Can You Reverse Ageing Skin?
…Well…can you?
Yes, you can. And I’m going to tell you how.
There are two things to briefly consider if you’re thinking about reversing skin ageing:
- The chronological age of your skin; this is, literally, how old you and your skin are. We have no control over this. Until time travel is invented, we can’t reverse your chronological age.
- The biological age of your skin; refers to the state of your DNA biologically, your skin may well be older or younger than your chronological age. This is where the term ‘they’ve had a hard life’ (!) is often said when you think someone looks older than they chronologically are. The good news is that you can have some control over your biological ageing in all aspects of your body, including your skin which we’re going to focus on today.
Science snippet: One of the things researchers look at when it comes to your overall biological age is your telomeres. Telomeres are found on the ends of each strand of DNA in your body. With chronological age, science has shown us that telomeres get shorter. If your telomeres are shorter than someone the exact same chronological age as you, then you are biologically older than them. This applies to your skin too.
So why do we ask about your lifestyle when you come along for a skin consultation? Good question. Lifestyle factors play a big role in your biological ageing; poor nutrition, lack of exercise, stress, poor sleep, smoking, and your physical environment E.G. working outdoors and living in a polluted area all have an impact on how you age.
An important lifestyle factor when it comes to your skin, specifically, is how much sun exposure have you had; do you wear a daily SPF and have practised safe sun habits for as long as you can remember or have you been a bit of a sun worshipper, perhaps been burnt a few times. Sun exposure is one of the best ways of damaging your skin’s collagen and stimulating hyperpigmentation.
Luckily, you can have a positive impact on how you biologically age by making the best choices you can around these lifestyle factors. Whilst we’re on the topic of sun exposure impacting your skin’s ageing process, there have been studies that conclude that the daily use of SPF 30 may actually visibly reverse signs of existing sun damage; the symptoms of sun damage commonly being uneven hyperpigmentation (dark patches), wrinkles, and poor skin texture.
This reversal is able to happen because the skin is AMAZING at regenerating itself and by preventing further damage from the sun’s rays, it allows the skin to start healing and repairing on its own. Now, I’m not suggesting that after a year of wearing daily SPF, your skin is going to be 100% wrinkle and sunspot-free, but it certainly has been shown to make quite the difference. I’d go as far as saying, that a daily SPF of 30+ is your best friend when it comes to biological skin ageing and it’s a must if you’re investing in your skin further with in-clinic treatments and skin therapies, all you’ll want to help preserve your results.
What about ageing skin treatments? There are plenty that can help with ageing skin to improve both your skin health as well as how your skin looks.
Anti Ageing Treatment Options
There are many, and your consultant should be able to give you skin treatment options to choose from once you’ve discussed your medical and lifestyle history, your goals, and your preferences but here are a few that are very popular amongst clients at our Hertfordshire skin clinic.
Byonik
If you’re interested in literally reducing the biological age of your skin’s DNA then Byonik may be the skin treatment for you.
Remember that we were talking earlier about telomeres? Well, the Byonik treatment helps to preserve and protect your telomeres which improves the health and lifespan of your skin cells. This really is as close to stopping ageing skin as you can get; of course, it doesn’t mean that your skin cells aren’t going to carry on ageing after the Byonik treatment (we’re not freezing time) but your DNA (telomeres) have been rejuvenated.
Byonik, sometimes called ‘Byonik laser’ or ‘Byonik pulse triggered laser’, is used every day in our Hertfordshire skin clinic because it has several protocols to improve all skin types, skin problems, and skin conditions such as rosacea and general skin inflammation-it’s not just great for ageing skin. Byonik is also suitable for sensitive skin, offering a gentle yet effective treatment option.
Byonik uses a combination of pulse-triggered laser (yes, your actual heartbeat triggers the light energy to pulse. You can read more about that here.); hyaluronic acid gels; and powerful antioxidants.
