Crepey Skin

Crepey skin is a term used to describe when your skin loses its elasticity. Sometimes, it’s called sagging skin, loose skin, or skin laxity. Instead of rebounding back firmly into place, your skin looks droopy and loose, and appears wrinkled and thin like crepe paper.

Crepey skin naturally happens over time because as we age, we stop producing collagen and elastin. These two proteins give our skin its firmness and structure and help it rebound back into place. When our skin has fewer collagen and elastin proteins, the skin begins to look saggy and crepey. 

Causes of crepey skin include damage from UV exposure (sun damage), smoking, and drinking. It’s also more likely to develop sooner if you don’t regularly moisturize and cleanse your skin. Pregnancy or weight loss can also cause sagging skin, as the skin loses fat that once gave it plumpness. Some people experience loose skin after medical or cosmetic procedures such as liposuction. After lipo, non-invasive treatments like the ones offered at Novuskin can help you regain your skin’s firmness.

After about age 40 (middle age), our collagen and elastin levels begin to decrease. This is around the time most people experience the early stages of sagging skin. You might begin to see fine lines around the mouth and eyes. By age 50, most of us will see signs of aging like sagging cheeks and jowls and lines on the forehead.

Skin tightening recovery time depends on the type of treatment you choose. Many of our non or minimally-invasive treatments require little to no downtime. Frax Laser or other similar treatments may cause some mild redness or peeling, but you’ll likely be able to return to your regular activities within 24 hours. 

Your aesthetician will be able to offer you a complete treatment plan and answer all of your questions. At Novuskin, we offer minimally-invasive and non-invasive treatments; that means we don’t use knives and you don’t leave with bruising, stitches, or scars. So you’ll likely return to work or your regular activities right away.

It’s difficult to give an exact answer for how long it takes to stop crepey skin formation since each person who sees us for their sagging skin is in a different stage of the aging process. If you have minimal sagging and you are just beginning to see the signs of aging, you will need fewer treatments than if you have significant amounts of loose skin.

Some treatments work more quickly to reduce the signs of aging than others. Other factors include your age, skin tone, and overall health. Generally, the experts at Novuskin can help reduce the look of or stop crepey skin and give you the firmer, tighter look you want in 3-12 treatments.

Whether tightening loose skin hurts or not depends on the treatment plan you choose. All of our treatments are non or minimally-invasive, but some treatments do cause some pain. For example, laser treatments can cause pain during the procedure. However, a topical anesthetic can be applied which makes the treatment much more manageable. Other treatments we offer are generally comfortable and pain free.

Because Novuskin offers many treatments to help reverse the signs of aging, saggy skin, there is more than one way to take care of your skin after your session. Please know our aestheticians will advise you on how to best care for your skin.

What To Do After Your Procedure

Following your skin tightening procedure, you’ll want to make sure you drink a lot of water. You should also protect your skin with an SPF of 30-50 (everyday!), especially if you have had peels or laser treatments. Keep your skin clean and hydrated and follow the instructions given by your aesthetician.

What Not To Do After Your Procedure

Following your procedure, make sure you don’t go into direct sunlight without protection. Also, if you’ve had laser treatments or peels, be sure to stay away from home chemical peels, exfoliators, and retinols until your aesthetician tells you it is safe.

Depending on your treatment plan, you may notice your skin is a little bit red or sore following your treatment. In most cases, this fades within a few hours to a few days. If you have more aggressive laser treatments, you may experience some skin peeling, although this is unlikely.

Most people notice some immediate results following their treatment, but results are cumulative, so as you progress through your treatment plan, you’ll notice your skin becoming increasingly less saggy.

Skin tightening treatments are very safe. There are very few side effects to treatments. 

Side Effects

Generally, you may experience some pain during laser treatments, but other non-invasive forms of treatment do not cause any pain. Redness and mild swelling may be present following your treatment, but generally dissipate within a few hours to a few days.

Contraindications

Contraindications to treatment depend on your specific skin tone and type and are dependent on the treatment you choose. Because of this, your aesthetician will talk to you about your health history and treatment options. In some cases, treatment may be contraindicated if you:

• Have or have had cancer
• Are pregnant or breastfeeding
• Have active acne, rosacea, or other skin conditions
• Have sunburn on the treatment area
• Are suffering from an active rash or broken skin
• Have any disease that may be stimulated by heat (such as herpes)
• Have skin-related autoimmune diseases
• Have active skin lesions
• Have a pacemaker or similar implanted electronic devices
• Have metal implants around the treatment area