Structural Changes in Aging Human Skin

Abstract

In both exposed and protected areas of progressively older people the underside of the epidermis becomes increasingly flattened out. This flattening is accompanied by a comparable rarefaction of the superficial blood vessels. In this article we review the architecture of the elastic fiber framework in the papillary dermis of skin protected from the sun; aging changes that occur are similar to, but less severe than, those in sun-exposed areas. Most cutaneous sensory end organs are little affected by aging; those in the external genitalia, however, and particularly those underneath the vaginal epithelium become smaller and some disappear.

Dynamic smile analysis: Changes with age

“…[21,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] Age related changes to muscle structure and function have also been described. [34][35][36][37][38][39] Other researchers have studied the age related changes as they pertain to lip length and maxillary incisor exposure; however, to our knowledge this is the first study to examine a comprehensive list of smile parameters with respect to age.…”

“…Furthermore, with age, dermal alterations are also seen in collagen, elastin, and glycosaminoglycans. [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] Skin collagen has been shown to decrease linearly at a rate of approximately 1%…”

“…In contrast, the cutaneous nerves are little affected with age. [28,31] The amount of hyaluronic acid and dermatan sulfate in the glycosaminoglycans has been shown to be reduced with increasing age. [25] Muscles have been shown to have a significant reduction in cross-sectional area and density with age.…”

Aging Skin: Nourishing from Out-In. Lessons from Wound Healing

“…As a result blood flow decreases, reducing the supply of nutrients and altering thermoregulation [9]. In addition, there is a flattening of the papillary dermis, decreasing surface contact between the dermis and epidermis [13]. This predisposes separation of the dermal-epidermal junction with laterally applied tension [11].…”

Características Histológicas de la Piel de la Cara Volar del Pulgar en IndividuosChilenos con Desvanecimiento del Dactilograma

“…Lavker (1979) ha observado un engrosamiento de la lámina densa de la membrana basal y alteraciones en el proceso de la elastogénesis. Montagna & Carlisle (1979) describen modificaciones en la vasculatura y en la inervación de la piel. Reducción de lípidos en el estrato córneo, enlentecimiento del recambio de queratinocitos en la epidermis y disminución de melanocitos en este mismo estrato.…”