The laser energy Byonik harnesses is called’ low-level light therapy’ (LLLT) which means that not only does it offer effective treatment results, but there’s no pain, heat, or downtime. You can learn more about the ‘no needle mesotherapy’ effect Byonik has on the skin here, including some Byonik before and after photos of a few of our clients who had a course of Byonik facials as an ageing skin treatment.
There’s no reason why you can’t have Byonik as a single treatment, almost like a ‘red carpet’ treatment prior to an event, however, in our experience, you’ll need a course of treatments to achieve the kind of antiageing results we achieved for our clients seen in the before and after photos in the link above. Having a course of this relaxing treatment is definitely no hardship though!
Lay back, relax, rejuvenate.
Sculptra
Sculptra is a trusted and well-respected injectable treatment for ageing skin. Sculptra injections are made of poly-L-lactic acid microparticles which stimulate your skin to produce new collagen; in fact, Sculptra was the first, and original, injectable collagen stimulator. Some refer to the treatment as ‘Sculptra filler’, however, I think the word ‘filler’ is possibly a bit misleading as we use Sculptra differently than we would traditional fillers such as Teosyal or Belotero.
Traditional dermal fillers give an immediate plumping of the tissues which makes them great for replacing lost volume in the face such as when the cheeks start to become flatter with age, or if the temples become hollow. Fillers can also be used to directly fill some unwanted wrinkles too.
Sculptra is different. It’s used to improve skin quality, firmness, and tightness, and restore the youthful plumpness of the skin which naturally thins with age. It’s more about improving the skin than replenishing the underlying structures, such as fat pads, in the way traditional dermal fillers do. Sculptra targets fine lines, wrinkles, sagging skin, and skin folds, and helps reduce fine lines, amongst other signs of ageing skin collagen loss has a part to play in.
The average client will need more than one Sculptra treatment session; your unique requirements will be discussed at consultation, however. Our clients (and practitioners) love Sculptra because of the long-lasting results that it offers talking years- not to mention the gradual build-up of natural-looking but beautiful results… not the kind of results where friends say: ‘Have you had X Y or Z done?’ but rather: “you’re looking great!” Taps side of nose
Natural-looking, but impressive skin rejuvenation.
Fraxel Dual
Ageing skin problems…there are many. Wrinkles, sagging skin, crepiness… there is one ageing skin problem that can be quite overlooked but one that does have a significant impact on how old others perceive you to be… I’m talking about sun damage, specifically hyperpigmentation.
Hyperpigmentation can occur in all skin types, often referred to as ‘liver spots’ or ‘sun spots’, and tends to occur in areas of skin that have been exposed to the sun; face, neck, chest, hands, arms are all really common areas that age spots show up because they tend to be the most frequently exposed. You may notice individual ‘spots’ of darker pigmentation or your skin may have taken on a more mottled, uneven skin tone.
If this is resonating with you and you’re finding that your mind is flashing back to all those times you forgot to wear sunscreen or laid outside on holiday and got horribly burnt… stop, don’t beat yourself there’s nothing you can do about the past. There is something you can do now though to improve the health of your skin and reduce some of those signs of ageing skin; reduce and even out hyperpigmentation, brighten your skin, even smooth wrinkles, and boost your collagen production…
…Say hello to the Fraxel Dual laser. If you’re looking for an absolute powerhouse of laser treatment, the Fraxel laser may just be your new BFF.
The Fraxel laser is the OG when it comes to fractional laser treatments. Fractional means that the laser treats fractions of your skin at a time, leaving each microscopic treatment area surrounded by untreated skin; this has several benefits including a quick recovery time that have a fractional laser treatment will recover far more quickly than if they have a fully ablative laser treatment as fully ablative laser essentially takes off the top layer of skin and can take roughly 4 to 6 weeks to recover from. Fraxel laser generally takes around a week to recover from. Have a peek at one of our Fraxel laser clients’ recovery diaries to give you a better idea of what to expect, including photos.
