What No One Tells You About Aging
by cosmetics blogger Emmy Owens
If youth is all about living in the moment, then middle age is about those moments that remind you of how long you’ve been living.
You know what I’m talking about. It’s the moment when you’re looking in the mirror to check your lip colour and you realize your teeth aren’t as straight as they used to be. Your first gray hair. Your first smile line or crow’s feet. You wonder, how long has that been there? A routine glance in the mirror suddenly becomes like seeing your reflection for the first time.
But eventually, those tiny shocks fade into the background until the next big thing reveals itself. You get used to it. In fact, you might actually learn to appreciate the changes as reminders of the experiences you’ve had. As my mom always said, “Growing old isn’t for sissies, but it beats the alternative.”
As someone who has significantly older siblings and who has often been the youngest among my friends, I am fortunate to have had a little warning before noticing the signs of aging in my own appearance. However, there is one thing I never really saw coming, and that’s the change in my skin’s texture.
Your skin, being the hardworking organ it is, changes and weakens as you get older. Here are some things to expect that took me by surprise:
- Even though we tend to credit age with giving us the “thick skin” we didn’t have as younger folks, the opposite is actually true! As we get older, the outer layer of our skin becomes thinner. Because it is thinner, it tends to bruise faster and takes longer to heal.
- Aging skin has less moisture, especially for the fairer sex. Yep, get ready, because your moisturizer is about to become your best friend. Whether due to genetics, environmental factors, poor hydration, or a combination, your skin is likely to become dryer as you grow older. Dry skin is dull, grayish in tone, flaky, and also prone to infection.
- Skin begins to sag. In my opinion, this is the worst of all skin changes. I can handle a few wrinkles and dryness. But nothing is more telling of our age than sagging skin. It tends to happen most noticeably around the neck and ears and under the eyes. But loose skin is also common on the abdomen, back, thighs, and buttocks.
The bottom line? Hair can be dyed. Wrinkles and creases can be plumped with BOTOX® Cosmetic and dermal fillers. But texture is tricky.
It used to be that men and women who wanted to delay noticeable facial aging had one main decision to make: whether or not to get a facelift. But in recent years, non-surgical skin-tightening treatments have started a revolution in the skin care field.
One of the most stunning advances is that of the Venus Legacy™. Legacy is a form of non-invasive body contouring that utilizes radiofrequency energy and magnetic pulses to firm the skin while reducing imperfections like cellulite and fine lines. Unlike with a facelift, there is very minimal to no downtime, and many people can go right back to their day-to-day activities. The results appear gradually as the skin is renewed and re-energized. Initially, most people need between 6 and 10 weekly treatments. After that, a few treatments per year will help results to last. Venus Legacy is licensed by Health Canada and approved by the FDA in the U.S.
Dr. Mathew Mosher, who offers Venus Legacy as a skin tightening solution at his medspa in Vancouver, provides detailed information on what to expect from this treatment.
Whether you’re considering plastic surgery or non-surgical rejuvenation, the most important advice I can give you when those little moments arise is to keep calm — and then seek advice from a qualified plastic surgeon. You may be surprised by your options.
What about you? What has surprised you most about aging?
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