Sagging skin is a natural part of aging, but at-home and in-office treatments can help you age gracefully. Consider skin-firming creams, supplements, or laser or heat therapies to help with firmness.
Along with wrinkles and fine lines, saggy skin is an age-related concern on many people’s minds.
This loss of definition can happen almost anywhere on your body, but the most common areas are your face, neck, abdomen, and arms.
You can, however, take steps to help you age gracefully and maintain firm skin as you do.
Aging has become synonymous with sagging, and these reasons may help explain why:
- Loss of collagen: Collagen keeps your skin youthful by providing structure to the dermis, or the thickest layer of your skin. Your body naturally loses collagen through aging. By extension, this includes elastin, another protein responsible for keeping your skin firm and tight.
- Weight loss: If you’ve recently lost weight, you may be left with loose skin. This is because skin expands as you gain weight and needs time to develop more collagen and elastin before firming up again.
- Pregnancy: Similarly to what happens after weight loss, after giving birth, your skin needs time to produce more collagen and elastin before it moves back into place, especially around your abdomen.
- Years of sun exposure: The sun’s rays break down elastin over time, causing (sometimes premature) wrinkles, vascular disorders, and sagging skin after prolonged exposure without proper protection.
- Pollutants: The air and food you eat may contain pollutants and toxins. Exposure to these damaging free radicals may deteriorate collagen and elastin fibers.
You can try some at-home remedies to help boost skin firmness.
Firming creams
While you shouldn’t rely solely on firming creams, they may provide subtle differences in tightening loose skin. Some may even minimize the appearance of cellulite.
To get the most out of your firming cream, choose one that contains retinoids (retin-A, retinol, retinoic acid) or collagen.
Use the cream daily and maintain a healthy skin routine, such as wearing sunscreen daily.
However, keep in mind that results usually take some time to appear, and some people may not notice any improvements at all.
Facial exercises
Facial exercises may help tone and tighten facial muscles. For example, some people claim jawline exercises reduce the appearance of a double chin.
While there’s little clinical evidence on the effectiveness of facial exercises or “facial yoga,” more research has recently emerged.
Specifically, a 2018 study found that daily facial exercises
You can use a jade roller or gua sha as part of a facial exercise routine. These tools are used in traditional Chinese medicine to help:
- encourage lymphatic drainage
- stimulate blood flow
- relax facial muscles
There isn’t much scientific evidence to support these claims, but beauty experts swear by them. The stimulated circulation these tools help provide may give your skin a firmer look.
Supplements
When it comes to improving the skin’s appearance, a couple of supplements may do just that. These include:
- Collagen peptides: Supplements with collagen help replenish what your body breaks down and may help firm your skin. You can take it in many forms, including a collagen drink. Certain foods are also high in collagen.
- Vitamin C: This powerful antioxidant repairs damaged skin cells, protects your skin from free radicals, and even assists in collagen production.
Collagen and vitamin C are also ingredients commonly used in skin care products, if you would rather apply them topically.
Speak with your doctor or a registered dietitian before taking supplements to make sure they’re a good fit for your health.
Minimally invasive in-office procedures may help improve your skin’s firmness and complement at-home remedies.
Chemical peels
Chemical peels are noninvasive procedures that can improve the texture and even the tone of your skin. They chemically exfoliate damaged skin cells from the outermost layer of your skin.
While chemical peels are often done on the face, they can also be performed on your neck, hands, and back.
Results aren’t immediate and depend on whether you get a light, medium or deep chemical peel.
A short recovery period, or “downtime,” is needed after a chemical peel. For best results, the treatment should be repeated every 4 to 6 weeks until you’ve reached your desired appearance.
Laser resurfacing
Laser resurfacing has been called the most effective treatment to tighten skin.
It requires one of two lasers: carbon dioxide (CO2) or erbium. CO2 helps remove scars, warts, and wrinkles, while erbium addresses more superficial concerns, such as fine lines.
Both improve skin texture by laser focusing on the epidermis.
Results aren’t immediate, and recovery time may take up to a few weeks. You’ll likely need several sessions until you’ve achieved your desired results.
While the results can last up to 5 years, wrinkles and lines as part of the natural aging process will recur. This treatment, or any for that matter, isn’t a cure for aging skin, but it can help you age gracefully.
Ultrasound skin tightening
If you’re looking for a heavy-duty lift, try ultrasound skin tightening.
The ultrasound waves safely tighten your skin using heat and travel deeper into the layers of your skin than laser resurfacing. It promotes collagen production, leading to smoother and firmer skin over time.
There’s no recovery time for this noninvasive treatment, and while you’ll see an immediate difference, it may take up to 3 to 6 months before you see results.
For a noticeable difference, you may have to do three or more treatments.
The table below gives you an idea of the procedures that may work best if you’re looking to target sagging skin in certain areas of your body.
| Face and neck | Arms and legs | Abdomen |
|---|---|---|
| ultrasound skin tightening, firming lotions, moisturizing creams, facial exercises | muscle-strengthening exercises | laser resurfacing, heat therapy |
If you’re ever unsure whether a treatment is right for you, seek the advice of a board certified dermatologist.
Board certified dermatologists are members of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery, American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, or American Academy of Dermatology.
These professionals know different treatment options and can help determine what’s best for your skin type and health.
You might even want to interview a few candidates before selecting one. When you do, be sure to ask a lot of important questions, such as:
- their experience with the procedure
- whether they have a portfolio of before and after pictures
- pricing
- recovery time
To find a board certified dermatologist in your area, use this online search tool.
Saggy or loose skin is a common concern among people who want to age gracefully. Many options are available to firm skin as you age, but you can’t completely reverse the signs of aging.
You can go the nonsurgical route and add firming creams or facial exercises to your skin care routine.
Cosmetic procedures, such as laser surfacing or ultrasound skin tightening, may provide quicker results but require a recovery period and may be more costly than at-home fixes.
To find the best solution for you, consult a board certified dermatologist. They can help determine a treatment plan for your skin type and health.