Why Does Skin Start to Sag?

Think for a minute about the signs of aging. What comes to mind? You’re probably picturing wrinkles, brown spots, and sagging skin. It’s fairly easy to explain the causes of wrinkles (repeated facial movements, volume loss, and gravity) and hyperpigmentation like brown spots (sun exposure), but what makes skin start to sag?

Sagging skin occurs as a result of the aging process as well as a few other lifestyle factors. Learn what causes skin sagging, what doesn’t, what you can do to minimize or reverse it.

Age-Related Skin Sagging

Two factors generally contribute to sagging skin. The first is age-related. As you get older, your body stops producing or slows down production of certain proteins that give skin its firmness and that support the skin. Those proteins are elastin and collagen.

As you might guess from its name, elastin is a very elastic, stretchy protein. It’s responsible for helping skin to bounce or snap back. Diminishing elastin production means skin gets stretched out and loose. Picture an elastic waistband that’s old and well-used. It no longer stretches as it once did. The same thing happens to skin.

Another age-related cause of skin sagging has to do with facial fat loss. As you get older, fat stores begin to diminish in certain areas of the body, such as the cheeks. Just compare the faces of a toddler and a 70-year-old and you’ll get the idea. The toddler is going to have impossibly chubby cheeks while the 70-year-old is likely to have a thinner, more gaunt face.

Weight Loss-Related Skin Sagging

Age isn’t the only thing to blame for skin sagging. In some cases, the skin can start sagging early as a result of substantial weight loss. When you gain weight, the skin stretches to accommodate the extra fat and tissue. Lose that weight and there’s a chance that the skin won’t bounce back to its original size.

Skin sagging as a result of weight loss often occurs when there a person loses a significant amount of weight all at once.

Myths About Skin Sagging

While aging and weight loss can definitely be to blame for sagging skin, a few other things often get blamed for causing the problem when they have little if nothing to do with it.

For example, some people claim that running can lead to sagging. The thinking is that all that movement and jostling can speed up the breakdown of collagen. Luckily, this is just a myth.

The only way that running can make your skin sag is if you were to spend hours and hours running outside, in broad daylight, without wearing any sun protection. In that case, exposure to the sun’s UV rays would cause skin damage and ultimately sagging, not the running itself.

Some people also believe that your sleeping position can also contribute to sagging skin. This is also not true, although how you sleep can lead to wrinkles. If you sleep on your side or tummy, then pressing your face into a pillow can lead to lines and creases on your face. While those creases usually fade within a few minutes of waking up when you’re younger, as you get older and the skin becomes less resilient, they are more likely to persist.

What You Can Do About Skin Sagging

If you find yourself dealing with sagging skin, there’s good news. Depending on the severity of the sagging, it’s possible to treat the issue without undergoing surgery.

Ultherapy is a non-surgical treatment that helps to minimize sagging and droopiness in the eyebrows, neck and chin. The treatment uses ultrasound energy to stimulate collagen production beneath the skin. Over the course of several weeks, the collagen helps to tighten skin, restoring a more youthful appearance.

Since it’s a non-surgical treatment, Ultherapy has little or no downtime, with many people able to go back to their regular activities right after treatment. The treatment is also pretty quick and usually takes one hour or less to perform. While some people decide to have a touch-up treatment, many are happy with the results they get after a single session.

Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutique and Dr. Paul Vitenas offer Ultherapy to patients who are looking for a non-surgical way to treat sagging skin. To learn more about the procedure, call 281-810-9083 to schedule a consultation at Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutique in Houston, Texas today.