Have you started noticing that your skin isn’t as firm as it used to be? Does it seem as though your skin is losing its strength and suppleness? One of the effective ways of treating this is by improving your skin’s elasticity.
While many people are investing in the occasional PDO thread lift to improve their skin’s natural sagging, you can also use natural ways to improve skin firmness.
What is Skin Elasticity and Why Is it Important?
Essentially, skin elasticity refers to your skin’s ability to stretch when pulled and return to its normal form when released. Over time your skin will experience a loss of elasticity when collagen, elastin and fat molecules in the three layers of your skin begin to break down. Ultimately this causes sagging skin and the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
A Few Natural Approaches to Improve Your Skin’s Elasticity
In addition to investing in an IPL rejuvenation treatment to improve your skin’s elasticity, there are also several natural ways you can do to enhance skin elasticity. Some of the more significant ones are highlighted below.
1. Start Regular Exfoliation
As you age, your skin’s natural ability for normal cell renewal gradually declines. When this happens, dead skin cells give your skin a tired, dull and even stretched appearance. One of the key pointers to improve this is to opt for regular and gentle exfoliation. By doing this you will remove these dead skin cells that accumulate on the outermost layer of your face’s skin.
2. Work on Reducing Stress
Stress is one of the top causes of skin deterioration. This is because the stress hormone, cortisol, negatively affects collagen synthesis and function in your skin. High-stress levels cause excessive amounts of cortisol to be released in the body and skin. If you suffer from high-stress levels, find ways to reduce tension or better handle that stress. Solutions range from journalling to exercising.
3. Change Your Diet
Inflammation is another factor that causes the elastin and collagen in your skin to break down. An easy way to reduce inflammation is to add anti-inflammatory-rich foods to your daily diet. This can be done by doing the following:
- Add foods rich in fatty acids such as almonds and salmon
- Include daily portions of foods high in natural antioxidants such as berries and leafy vegetables
- Organic red grapes are one of the best natural sources of resveratrol which helps to promote skin elasticity
- Include turmeric in your recipes as it’s a well-known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory with a range of health benefits
4. Stay Hydrated
Not staying sufficiently hydrated is a sure way to reduce the loss of firmness in your skin. The dryer your skin is, the faster it loses its elasticity and also speeds up the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
For the most part, experts recommend calculating half your body weight and then drinking that amount of water in ounces. That will ensure that you keep your skin hydrated. If you can’t see yourself drinking so much water, consider adding tea and fresh fruit juice to your diet.
5. Invest in Essential Oils
Many people already use essential oils for several reasons but a little-known fact is that certain essential oils help keep your skin looking healthy. With their powerful antioxidant properties, skin elasticity can be improved by reducing free radical damage.
The best essential oils to use for improving skin elasticity include:
- Lemon
- Bergamot
- Cypress
- Tea tree
- Rosemary
- Geranium
6. Take a Vitamin C Supplement
Vitamin C has many health benefits. In addition to improving your overall health, vitamin C promotes collagen synthesis and also inhibits enzymes that cause collagen break-down. Aside from eating more foods rich in vitamin C, you can also use topical creams that contain this wonder vitamin.
7. Increase Exercise
Another way to manage inflammation in your body and your skin is to start doing regular exercise. Physical exercise keeps your skin firmer, healthier and even looking younger by slowing down the breakdown of elastin. Keep in mind that you should increase your hydration during any workout programs.
8. Get the Right Amount of Sleep
Getting the right amount of sleep improves many aspects of your mental and physical well-being. The good news is that these benefits extend to your skin as well. Experts recommend going to bed before midnight to keep your circadian rhythms in balance. This reduces the release of cortisol and minimises the risk of inflammation and in turn, slows down the breakdown of collagen and elastin.
Final Thought
There are many things you can do to improve your overall skin health. The good news is that many of these factors are easy to incorporate into your daily routine. With a little bit of care and effort, you can help your skin look its best for as long as possible!
