How to slow down aging after menopause?

Dermatologists divide aging into two groups triggered by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic aging progresses with age, whereas Extrinsic aging is associated with environmental causes, like sun exposure and smoking.

Practitioners prefer to divide aging by structural and tissue.Structural aging means that supportive skin structures, like bones, fat, ligaments, and collagen, don't hold the skin as they used to. Therefore, droopy eyelids, jowls, nasolabial and deep wrinkles appear. Tissue aging is related to skin changes: saggy skin, lines, big pores, dark spots, and rosacea appear.

Menopause, characterized by decreasing ovarian synthesis, hormones like estradiol and progesterone, plays a significant role in intrinsic skin aging, meaning that peri-menopausal and menopausal women age with deep structural tissue aging.

Women face many cosmetic concerns during and after Menopause. The good news is that many treatment options are available to solve the problems.

How does MedVSpa work?

During the consultation, MedVSpa team members ask questions to understand how realistic the client's expectations are. Our biggest challenge is explaining that face lifting in menopausal age is barely possible without reinforcing the structure. Therefore, we prefer our clients understand first what facelift they can expect with technologies only, what the changes injections make, and why.
MedVSpa aims to deliver science-based information, reinforced by over 20 years of everyday experience, discuss options with the client, promise the result, and accomplish the troth.

Characteristics of Aging: An Anatomic Basis

Let's consider age-related changes coming deep into the tissue. The skin, composed of the epidermis-superficial and the dermis-collagen and elastin layers, is supported by the subcutis, primarily comprising fat tissue. Muscle and bone represent deeper layers that help the overlying fat and skin. Aging affects the tissue layers differently.

Superficial skin layer changes

Age-associated dark spots are related to melanin, which protects the skin from extrinsic aging and DNA damage by absorbing ultraviolet light—the skin responds to these factors by gathering melanocytes together as defenders. When the hormone number decreases, the skin becomes more vulnerable, and her response to external factors is much more excessive in comparison to what it used to be before Menopause. Lighter skin type representatives, after UV exposure, develop lentigines, frequently referred to as "age spots." 

Decreasing skin elasticity and losing dermal collagen are the result of hormonal changes.

A "hollow" or "sunken" appearance, eye bags, and folds result from the atrophy of fat pads that provide support to the skin, as well as supported ligaments and bone changes. Nasolabial folds and bags under the eyes and jowls result from changes ligament's supportive structure, increasing fat pad volume, and hyper muscle tone.

Some age-related changes result from multi-layer-related changes. Sagging skin of the lower face and neck is caused by loss of dermal elasticity, atrophy of subcutaneous fat in the middle part of the face, and hyper muscle tone. Collagen loss is related to postmenopausal rather than chronological age, reflecting hormonal effects.

Thinning of the dermis plays a significant role when considering the skin potential after tissue restoration due to technology-based treatments. With age, the skin decreases in collagen fibers, and water retention declines. Elastic fiber reduction makes the dermis less flexible.

Why skin looks dull?

The outermost layer of the epidermis is a barrier to ingress, which can irritate the skin and egress water, causing skin dehydration. The skin turnover process slows down with Menopause. Therefore it looks grey and dull and feels dehydrated.

Collagen is our weapon against aging.

The deep skin layer's dermis comprises collagen (70% of the weight of dry dermis), elastic fibers, and ground substance. The main components of the ground substance are proteoglycans, rich in hyaluronic acid (HA) and serving to retain moisture.

Collagen loss decreases with Menopause faster than with chronological age. This fact shows the critical role of hormones in collagen thickness and face lifting. Henry et al. found that a decrease in skin elasticity correlated with chronological age and the number of years since Menopause.

Our helpers: Subcutaneous Tissues- Fat Layer.

Skeletal atrophy of subcutaneous fat is an aging sign. Bone structure changes show a widening of contours around the eyes, decreased pyriform angle, and resorption of the maxilla. Menopause bone resorption is similar to chronological aging.

Loss of fatty tissue in the face also plays a significant role in aging. The face structurally has two layers of fat: deep and superficial. Fat compartments deflate with age. Sometimes they disappear. The atrophy of these compartments contributes to the appearance of aging.

Temporal fat chambers reduce first, resulting in the temples' "sunken" appearance. Maxilla loses density, and deep fat pads of the cheek disappear, contributing to the signs of aging like face flattening, cheeks hollowing, and the appearance of deep nasolabial folds. The contours of the orbital rim expanses and atrophy of the suborbicular oculi fat pads contribute to the hollows' appearance.

The following article explains contemporary treatment options based on minimally invasive approaches, including neuroprotein, called botulinum toxin, fillers, lasers, radiofrequency and RF microneedling, focused ultrasound, chemical peels, and thread lifts-treatments that restore a more youthful appearance.

Book your consultation