection like SPF 30. Even if you’re not planning on going anywhere sunny, prolonged exposure to the UV rays from the sun can still be harmful to your skin.
Reduce Your Alcohol and Sugar Intake
You should also try cutting down on sugar and alcohol as much as possible as these have components that can dry out your skin. Sugar is especially harmful because it activates a process in the body called glycation in which sugar molecules attach themselves to protein fibers and destroy them. Lack of protein can cause your skin to lose collagen and elasticity much faster than it naturally should.
Don’t Lose Weight Too Quickly
Sudden drastic weight loss can actually be detrimental to your skin. While you’re losing a lot of fat rapidly, you’re not losing skin. Since your skin no longer has anything to hold onto, it won’t just disappear or melt away like the fat. Instead, it’ll droop down and sag. The best thing to do if you’re looking to shed a few pounds or get healthier is to do so gradually so that your skin has a chance to adjust to the changes you’re making to your body.
Skin Tightening Treatments in Toronto
Depending on your genes and daily habits, you might notice that your skin is starting to sag prematurely. Don’t worry, though, because you might still be able to reverse the effects of aging through special skin sagging treatments that target specific problem areas on your face.
Dermal Fillers
Dermal fillers like Botox®, Radiesse®, and Juvederm® are all convenient and affordable options that target specific parts of your face including the eyes, jowls, forehead, and eyebrows. Not only do these injections add volume to depleted parts of your face, but they also give your face a youthful radiance. Sessions typically last anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes and there’s no recovery time required, so you can resume your normal activities immediately after the treatment.
Neck Lift and Liposuction
If you’re starting to form that dreaded turkey neck, then it might be time to consider undergoing a neck lift and liposuction to target this common problem area. Combined, these procedures involve extracting excess fat deposits and loose skin in the neck, then tightening the skin to create a smoother and more youthful look.
Chemical Peels and Facelifts
Chemical peels remove the top and second layer of skin to reveal a fresher and more radiant layer of skin that hasn’t been tainted by external elements and misuse. Facelifts, on the other hand, involve creating incisions on the side of the head near the ears, above the hair line and well below the neck so that excess fat deposits can be removed and skin can be tightened.
Refresh Your Look This Spring with Stunning and Fresh-Looking Skin
Dr. Andres Gantous at Toronto Facial Plastic Surgery has well over 20 years of experience working in the facial plastic surgery industry. Given his expertise, he’s been invited to serve as a keynote speaker at numerous national and international events and even revolutionized the face of plastic surgery with his incisionless otoplasty procedures. Book your consultation with him today!