What is the right age to start anti-aging treatments?

It is often said that only two things are certain in life – death and taxes. However, we would argue that a third certainty lies in waiting for all us – aging. While some of us are happy to let life take its course and thus – allow the inevitable effects of aging take place, others are not. As such, if you’re looking to keep that youthful and replenished look for as long as practicably possible, you will need to engage in regular anti-aging treatments.

Ultimately, a lot centers around the production of collagen – a key component that plays an important role in the ability of our bodies to produce muscles, skin, tissues, and more. Crucially, the age at which we start including anti-aging treatments into our routine is also an important consideration to make, not least because prevention is always going to be more effective than attempting to find a cure to your aging woes.

With that being said, we sought to explore the different anti-aging treatments that you might want to consider at different stages of your life. Before we do, let’s quickly explore what causes our skin to show signs of aging.

Why does our skin age?

In its most basic form, collagen is one of the most important components found in our body when it comes to retaining that youthful look. For those who might not know, collagen is an active protein located in the human body. It is typically found in and around the skin, muscles, bones, and tendons. Not only does collagen have the desired effect of providing our body with structure and strength, but it is also the protein that holds it together naturally.

During the early stages of life, the levels of collagen produced in our body are at their highest, subsequently resulting in super-smooth and youthful skin as we approach the start of our adult life. However, the key point here is that collagen very quickly loses its peak production levels once we hit our twenties.

In fact, the general consensus is that by the age of 20, the amount of collagen that we produce in our skin reduces itself at a rate of 1 percent per year. As a result of our skin not producing the amount of collagen it has been used to “receiving” in years prior, wrinkles become inevitable.

On the other hand, it is crucial to note that a natural diminishing of collagen production is not the only thing that causes our skin to age. On the contrary, certain lifestyle choices we make can result in wrinkles appearing much sooner.

This can include:

Sun Exposure: Giving your skin too much exposure to the sun will have the undesired effect of causing the collagen in your body to break down far quicker. In doing so, an increased breakdown of collagen will not only increase wrinkles, but casue hyperpigmentation and sagging, too.

Smoking: Tobacco contains a plethora of harmful chemicals that can have a direct impact on the health of the collagen in our body. Furthermore, nicotine in particular can compromise the health of our skin by reducing the amount of oxygen and nutrients it needs. As such, in smokers skin typically ages much sooner than in non-smokers.

Too Much Sugar: A further lifestyle choice that can have a direct impact on the signs of aging skin is a high consumption of sugar. In a nutshell, too much sugar can have the undesired effect of increasing the amount of advanced glycation end products in our body. This can leave our skin dry, weak, and damaged.

Ultimately, the key takeaway here is that in order to keep our skin looking fresh, youthful, and wrinkle-free for as long as practically possible, we must strive to protect the key component that calls the shots – collagen.

At what age should we start preventative measures?

So now that you have an idea as to why our skin ages, we are now going to explore the different ages that you might want to start anti-aging treatments to keep your skin looking youthful.

Early 20s

As we briefly noted earlier, it is believed that by the age of 20, our body begins to reduce the amount of collagen that it produces by a factor of 1 percent per year. In reality, this means that the most effective course of action that you can take is to begin anti-aging treatments in your early twenties.

However, the importance of doing this, often isn’t realized, as people tend to take a reactionary approach to aged skin – much like they do with hair loss. In other words, people fail to consider the merits of starting anti-aging treatment at such a young age, not least because the skin is yet to display any signs of aging.

Nevertheless, prevention of aging is significantly more effective than trying to cure it, so we would suggest implementing some regular anti-aging processes into your beauty routine. First and foremost, try to introduce antioxidants to your skin. You can do this on a daily basis in the form of serums or moisturizers that contain Vitamin C.

In doing so, you’ll not only stimulate the collagen production levels in your skin, but you’ll also protect it from harmful radicals. On top of introducing a daily moisturizing routine, we would also suggest daily use of a high SPF 50+ face sunscreen all year round. The damage caused by UV light is irreversible in most cases, as is the damage it will cause to your collagen.

25 – 35 Years Old

If you didn’t quite make the early 20s cut-off point, then don’t worry – there’s still lots of anti-aging treatments that you can utilize to protect that all-important collagen. However, you’ll now need to start being really proactive with your preventative measures, not least because this is the time of your life where collagen production levels really begin to decline.

In fact, this is the time of your life that is likely to start showing signs of skin-related issues, such as fine lines and dark spots. The good news for you is that these early signs of aging can be corrected with the right treatment. For example, why not consider the merits of micro-needling?

A qualified specialist will create ultra-small perforations in the skin with a medical device, which subsequently stimulates the creation of new collagen in the skin. Most importantly, once the underlying layers have healed, it will have the desired effect of encouraging your skin to create new, collagen-rich tissues.

Alternatively, microdermabrasion is an additional option that you might want to consider. This particular treatment seeks to remove debris and dead skin, subsequently increasing the rate at which your skin produces collagen. The treatment can also help cure premature aging that is caused by blemishes, dry skin, acne, and sun exposure.

35 – 45 Years Old

If you’re here reading this and you’re aged between 35 and 45, then it’s likely that you now have a personal grasp of what aged skin looks like. While you might feel that you have missed the opportunity to protect your skin from the adverse effects of aging, you still have a number of options that will allow you to rebuild and stimulate the skin. Ultimately, the overarching objective at this stage in life must be to slow down the process at which the skin begins to loosen, wrinkle, and sag.

One of the best anti-aging treatments in this respect is that of a med-aesthetic skin peel. The process – which once again must be undertaken by a specialist, will see the skin have a chemical solution applied to it. In doing so, the peel will remove cellular build-up, and result in stimulated, regeneration of the skin.

As such, patients often report a noticeable improvement of skin texture, and fine lines on the skin within a few months of having a series of treatments. Take note, due to the strength of the chemical solution used, not everyone is a candidate for med-aesthetic skin peels – so you’ll need to engage in a pre-treatment consultation meeting first.

45 Years Old +

Once we get into our mid-40s, we are then at the stage of defending our skin against the rapid reduction of collagen levels. You’re likely now experiencing enlarged pores and much deeper and viable wrinkles, which is why anti-aging treatments are now crucial if we are to reverse some of the signs of aging. Notably, you might want to consider treatments like fractional laser or radio frequency.

This is where the doctor uses such devices to create artificial heat within the layers of the skin, with the view of controlling the collagen break down process. When new collagen does grow back in the treated area, the end result is the appearance of a firmer, healthier, and more radiant skin tone.

If your chosen specialist does deem fractional laser or radio frequency as a suitable anti-aging treatment for you, you’ll need to be proactive with it. In fact, most patients require more than three individual treatments – performed at monthly intervals.

The Bottom Line?

In summary, the inevitable effects of aged skin are something that will be experienced by all of us at some point in life. However, it is not the ‘if’ that will vary from person-to-person, but the ‘when’. By this, we mean that by introducing anti-aging treatments into your daily routine from as young as 20, you will give yourself the best chance of preserving that youthful appearance for all long as possible.

On the other hand, while delaying the start of your anti-aging endeavors will always render them less effective, there is still a number of treatment options that can have the desired effect of slowing skin ageing down – even if you’re in the later stages of life.