As we age, skin care in menpause is more important than ever. I really noticed a shift in my skins appearance (wrinkles) when I went into menopause. There are many reasons why our skin changes during this time, so read on to find out why.
Several examples of why our skin becomes wrinkled are; sun exposure, genetics, loss of estrogen, collagen, and elastin, smoking, repeated facial movements and age. Our skin changes are usually caused by a combination of factors; some we can control, and others we can’t.
With regards to sun exposure, it makes sense because as we enter menopause we have had a lifetime of exposure to ultraviolet radiation. UVA rays (aging rays) can prematurely age your skin, causing wrinkles and age spots. UVB rays (burning rays) are the primary cause of sunburn. UV light breaks down our skins connective tissue, collagen and elastin which lie in the deeper layer of our skin. There is no safe way to tan. Every time you tan, you damage your skin. It also increases your risk of all types of skin cancer.
I know I have wrecked my skin from too much sun exposure. In the 80’s, I would lay out in the sun for hours with baby oil on my entire body and just bake. Unfortunately, I am now paying the price. If you are reading this, stay out of the sun! If you are going to be in the sun, always use sunscreen and a hat. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, A minimum of SPF 30 is recommended for everyday wear if you will be outside at all.
Some people are doomed to have wrinkly skin because their relatives have the same skin and they have inherited it. I know my wrinkles are sun related because my moms’ skin still looks good and she’s 82. She hated the sun and stayed out of it. You can usually tell if someone stays out of the sun, their skin is beautiful.
How does dry skin happen?
When we enter menopause, we start losing estrogen. This results in the epidermis (outermost layer of skin) becoming thinner. The dermis (2nd layer of skin that cushions the body from stress and strain) also starts to deteriorate. The loss of estrogen starts the acceleration of skin aging due to less collagen, and decreased elasticity. This leads to increased wrinkling, and increased dryness of our skin. To read more about this, go to my blog at acceptingthechange.com under symptoms of menopause.
As we age our skin naturally becomes less elastic. This is one reason that skin care in menopause is so important. There is a decreased production of natural oils, which dries your skin and makes it appear more wrinkled.
Also, fat in the deeper layers of your skin diminishes. This causes loose, saggy skin and more pronounced lines and crevices.
Smoking can also speed up the normal aging process. This is due to changes in the blood supply to your skin.
Facial expressions such as smiling, or squinting can lead to lines and wrinkles too. Every time you use a facial muscle, a groove forms beneath the surface of the skin. As the skin ages, it loses its flexibility and is no longer able to spring back in place. These grooves become permanent features on your face. Remember when your mom used to tell you to stop making faces or your face will stay that way? There’s some truth to that.
Natural ways
Luckily, there are natural ways to help with improving your skin care in menopause. Changing our diet is one of them. There are foods that we can incorporate into our diet that also help our symptoms with skin issues. Foods that contain Vitamin A and E are a great place to start when wanting to help menopausal skin. Broccoli and asparagus are good sources of Vitamin E, while sweet potatoes are a good source of Vitamin A.
Another way to naturally improve your skin care in menopause is by using good skin care products. My suggestion is that you see an esthetician and have your skin assessed. See what your skin type is and go from there. There are so many products out there and I use a few different ones. I like a daily moisturizer called Day Treatment Lotion SPF 15 by Vivant. It contains sunscreen and doesn’t cause me to break out. I get this product from my esthetician, but you can also get it on Amazon.com. I think it’s always best to speak with the professionals in this area about what products are best for your skin type.
Another obvious way to help with skin care in menopause is to drink water! I know that some people have a hard time with this, but you can drink it with lemon, or lime to help jazz it up a little!
Pharmaceutical intervention for skin care
If your skin changes are bothering you, good news, you have more options than ever to help smooth them out or make them less visible. If you want more immediate results, there are fillers, injectables skin resurfacing techniques, and surgery that all help fix your skin care issues.
