Three Elements of Facial Aging

Combatting facial aging is one of the biggest reasons people pursue plastic surgery in Northern Virginia. Perhaps you cant identify exactly what makes your face look like it is getting older, but you know that you look thinner and perhaps more tired. There are actually three separate components of facial aging that, when combined, make us all look older: volume loss, texture changes, and drooping skin. Volume Loss If you look at a babys face and try to pinpoint exactly what makes them so cute, the answer is actually their chubby cheeks. Full cheeks and a full face make us look more youthful and glowing. As we age, we lose fat volume throughout different areas of the face. When we reach adulthood, that volume loss makes us look grown up, but as we move through adulthood and volume loss continues, we can end up looking haggard or exhausted. Texture Changes Changes in our skin texture can also make our faces look older than we would like. Texture changes include things like wrinkles or expression lines, skin roughness, dryness, or flaking, acne scarring, and sun damage. All of these texture changes can combine to make our skin look more mature (especially when compared to a young persons line-free, scar-free, dewy skin). Wrinkles and expression lines are also more noticeable if youre a naturally thin person because you have less fat in your face to fill them in. This is one reason why people who are thinner might look older, faster than those who are less thin. Skin Droopiness As we age, our skins production of elastin and collagen slow down. Elastin and collagen are elements of the skin that give it plumpness, firmness, and the ability to return to its original position after you make expressions. The loss of elastin and collagen lead to droopiness in the skin. This droopiness is most common in the cheeks (development of jowls), the neck, and the upper eyelids. The issue can be exacerbated by a lot of volume loss, which makes the skin looser and more apt to become saggy. Solutions Over the next few months on the blog, well be addressing what procedures and products we offer that will help address your specific facial aging issues. For example, if you have lots of volume loss that is making your face look haggard and tired, we will discuss dermal fillers. Skin texture issues will benefit from a laser treatment. Skin droopiness can benefit from a face lift or brow lift. Each issue will be discussed individually.   Please call our office if you have any questions about facial plastic surgery in Haymarket, VA. Our number is (703) 574-2588. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the three elements of facial aging?

The three aspects of facial aging are volume loss, which depletes fat pads and creates a sunken appearance; skin texture changes, which include wrinkles, scarring, and pigmentation; and drooping or sagging skin, which results from weakening of the structural supports that hold facial tissue in place.

Why do we lose facial volume as we age?

Facial fat pads thin naturally beginning in our mid-20s as part of the normal aging process. Initially this creates a mature adult appearance, but over time the continued fat loss makes the face look gaunt, tired, and shadowed, particularly around the eyes, cheeks, and temples.

What counts as a skin texture change?

Skin texture changes are any alterations to the look or feel of the skin that are not directly caused by fat loss or skin drooping. Common examples include wrinkles and expression lines, acne scars, hyperpigmentation, age spots, sun damage, rough or dry patches, and an uneven or dull complexion.

What causes facial skin to sag and droop?

Drooping skin results from the gradual weakening of the facial ligaments and supporting structures that hold tissue in its youthful position. Over time, gravity and the loss of structural support cause the brow to descend, the cheeks to fall, jowls to form, and the neck to develop loose bands and sagging skin.

What treatments address each of the three elements of facial aging?

Volume loss is primarily treated with dermal fillers or fat grafting. Skin texture changes are addressed with laser resurfacing, BBL, chemical peels, and BOTOX. Drooping skin is corrected surgically with brow lifts, eyelid surgery, facelifts, and neck lifts. For comprehensive rejuvenation, a combination of treatments targeting all three aspects delivers the most complete and natural-looking result.