4 Causes Of Face Aging
As a board-certified plastic surgeon, I understand how facial aging can affect your confidence. Your face changes over time due to four key factors—skin, muscle, fat, and bone—each contributing uniquely to signs of aging.
By exploring these causes, I’ll help you understand why your appearance shifts and how we can restore a youthful, natural look to restore your confidence. Below, I break down each factor, its effects, and the solutions we offer, from prevention to transformative procedures.
Skin
The Visible Surface
Your skin is the most visible part of your face, reflecting both age and lifestyle. Aging, sun exposure, and habits like smoking reduce collagen and elastin, causing thinning and laxity. This leads to wrinkles, age spots, and uneven texture, making makeup settle into lines or appear patchy.
For mild concerns, facials, chemical peels, or retinoids can rejuvenate and prevent further damage. When deep wrinkles or significant sagging appear, a face and neck lift is often necessary to tighten and smooth your skin for lasting results.
Muscle
The Dynamic Support
Facial muscles power your expressions, but their repetitive movements leave lingering lines. Years of smiling, frowning, or squinting etch dynamic wrinkles, while declining muscle tone pulls skin downward. These changes create crow’s feet, forehead lines, and sagging cheeks which complicate smooth makeup application.
Botox or laser treatments can soften early wrinkles and prevent deepening, especially in your 30s and 40s. For pronounced sagging or deep creases, a face and neck lift repositions muscles and skin to restore a firm, youthful contour.
Fat
The Volume Beneath
Facial fat gives your face its youthful fullness, but it naturally shifts with age. Starting in your 40s, fat loss from hormonal changes or genetics, combined with gravity, depletes volume in cheeks and lips while forming jowls and under-eye hollows. These hollows and sagging areas make foundation look uneven and accentuate shadows.
Fillers or microneedling can restore mild volume loss and prevent early sagging in less severe cases. When significant volume loss or jowls develop, a face and neck lift is ideal to reposition fat and smooth contours effectively.
Bone
The Evolving Foundation
Fascinatingly, your facial bones aren’t static—they subtly reshape over time, impacting your entire appearance. Aging causes bone resorption, influenced by genetics or hormonal shifts like menopause, leading to wider eye sockets, flatter cheekbones, and a receding jawline. These changes loosen skin and fat, deepening folds and softening your facial definition, often making makeup less effective at contouring.
Preventative skincare or fillers can support mild structural changes in younger patients. For advanced bone-related sagging or loss of definition, a face and neck lift is essential to lift tissues and counteract these foundational shifts.
how a face & neck lift can help
Aging affects your skin, muscles, fat, and bones, but a face and neck lift can restore your face’s youthful, natural look. On my face and neck lift page, I explain how this transformative procedure gives you the most natural results. You’ll find answers to common concerns—like recovery time and scarring—and learn why my patients choose this option.