Skin Thickness – Signs of Aging

 

Why should you care about Skin Thickness?

 

Permanent Makeup Artist: Skin thickness will help you determine which microblade to use (nano microblade or standard microblades) for best results.

Everyone else: Skin thickness contributes to signs of aging such as wrinkles, elasticity, pigmentation, dullness, dryness, sagging, pore sizes, and more. Getting to know why your skin thins will help with taking actions to extending your youthful appearance.

Dermal Thickness

 

skin thickness chart

 

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center initiated a study to find the dermal thickness on our face. This study found that our eyelids (approximately at 0.5mm) are the thinnest part of our skin. The chart below is made providing ratios for the rest of our face, using the eyelids as the reference point.

How to read the chart
The derma at the tip of our nose is the thickest at 3.30 times thicker than the skin on our eyelid. And according to the guide, our forehead is 2.8 times thicker than our eyelids.

 

 

 

Factors that Causes Thinning

Gender, environmental factors, history of how you take care of your skin, and age are contributing factors.

Examples of each factor:

  • Gender – Male tends to have thicker skin than females.
  • Environmental factors – Constant sun exposure can cause thinning.
  • History – Usage of harmful treatments such as laser and chemical peels.
  • Age – Skin is more fragile in children, it thickens as we grow into adulthood, and then it starts to thin after middle age.

 

For women, dermal thickness varies throughout the month. During the menstrual cycle, our skin is most fragile at the start of the cycle due to low levels of estrogen and progesterone. Then as estrogen levels rise it thickens. During Menopause, our skin thins because of hypoestrogenism. This leads to an increase in wrinkles, dryness, and a decrease of elasticity.

Permanent Makeup Artist Practice

In a previous post on microblade needle taper and diameter, we have mentioned that nano microblades (0.15mm to 0.18mm) are a new technology and produces crisper and more dimensional results. However, because of resistance from elasticity, nano microblades are best used on clients that have thinner dermis. See full post click here.

For clients with thicker skin, use standard microblades with a diameter of 0.22mm to 0.28mm will produce the best results.

Taking care of your skin

 

In this section, we will provide tips on actions to avoid and actions that will help skin thickness.

What not to do:

Above, we gathered that certain things we do affect our skin’s health which ties to the appearance of age. There are factors that are beyond our control, such as time and genetics. However, there are factors that are within our control.

  • Sun exposure – Vitamin D is great for our bodies, it improves our mood and helps us get a good night’s rest. However, when lounging on the beach, to reduce sun’s harmful effects on our skin, make sure to use SPF. This will help moisturize and protect.
  • Harmful Treatments – As mentioned, laser treatments are very harsh for our skin, it may make you look younger for a short time, but in the long run, it thins out our dermal layers, accelerating aging effects. Other treatments such as acid, tanning, chemical peels, and even overt exfoliation will increase the appearance of aging.
  • Meds – Long-term use of some medications such as topical corticosteroids can cause our thinning. A good rule of thumb on medication is if it’s not a pressing need, let our body’s immune system take care of it. This will help keep our skin thicker longer and help build our body’s immunity as well.

 

What to do:

Just as there are actions that will increase our skin’s aging, there are things we can do on a daily basis to help with decrease aging effects.

  • Hydration – Drinking at least eight glasses of water a day. One first thing in the morning and one before bed helps our body cycle through toxins
  • Moisturize – Dryness causes fine lines and wrinkles, moisturizing helps not only combats dryness but it protects your skin as well.
  • Fish Oil – Omega-3 is good for heart and brain function, as well as skin elasticity.
  • Inducing circulation – When we clean our face each night, massaging from the center of our face outwards in circular motions will help push toxins out and influence circulation.
  • Exercise and eating healthy – It is not a mystery that exercise and a clean diet are part of being healthy. It induces blood flow which helps with nourishing your skin cells, it keeps our immune system in good shape, and help us maintain a good mood.

The points above are the basics of caring for both our body and our skin. A healthier you is a happier you.

Reference:
 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15861089
 http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1294744-overview
 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2685269/
 http://www.simpleorganiclife.org/this-is-what-happens-when-you-drink-a-glass-of-water-before-bed-1796296312.html