What Causes Loose Skin and Treatments That Can Help

Your skin is naturally elastic and puts in a lot of effort to protect your body and keep you safe, and it usually does a great job. Unfortunately, there are different things that can cause your skin to become loose and sag. While this isn’t often a medical issue, it can affect your confidence. It can also affect how you wear clothes and your daily comfort. Thankfully, there are treatments that can remove or treat loose skin. Let’s explore what causes loose skin and what loose skin treatment looks like.

Causes of Loose Skin

Aging

Your skin is naturally elastic because of collagen and elastin in the skin. These building blocks are vital to how your skin functions. Unfortunately, as we age, our body decreases the amount of collagen and elastin we have. This is a large reason why the older you get, the more likely you are to have wrinkles and sagging skin.

Weight Gain and Loss

Loose skin can also be caused by losing large amounts of weight. Our skin is adaptable and will stretch as weight is gained. However, it can struggle to return to its original shape if it’s been stretched too far from excessive weight gain. This leads to loose skin when a large amount of weight is lost.

Muscle Loss

Muscle loss can also lead to mild skin sagging. It is common to lose muscle mass as we age. Muscle loss can also come from an illness or being hospitalized for a long period of time. Thankfully, muscle mass can often be grown again through exercise. However, not everyone may be able to completely recover whatever mass was lost.

Sun Damage

The sun emits harmful ultraviolet light that damages skin and its cells. The sun doesn’t directly cause loose skin but instead damages collagen and elastin in the skin. This loss of collagen and elastin will lead to loose skin. Sun damage is a large factor in why loose skin is common in older people.

Seeking Treatment

Loose skin can be uncomfortable, embarrassing, and impede an active lifestyle. Thankfully, Dr. Rachel Walker provides multiple treatment options that can reduce or remove loose skin. Dr. Walker is an expert plastic surgeon whose practice provides treatments like total body contouring, laser skin tightening, abdominoplasty, arm lifts, thigh lifts, breast lifts, face lifts, and more. If you’re struggling with loose skin, contact Dr. Walker’s office at 972-661-5077 today.