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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Living With
• Related Issues
• Specifics

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Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Patient Handouts

Summary

Your skin changes as you age. You might notice wrinkles, age spots and dryness. Your skin also becomes thinner and loses fat, making it less plump and smooth. It might take longer to heal, too.

Sunlight is a major cause of skin aging. You can protect yourself by staying out of the sun when it is strongest, using sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher, wearing protective clothing, and avoiding sunlamps and tanning beds. Cigarette smoking also contributes to wrinkles. The wrinkling increases with the amount of cigarettes and number of years a person has smoked.

Many products claim to revitalize aging skin or reduce wrinkles, but the Food and Drug Administration has approved only a few for sun-damaged or aging skin. Various treatments soothe dry skin and reduce the appearance of age spots.

NIH: National Institute on Aging

Start Here

• Skin Care and Aging (National Institute on Aging) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Blepharoplasty (American Society for Dermatologic Surgery)
• Blepharoplasty - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Botulinum Toxin (Botox) for Facial Wrinkles (American Academy of Ophthalmology)
• Botulinum Toxin Therapy: Overview (American Academy of Dermatology)
• Chemical Peels (American Society for Dermatologic Surgery)
• Chemical Peels: Overview (American Academy of Dermatology)
• Dermal Filler Do's and Don'ts for Wrinkles, Lips, and More (Food and Drug Administration)
• Dermal Fillers (Soft Tissue Fillers) (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish
• Facelift - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Forehead lift - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Laser Skin Renewal (VisualDX)
• Neuromodulators for Aging Skin (American Society for Dermatologic Surgery)
• Wrinkle Treatments and Other Anti-aging Products (Food and Drug Administration)

Living With

• How to Select Anti-Aging Skin Care Products (American Academy of Dermatology)
• Wrinkle Creams: Your Guide to Younger Looking Skin (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Eldercare at Home: Skin Problems (AGS Health in Aging Foundation)

Specifics

• Bags under Eyes (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Sagging Skin (American Society for Dermatologic Surgery)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Skin Aging (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Variation of the Thread Thickness After Thread Lifting: An Ultrasonographic Evaluation.
• Article: The Reduction of Skin Photodamage by the Ectoine-Thermus thermophilus Cofermentation Products.
• Article: Revealing the Patient Perspective: Evolution of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Botulinum...
• Skin Aging -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• American Academy of Dermatology
• American Society for Dermatologic Surgery
• Find a Dermatologic Surgeon (American Society for Dermatologic Surgery)
• Find a Dermatologist (American Academy of Dermatology)
• National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Also in Spanish
• National Institute on Aging Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Aging changes in skin (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Eyelid lift (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Facelift (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Liver spots (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Wrinkles (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish