Menopause and the Effect on Your Skin

Menopause not only affects the internal body, it affects the skin as well.

Menopause and the skin - the hormonal fluctuations don't always play nicely with your complexion.

Here's a quick list of what many menopausal women experience in skin changes:

• Oily skin: Estrogen levels decrease so testosterone is no longer masked. Testosterone stimulates sebaceous glands to secrete thicker sebum = oily skin and sometimes acne.
• Facial hair: Again blame the testosterone - often you see more hair in the chin area.
• Sagging skin and wrinkles: Loss of supportive fat below the skin of the face, neck, hands and arms. Skin has less beneath so sags and wrinkles follow.
• Elastosis: Lowered estrogen levels result in less production and repair of collagen and elastin in the dermis of the skin.
• Thinning epidermis: Blood flow through the dermal capillaries is reduced during menopause, and fewer nutrients and less oxygen are available to the skin, accompanied by a reduction in the barrier function of the epidermis, leading to increased trans-epidermal water loss and dry skin.
• More prone to sun damage: The number of melanocytes in the skin is reduced (they degenerate). With fewer melanocytes, we produce less of the protective melanin and skin appears lighter. Equate this with the more pronounced need for sunblock.
• Hyperpigmentation / age spots: Due to lack of regulation by estrogen, brown "age spots" appear on the face, hands, neck, arms, and chest of many women.

Want to understand in detail why these changes occur?

Article source Dr. Diana Howard: https://www.dermalinstitute.com/

Although cosmetic dermatology can't affect the natural influence of hormonal changes, there are a wide range of procedures and products that can help combat the negatives. From the simple use of retinols to increase the thickness of the skin to lightening agents and treatments for pigmentation to volume replacing fillers to refill a sagging skin envelope.

Skin Rejuvenation Options

Ready to give menopausal skin a customized boost? Request a consultation to review treatment and home-care options.

Stay confident through every hormonal shift with our women's skin wellness clinic.