A common technique are Dermal fillers. They are injectables that can soften facial creases, remove wrinkles, enhance shallow contours, plump thin lips and improve the appearance of recessed scars. Some examples of these are:
Juvéderm, Voluma, Volbella, Vollure, Restylane, (Silk, Lyft ,Refine and Refyne), and Belotero are made with Hyaluronic acid.
Radiesse is made with calcium hydroxyapatite (CaHA)
Sculptra is made with poly-L-lactic acid
Bellafill is made with polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)
**Fillers are best for deep lines that are present even when facial muscles are not contracting. Such as laugh lines (lines around your mouth) sleep wrinkles (on the cheeks and chin) and lip lines. The results can last from 12-14 months.
Another common technique is Injectables like Botox, Dysport and Xeomin. They work by paralyzing the muscles and preventing muscle contractions. They each typically wear off around the four-month mark. Best for facial expressions such as the frown lines, crows’ feet and 11’s between the eyebrows.
Skin Resurfacing are treatments to reduce facial wrinkles and skin irregularities such as blemishes or acne scars. The technique directs short, concentrated pulsation beams of light at irregular skin, precisely removing skin layer by layer.
I asked my friend
There are so many different options for skin resurfacing now, so I asked my friend Andria Kruse, RN, CNM, MSN at Quinn Aesthetics in Riverside, CA to help me break it down for you. Visit her at @quinninjections on Instagram, she has a lot of photos of women who have had these procedures done. The following are a few techniques she performs in her office:
Laser Genesis:
What: 1064 wavelength laser penetrates deep into the skin, to cause micro damage, therefore causing collagen to rebuild itself.
How: It works to “tone, tighten and lift” the skin, works well fine/ line wrinkles, helps with scars and smoothing out the skin.
Treatment: Can be done as often as monthly or throughout the year for maintenance
Downtime: none really, just pink skin for about 30-60 minutes
Laser Limelight:
What: a broad spectrum of light wavelengths works on color irregularities of the skin – specifically red and brown spots
How: the different wavelengths of light grab the pigment in red spots like rosacea/ broken blood vessels or the brown spots with sun damage, age spots, actinic keratosis and breaks down the spots then your body metabolizes them, and they slough off.
Treatment: Most get significant results with 1-2 treatments, can do multiple times per year to get desired results or for maintenance
Downtime: You will be speckled with dark brown spots for 10-14 days while the flake off, it can usually be covered with make up
Erbium facial resurfacing:
What: 2940 erbium laser, for complete resurfacing the facial skin, helps with deep wrinkles, deep acne scars
How: it is attracted to the water beneath your skin and causes little channels to be made through the surface of the skin, many top layers will peel off while under the surface collagen is rebuilt to smooth out the skins surface
Treatment: Takes 30 minutes while the laser goes over the face in small 1in squares, 1 treatment can be done, or it can be repeat for maximum results in 30 days if desired
Downtime: 5 days downtime, you’re not going out on any hot dates
Vaginal skin
Another procedure she performs is for the skin in the vagina:
A Juliet vaginal rejuvenation:
What: 2940 erbium laser, works inside the vagina to tighten the vaginal vault, it also helps with stress incontinence ( if you leak urine when your cough, laugh, sneeze, jump, pick up something heavy), it can be used on the labia to tighten them up or on the clitoris to help with sexual satisfaction and female orgasm.
How: the laser comes out of a hand piece which looks like a closed speculum (like when you get a pap smear) and heats up the tissue therefore damaging it and causing it to rebuild.
Treatment: 1 treatment to start then can be repeated 3 times, once every 30 days for maximum results, then maintenance 1 time per year.
Downtime: nothing in the vagina for 3 days, and you may experience clear/ slightly pink discharge for 3-10 days.
Surgery
Finally, facial surgery is another option. Obviously face lifts are the most known. If you want a face lift, I recommend you go speak to a plastic surgeon and hear about the options available.
Skin care in menopause is so important, and we need to take care of it. Start off with more natural ways of helping it, however, if those aren’t working anymore, try one of the other methods listed in this blog.
Be kind,
Diana