A Wrinkle in Time

Understanding Your Skin

It is always nice to look at a baby's flawless skin. There are no lines, no signs that a pimple has even been there, and actually, it's perfect. You had gone that route but as you age, you can't help but accommodate a wrinkle in time until you no longer know where your baby skin has gone to.

To know about the causes of wrinkles, you must first know about the normal skin layers. Here are the layers that constitute the human skin.

Epidermis

This is the outer layer of your skin. This protects the inner layers from whatever the environment may cause them. This seemingly tough outer skin is caused by the movement of keratinocytes, the cells of the epidermis, from its bottom part to the top. As a result, a large dose of keratin is produced. But when these cells reach the top, they actually flake off. So if you see scaly types of skins, it means that something went wrong in this process.

Dermis

This is the skin's second layer. This contains its structural elements, which is the connective tissue. There are actually many types of connective tissue. Each type acts for different functions. Some examples are the collagen. This gives the skin strength. The glycosaminoglycans are the proteins that give turgor to the skin. The elastin fibers create the elasticity of your skin.

Between the dermis and epidermis is the dermal-epidermal junction. This is an important feature as it interlocks and forms fingerlike projections which are called rete ridges. These will increase the area of the epidermis which is exposed to the blood vessels and need nutrients. The blood vessels in the dermis give out such nutrients to the epidermis through the rete ridges.

Subcutaneous tissue 

This is the skin's bottom layer. And the subcutaneous tissue contains the fat cells. Do you know what those cells are for? They supply insulation to your body and they also make your skin full and plump.

Presenting the Wrinkles

How do wrinkles form and develop as people age? Through time, the epidermal cells will become thinner. As a result, you will also look thinner. The epidermal cells will also be less sticky. This means that that there are more chances for the moisture on your skin to be released than maintained, which causes dryness. The decrease in the epidermal cells is actually 10 percent per decade. And as people age, they divide slower. For this reason, the skin cannot cope up quickly as it used to repair itself.

In the dermal layer, less collagen is being produced. The elastin fibers also wear out. Such factors will cause the skin to sag and wrinkle. The rete ridges, meanwhile, will flatten out. This will cause the skin to be fragile. And so the nutrients that the epidermis needs will not be met accordingly.

As for the subcutaneous layer, the fat cells get thinner as people age. This will result in more wrinkles and sagging.

It is a complex process that everybody will go through as people age. You can use moisturizers while you are young and take good care of your skin to slow down the process. But you have to admit that there will come a point wherein you will not only face a wrinkle in time but other kinds of changes in your features as well.

That is okay. The important thing is that you age gracefully so that people will perceive you as beautiful inside and out.

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"Information courtesy of www.mebykatie.com, Katie Marshall is a certified Medical Esthetician, Acne Specialist, Functional Nutrition Counsellor, Holistic Chef, and Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. Specializing in both skin health, gut health, hormone health, and the whole body. The basic premise is that functional nutrition gets to the root of the problem and resolves the actual problem. This is different from conventional medicine which is about prescribing multiple meds to deal with symptoms, with little regard to resolving the root cause of the symptoms. Functional nutrition is more personalized, customized, and holistic. My job is to work in tandem with your medical team and be an advocate for you if necessary."

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