What Causes The Skin To Sag As You Age?
Skin could begin to sag after 50 due to lifestyle and health factors causing damage to the complexion or stretching it out. This can occur in any area, including the face, arms, legs, or belly. Understanding the root cause can help significantly find the proper methods for tightening it back and restoring your skin’s youthfulness.Cause #1 - Collagen Deficiency
Collagen is one of the key proteins produced plentifully in the body, including the skin. It is essential to the skin's development, structure, and strength, helping it to stay firm, elastic, and smooth. However, collagen levels decline naturally with age, which can lead to sagging skin, wrinkles, and fine lines if not restored. Particularly, menopausal women experience a reduction in levels of this protein, which is one of the reasons sagging can become an issue after 50.Cause #2 - Pregnancy
During pregnancy, the skin stretches to accommodate the growing belly, and it is usually loose in this area after birth. In addition, the rise in hormones like estrogen could weaken the skin fibers leading to a loss of elasticity and signs of age like wrinkles. These changes may remain over time, even long after the pregnancy.Cause #3 - Loss of Weight
Losing a significant amount of weight may have a similar impact as pregnancy, as the added pounds can lead to stretched skin. After weight loss, some loose skin may remain, and there is often damage to the collagen and elastin fibers. This may make it more difficult for the skin to recover from its previous tightness.Cause #4 - Aging
As we age, the loss of proteins like collagen and elastin can loosen the skin, causing wrinkles and fine lines. However, over time, day-to-day life may also cause damage to the complexion leading to sagging skin and aging. This includes smoking, drinking excess alcohol, following a poor diet, and exposure to environmental threats like pollution, dust, and the sun’s UV rays.Cause #5 - UV Exposure
Repeated exposure to UV rays without sun protection can break down collagen in the skin, leading to sagging, fine lines, and wrinkles. In addition, the sun can rapidly dehydrate the skin, leading to dryness and loss of volume. You can help to combat these effects by wearing a strong SPF sunscreen outside every season and following a rich skincare routine for dry skin.How To Keep Your Face Skin Tight After 50
Fortunately, if you want to know how to firm your skin after 50, there are several lifestyle methods, natural products, and clinical treatments which may be very effective. Follow some or all of these tips to keep your skin smooth and wrinkle-free with age.Stay Hydrated
Staying well-hydrated is important for your overall health, including the skin. Making sure you drink an adequate amount of water daily helps plump the skin, giving it the volume to tighten a sagging complexion and smooth wrinkles and lines on the surface. In addition, using a humidifier at night can also help keep the skin hydrated and prevent dryness.Use Firming Creams
Stemuderm is one of the popular anti-aging creams on the market containing natural ingredients like peptides, which boost collagen levels to firm the skin. In addition, these formulas are often rich in hydrating ingredients, which eliminate dryness and plump the skin for a smoother, tighter surface. Using a high-quality firming cream consistently may take years off your appearance by reducing the depth of fine lines, wrinkles, and sagging skin.Stop Smoking
When it comes to unhealthy habits, smoking is one of the worst for prematurely aging your complexion. It breaks down the collagen and elastin in your skin, causing it to lose its firmness and begins to sag and develop lines, wrinkles, and crow’s feet. This issue can extend beyond your face to drooping skin in other areas, such as the inner arms and breasts.Follow a Skincare Routine
Carrying out a consistent anti-aging skin care routine twice daily using the right combination of products can make a significant difference in the tightness and youthfulness of your skin. We suggest using targeted products without adding anything unnecessary to the routine for the best results.
Begin with Rejuvoderm, an effective cleanser to remove any excess dirt and oils from the skin's surface, and follow up with Maxatone, a toner that unclogs and tightens the pores. Look for deeply hydrating ingredients in these products, like hyaluronic acid and squalane, which plump the complexion to smooth fine lines and wrinkles.
A few times a week, add an exfoliant to a deep cleanse. Ingredients like glycolic or salicylic acid help remove dead skin cells from the top layer for added anti-aging benefits like smoothing out wrinkles.Follow up with a rich, deeply hydrating anti-aging moisturizer to hydrate and plump the skin. Use Dermaxsol, a moisturizer with SPF30, for extra protection during the day as your final step. At night, use Suvoderm, a rich nourishing night cream with moisturizers for better hydration.
Consider Clinic Treatments
If you’re struggling with how to remove wrinkles after 50, some effective clinical treatments are non-invasive and non-surgical. Talk to your dermatologist about whether some of these procedures may be right for you:Chemical Peel: This involves using a potent solution that removes the outermost layer of your skin, revealing a smoother, healthier surface with fewer wrinkles and fine lines. You can get this procedure on your face or any other body part you want to lift, like the neck or hands. If you get a chemical peel every 4-6 weeks, it should keep your skin firm and younger looking.
Laser Resurfacing: In this procedure, the practitioner uses a laser to remove the outer skin layer rather than a chemical solution. The laser has the added benefit of stimulating collagen production for firmer skin, and it may be especially effective for tightening the belly. It could take a few sessions to achieve the best results.
Radiofrequency: This method involves moving a device that emits radiotherapy waves over your skin, heating it, stimulating collagen production, and tightening sagging and wrinkles. For optimal results, get this procedure done 3 or 4 times a year.
Ultrasound Skin Tightening: For this method, the practitioner uses a device that emits ultrasound waves on your skin. This creates heat and leads to small abrasions under the surface stimulating collagen production for significant face, chin, and neck skin-tightening benefits. For optimal benefits, you need about 3-6 months of treatment.
FAQs
Question #1 - Why is my face sagging at 50?
Sagging skin after 50 often happens due to a decline in levels of proteins like collagen and elastin, weakening the skin fibers. However, other contributing factors include stretching due to weight loss, hormonal changes during menopause, loose skin from a past pregnancy, aging, and exposure to harmful UV rays without applying sunscreen.Question #2 - How to tighten skin on the face without surgery?
If you’re wondering how to tighten saggy skin after 50 without surgery, you’ll be happy to hear that there are natural lifestyle methods. These are keeping adequately hydrated, quitting poor health habits like smoking, and following a consistent skin routine, including firming creams rich in hydration and tightening ingredients like collagen. Several non-surgical clinic treatments can also have a powerful impact, such as chemical peels and ultrasound skin tightening.Bottom Line
If you’re concerned about how to tighten your face skin after 50, this article should reassure you that the problem is not insurmountable. There are several lifestyle changes, skin care products, and even non-invasive clinical procedures which can make a significant difference in the youthfulness of your complexion in this stage of life.
It’s more than possible to keep your skin firm and free of sagging, wrinkles, fine lines, and other signs of age even well into your later years if you take good care of your complexion. We offer a rich collection of products that can keep your skin hydrated, firm, and youthful for years to come, so have a look and work on building your after-50 skincare routine today!
Melissa Feldman
Melissa Feldman lives in Toronto, Canada and works as an independent research writer. She has undergraduate degrees in both Teaching and Psychology, and a Master’s degree in Immigration. Melissa is skilled at writing compelling articles and producing academic, marketing, and creative content. She writes about a range of lifestyle topics, including health, fitness, beauty and nutrition. She has more than two decades of experience reviewing and editing publications intended for both public and professional audiences.
