Dramatic Contexts
By Kate Garrett
Ageing- What actually happens to us as we age?
What happens to the skin?
Physical Changes in the Skin.
The dermis- Whilst this network is strong, the skin will appear youthful and firm. As the fibres harden and fragment, the network begins to collapse, losing its elasticity. The skin begind to show visiable signs of ageing. (Le Quesne, 2005, p27) Older age is one of the most common causes of dry skin. Most people start getting dry skin in their 50's. By their 60's everyone has some degree of dry skin. As we age the epidermis becomes thinner and the outer layer (stratum corneum) can't hold as much water as it used to which makes the skin become dry.
Skin is different depending on where is it on the body, for example around the shoulder the skin is moveable to allow the arm to move where as on the inner forearm it is smooth and thin with less movement as it isn't on a joint area. And these different varients effect what rate they will age at.So it is very hard to predict at the exact age it will happen as everyones skin is different and will depend on how well the individual has lived.The skin in certain parts (ie the eyelids) become alot thinner due to the change of collagen production.
Does the skin type affect the ageing process?
Black skins do have more sweat and sebaceous glands and lack the vellus hair that is found on Caucasian and some Asian skins. As black skin has a thicker epidermis, the skin desquamates more than white skin and this may make the skin appear grey. Erythema on black skin appears as purple patches. African and Asian skin contains more melanin than Caucasian skin and absorbs almost all the different rays of light, from red up to ultraviolet. Because of this absorption pattern, it reflects almost no colour so we see it as black or very dark brown. Melanin is a powerful antioxidant, which is why darker skins wrinkle less.
It is a misconception that darker, and especially black, skins are tougher than white. In fact, their skin reacts more than Caucasian skin and problems may leave permanent marks and keloids. African epidermis is also very sensitive to solar damage even though the deeper layers are being protecte, which is another reason why wrinkles are less likey to occur.
Some Asians are very pale with a yellowish undertone sure to an inherent tendency to extract beta-carotene from the blood stream and deposit it in the skin. Beta-carotene is also an extremely powerful antioxidant that can scavenge free radicals very effectively. The asian siet is rich in antioxidants (all fruits and vegtables) which act to protect the collagen and elastin in the skin.
What happens to muscles as we age?
Muscles lose there elasticity causing a flabby or droopy appearance of the skin, this is espcially noticable around the jawline as over time it's defined look is broken and becomes much softer. The diagram below shows th emuscles as a youthul face then an ageing face as you can see on the gaeing fac e the muscles in the cheek are longer, thinner and further apart, this is due to the lose in elasicity.
As you grow older your appearance changes, I am going to look at how the individual features from inside our bodies evolve and the skin as a whole.)When we age there are many factors that can speed up or slow down the process such as; lifestyle, diet, fitness, health, etc. This has been explored in further detail on changing faces > factors of influence. This is to help me understand what happens when we age the better and deeper knowlege I have on this subject the more acurate my work will be.
What happens to the fat as we age?
Ageing causes the fat cells to breakdown which means our plump youthfull looking skin becomes hollowed out, the skin then sags as their is less fat to keep it in place and give it the full look. These images show the process of what happens to the fat and muscles in the face during ageing. This diagram represents the ageing process for a normal diet, living in a town away from the city with a reasonabley healthy lifestyle, non-smoker. The fat cells reducing changes the shape of the face and the smoothness of the skin.
Changes in bone structure.
As you can see the structure (in the image directly below) shows how the bone moves slight due the the muscles loosing elasticity which changes there shape, causing the bones to move slightly this creates drooping effect as seen in stages below.
Figure 8.0
Figure 8.2
Figure 8.1
Normal fat that helps support the eyes can then move into the lower eyelids, causing the lids to appear puffy. Fluid also may accumulate in the space below your eyes, adding to the swelling. (Mayoclinic.org, 2014)
With age, the facial expressions we make every day produce lines on the skin - frown lines, smile lines and laughter lines. (Le Quesne, 2005, page 23). Below are a few typical facial expressions and as you can see they use alot of muscles, it is often said that you can tell what type of person someone is by there wrinkles, because the more you use a muscle the more likey to create wrinkles in certain places. for example if you are a smiley, happy person your are more likley to develop crows feet and smile lines around the nose rather than an angry person who will get frown lines between the brows and across the nose where they have pulled the same expression for long periods of time.
Figure 8.3