Age and Your Skin

We're all getting older every day, but our skin ages differently, depending on heredity, general health, and how you have taken care of your skin. There are, however, some general stages in our skin's life.

Young people's skins are more delicate and thinner than those of adults. Infants with diaper rash and young children who are covered with scrapes, scratches, and bruises have less protection from the outside world than the adult whose skin has become toughened to handle the nicks and bumps of everyday living. The teenager whose oil-producing glands are increasing their activity will develop oily skin, oily hair, and acne.

When you get old, your skin becomes very thin and fragile, just as it as when you were a baby. Bumping your skin even a little bit can cause large bruises and blemishes. As your skin ages, it becomes saggy. Changes in hormones cut down the skin's oil supply and the skin becomes rough and dry, and "age spots" develop.