The mechanism of facial aging: what happens in different layers of the face

Every person born on the planet goes through a long life path, during which various amazing processes take place with his body. Aging – it is an inevitable physiological process that no human being can escape. With age, the forces of the body are expended, and various changes begin to occur in it: a person’s ability to work decreases, he needs rest, the activity of the brain and nervous system worsens, changes in appearance occur.

First of all, the signs of aging of the body appear on the face of a person in the form of sagging skin and the appearance of wrinkles on it.  But, despite the fact that the signs of facial aging are reflected precisely on the skin of the face, other layers of the human face are more responsible for their formation.

Layers of the face: the fundamentals of the structure of the human face

The structure of a human face is quite complex and multi-layered. The basis is the facial skeleton, consisting of the bones of the face. All of them are motionless, except for the lower jaw, & nbsp; which allows a person to chew food and talk. The bones of the face are covered with periosteum – connective tissue covering human bones.

Above the bones in four layers are the muscles of the face, which are divided into two large groups: chewing and mimic.  Each of the muscles performs its own function: raises the corner of the mouth, frowns the eyebrow, lowers the lower lip, and so on. The lower layer of facial muscles is covered with fascia, which form a deep muscular-aponeurotic system of the face – DMAS.

The upper three layers of the mimic muscles of the face, together with the fascia covering them, make up the superficial musculoaponeurotic system – SMAS. The topmost layer is the skin of the face, under which there is a thin layer of fat, which thickens in some places, forming fat packages – compartments.

Basic mechanisms of human facial aging

The mechanism of facial aging occurs in each individual person according to a different principle, which is directly related to the individual structural features of all layers of the face. There are several main types of facial aging:

• gravitational type of facial aging, in which gravitational ptosis of the facial skin occurs, its turgor decreases, the corners of the mouth and eyes droop, the skin becomes pasty and loses its volume;

 

• finely wrinkled type of facial aging is characterized by the appearance of early fine mimic wrinkles around the lips, in the corners of the eyes and on the forehead, while the facial skin is characterized by dryness and dehydration;

 

• deformative type of facial aging is characterized by the formation of jowls, a second chin, bags under the eyes, general swelling of the face and a change in its oval;

 

• with the muscular type of facial aging, muscle atrophy occurs, deep large wrinkles, creases appear on the skin of the face, the upper eyelid hangs;

 

• combined type of facial aging is characterized by a combination of signs of all the above types of facial aging in different proportions.

What happens to the different layers of the face during aging

Each layer of the face plays a role in the aging process of the face, which is expressed to a greater or lesser extent depending on the mechanism of facial aging. Let's figure out how each of the layers of the face ages:

• The skin of the face is a kind of reflector of all age-related changes that occur with the rest of the layers of the face. Changes also occur in the dermis itself, in the process of facial aging, the ratio of different types of collagen fibers changes, the skin of the face becomes thinner, dehydration processes may occur in it or, conversely, fluid may be retained;
• the fat layer of the skin of the face becomes thinner with age, in the process of aging of the face, the degeneration of fat compartments occurs, the bones of the skull are well constructed under the skin of the face, while the "extra skin" itself, under which the fat packs have been blown away, begins to sag, the face becomes haggard, looking tired;
• under the influence of gravity in the process of facial aging, the musculoaponeurotic system of the face in the places of its attachment occurs, while the skin of the face also slides, distorting its appearance;
• muscle changes in the process of facial aging are rather peculiar. All mimic muscles of the face are divided into muscles that lift areas of the skin of the face – levators, as well as depressor muscles that lower their part of the skin of the face. With age, there is a decrease in the tone of the levator muscles and hypertonicity of the depressor muscles, as a result of which the spasmodic muscles of the face give it a depressive, somewhat aggressive expression;
• facial bones also undergo age-related changes: in the process of facial aging, they lose their volume and shape to an insignificant extent, which also leads to a change in the volume of the face and ptosis of facial skin areas.

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Thus, depending on the type of facial aging and the changes that occur in different layers of the face, each person shows signs of aging at different ages and in varying degrees of severity.

The method of correcting age-related changes in the face should be selected strictly individually, in accordance with which layer of the face and in which part of it requires medical or surgical intervention.