Overview

The concept of anti-aging is widely recognized, often associated with delaying the natural aging process. However, premature aging stands apart as it involves the skin aging at an accelerated pace due to unnatural factors such as excessive sun exposure or unhealthy lifestyle choices. Such accelerated aging results predominantly from harmful habits. Beyond lifestyle, certain medical conditions or medications can also lead to premature skin aging.

How Lifestyle Choices Impact Premature Aging
Premature Aging - Shutterstock Images

Fortunately, there are preventative measures one can take to avoid premature aging of the skin. This article will explore the primary causes of accelerated skin aging, identify those at greater risk, and discuss potential complications and preventative strategies.

What are the Common Causes of Premature Aging?

One of the biggest mistakes many people make is to disrupt the delicate skin around their eyes. Rubbing and pulling the skin in this area can cause darkness. Be sure to get enough sleep each night. Your skin renews and repairs itself while you sleep and this can’t happen if you’re lacking the sleep your body needs.

Sleeping on your side isn’t good for your skin. It can break your facial skin down, which eventually are causes of wrinkles. Pursing your lips can also cause lip wrinkles. We purse our lips when we drink out of straws and when we smoke. Speaking of which, the chemicals in tobacco cigarettes can also prematurely age your skin.

Who Suffers the Most From Premature Aging?

Smokers and frequent sunbathers often suffer from premature aging. Smoking and sun damage are the two biggest factors in premature aging. Although some medical conditions cause Premature Aging[1], the majority of people who experience it are making bad choices on a daily basis. For instance, drug users, heavy drinkers, and smokers will age at an accelerated rate.

Premature Aging Signs and Symptoms to Watch For

When we first begin to age, the signs are often overlooked, especially for those of us who feel they are still too young to worry about it. Knowing what signs to look for will be beneficial for you to hopefully put a stop to the aging process before it gets out of hand.

Things to look out for include dry skin, salt cravings, irritability and midsection bulge. It is also important to remember that not all skin conditions can be summed up to “just age”. There may be something more serious going on with your body.

What are the Possible Complications of Premature Aging?

If your skin is aging prematurely, there is a good reason to believe that it may be something (or many things) you’re doing that could be causing this. More serious health issues can pop up like Wrinkly Skin Syndrome[2]. For example, if your premature aging is due to excessive sun exposure, you could be opening yourself up to developing skin cancer at a later date. Smoking can also lead to lung cancer.

How Can Premature Aging Be Diagnosed?

The estimated life expectancy is 120-years-old if you take out the disease factor. So why is it that people are still dying relatively young? It is probably because experts have been focusing more on pain medications and surgical procedures and less on reversing the aging process.

Premature Aging Treatment

Premature Aging Treatment

If a person can stop the premature aging process, he or she is expected to live a longer, better quality life.
Signs of premature aging include hair loss, muscle weakness and failing eyesight. One of the most common messages is pain.

What is the Treatment for Premature Aging?

Some professionals will tell you that you are simply getting older, but you don’t have to accept this.
There are things you can do to treat premature aging. For example, look into anti-aging therapy in combination with complementary medicine to help reverse the signs of aging.

You should have your body checked for antioxidant status, digestive analysis, immune system function, hormone status, circulation, and other aging markers.

After that, a comprehensive treatment program can be established. Treatment may include nutritional therapies, digestive cofactors, enzyme enhancement, hormone replacement, and lifestyle changes.

Facts about Premature Aging

Pair this with under eye dark circles, visible fine lines or droopy skin, and you’re showing the signs of premature aging. Cosmetic tissue can be improved by drinking more water, eating vitamin-rich foods and using anti-aging products that contain glycolic acid and retinol.

Since not all premature aging signs are only age-related, it is important to look out for other signs of more serious problems. For example, if you notice unusual itching, bleeding or if a mole changes, you should speak to your doctor right away.

What is the Best Anti-Aging Cream for Women?

According to Prevention Magazine, Garnier Nutritioniste is a serum and moisturizer in one. The serum penetrates the skin while delivering retinol, which reduces wrinkles[3].

The moisturizer plumps the skin up to a more youthful appearance. The next cream prevention recommended is Wrinkle Repair Serum, which is a lightweight serum offered to customers at a reasonable cost. It also contains the ingredients of retinol and hyaluronic acid.

Best Anti-Aging Cream

Best Anti-Aging Cream

Another great product they recommend is NIA 24 Sun Damage Prevention UVA/UVB Sunscreen SPF 30.This product contains a good amount of niacin, which helps minimize sunspots. Ceramides and antioxidants help protect the skin from future sun damage.

Conclusion

Although there are some things out of our control, there is a lot we can do to help prevent premature aging from occurring. And if you’ve ignored premature aging up to this point, know that it is never too late to start caring for your skin.

It is equally important to know that not all premature aging is what it seems. You may have a more serious medical problem going on. If you have any questions or are unsure, speak to your doctor.

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