Cause/anatomy of facial aging

How and why does our face actually age? Using photos by Sophia Loren, we can see very nicely what happens during aging. Facial aging is a fascinating process. We usually look no further than the surface and the underlying processes are often understudied. Recent scientific research has uncovered the aging process in great detail. In this blog, I'll try to make it understandable by explaining the process layer by layer.

Aging face: skin, fat, muscles, bone structure and teeth.

Strangely enough, the aging process of the face starts around the age of 25. Then, fortunately, the process is not really visible yet. In facial aging, structural changes occur in the following layers of tissue — skin, fat, muscles, bones, and teeth. Because all layers of tissue age differently, facial expressions also change over time.

Skin aging face:

The following changes occur in the skin that make it fuller, show more wrinkles and sink down:

• Because the renewal process of the epidermis is becoming less and less efficient, the skin becomes rougher and you develop more pigment (spots).
• Remodeling collagen slows down, making the skin thinner and less elastic.
• The supply of nutrients such as hyaluronic acid and antioxidants is deteriorating. As a result, the skin becomes drier, thinner and less able to protect itself against harmful external influences.
• Repeated movement, together with the above three points, ensures that “kinks/wrinkles” occur over time.

Change in facial fat ratio

A young, full face has the right amount of facial fat in the right place. As you can also see in the illustration, facial fat ratios change due to atrophy, redistribution and accumulation. The areas that lose the most fat are: the forehead, the temples, the upper part of the cheeks, under the eyes and the cheekbone. The areas that actually get more fat are: the lower part of the cheeks, the nasolabial fold, the jawline and the neck. The fat sinks down, as it were, and because the fat volume also changes, the face looks less healthy/older. There are also 'gullies' between the fat pads, making the fat pads separate structures instead of a smooth, almost continuous layer.

Facial aging, bone structure change

Article about the Anatomy of the Ageing face. PDF PDF Anatomy of the Aging Face

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