So why would you want a fractional laser treatment? Fraxel laser is good. Really good… That’s why so many people say they’ve got a ‘Fraxel’ (that’s a brand name BTW) when it’s just a basic fractional laser.
Those microscopic treatment zones that the laser creates in your skin removes the old, damaged skin cells and stimulates a process where new, fresh skin cells replace them. You’re remodelling your skin and Fraxel treatment leaves you with reduced hyperpigmentation and improved wrinkles, skin texture, and skin quality. Hello healthier, beautiful, refreshed skin that looks more youthful.
Depending on the level of correction you need, you may require more than one Fraxel laser treatment. However, one of the things we love about the Fraxel laser is that it offers great flexibility so that your practitioner can tailor the treatment to suit you and the amount of recovery time you can afford. Don’t worry too much about the details around this at the moment, just know that experienced practitioners can give you options to suit both your goals and your lifestyle.
Thermage
Sometimes called a non-surgical facelift or non-surgical eyelift treatment, Thermage is a, you guessed, non-surgical skin treatment that uses powerful radio frequency energy (RF) to stimulate the growth of new collagen and awaken some of your old supply of collagen. This results in tighter, smoother, and more youthful skin.
We absolutely love the Thermage treatment for ageing skin around the eyes and on the eyelids. Clients often come for a Thermage eye treatment when their eyelids are starting to become heavy looking and, perhaps, they’re seeing the wrinkles around their eyes deepen. Thermage is great at retracting and firming the skin around the eyes to give them the less tired, refreshed look they used to have. As the previous UK, European, and Middle Eastern trainer for Thermage, our nurse Jane has answered lots of Thermage questions in her time; here she answers a few FAQs specifically about Thermage for ageing eyes, which you may find insightful.
Thermage is not just great for the eyes, it can be used on the face and body too to tighten and firm skin. At our Hertfordshire skin tightening clinic, we often use Thermage to improve signs of ageing skin and heaviness around the lower face area, loose skin and crepiness on the stomach and above the knees.
Long-lasting results aside, our clients love that Thermage is a single session so it’s really convenient, not taking up too much of their time, and that the results build gradually so there’s no telltale dramatic overnight changes to their appearance. It’s just them, at their best.
In fact, our clients LOVE Thermage so much, that we receive lots of Thermage reviews from them; with permission, we’ve shared a handful of them here.
SculptLift
This is our signature treatment here at Skin to Love. Since opening our skin clinic in 2013, alongside our extensive experience in non-surgical treatments prior to this, we’ve had the privilege of helping thousands of men and women of all ages who simply want to look their best and regain a sense of confidence in how their skin looks. From this vast experience, our signature SculptLift treatment was born.
Skin to Love’s SculptLift tightens, lifts, and smooths facial skin whilst subtly redefining and restoring beautiful facial contours; unveils a youthful luminosity; refreshes a tired appearance; and promotes younger-looking skin.
The SculptLift was curated after seeing the gorgeous, natural-looking treatment results our clients were achieving when we combined two industry-leading skin treatments together: Thermage radio frequency and Sculptra.
You can read all about how our signature Skin to Love SculptLift works here.
Can you reverse ageing skin? Yes. This is probably better known in the aesthetic or cosmetic industry as ‘correct’ rather than ‘reverse’. We can correct many aspects of ageing skin from sagging to liver spots with non-surgical treatments. We’ve covered just a snippet of the type of ageing skin treatments available to you today but hopefully, this will give you a glimpse of the standard of technology that we have at our fingertips within the field of aesthetic medicine.
Should you like to discover more about ageing skin treatments that will address your particular concerns and help you reach your goals, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us today to arrange a consultation. We’ll be happy to discuss how our vast range of industry-leading, results-driven treatments and technology, teamed with our practitioner’s knowledge and skill may benefit your skin.
