If you have spent long hours in the gym to lose weight, then you probably must have encountered saggy skin. These are just common side-effects when you start to lose body weight.
These saggy skin issues can happen on both your body and face. All these are signs of fat loss from your body and face.
Now, what is saggy skin?
When your skin’s elastin and collagen reduce, it can cause your skin to become saggy or “loose.” And this has been one of the major concerns for many people.
Usually, skin becomes saggy because of the loss of weight, which can also occur due to some medical conditions.
So, in this article, I’ll tell you all the details of what causes these saggy skins and also suggest possible remedies for you.
Therefore, keep reading till the end to know more.
Saggy Skin And its Causes
Strong and firm skin can easily stretch and snap back to its original place. But when this skin gets deprived of this ability, it gradually starts to sag. And the surprising part of saggy skin is that it can happen at any place of the body.
Some common areas you might have saggy skin:
eyelids
chin
throat
jowls
upper arms
stomach
Even there are several other causes for saggy skin:
1. Aging
As your skin starts to age, it loses two vital proteins manufactured in your skin’s dermis--collagen and elastin.
Just as the name suggests, elastin provides your skin with elasticity. It gives your skin the ability to quickly bounce back to its original state when stretched or pulled.
The production of collagen, on the other hand, is due to fibroblasts. When your skin is tight and firm it is all because of collagen. But due to aging, this collagen gets compromised, and your skin starts to lose its firmness and structure.
There are few other factors that can cause the reduction of collagen and elastic:
UV exposure
Smoking cigarettes
Environmental pollution
Poor nutrition
Drinking too much alcohol
2. Weight Loss
When you carry extra weight on your body, this can cause severe damage to your elastin fibers and collagen in your skin. Therefore, it makes it super challenging for your skin to restore its original shape when you start losing weight. So, if you lose a significant amount of weight, this will result in more saggy skin.
Saggy skin becomes more usual when the weight loss is rapid. In many cases, the weight loss can even result in more sagging, entirely dropping your skin and loosening it.
3. Pregnancy
After pregnancy, it’s pretty common to have saggy and loose skin. Women who carry more weight, such as triplets or twins, tend to see more saggy skin around their abdomen than those who just carry one child. In fact, besides contributing to the development of saggy skin pregnancy can be considered as one of the main causes of cellulite on the stomach for many women. While the body undergoes remarkable changes to accommodate the growing baby, the stretching of the skin can lead to a loss of elasticity, making it more prone to sagging and creating an environment where cellulite can easily develop.
4. Illness
Some medical conditions can cause you to have saggy skin. For instance, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, a.k.a. granulomatous slack skin, can also cause saggy skin.
People who suffer from this condition can suffer from slaggy skin around their knees and elbows. Slagging skin due to this doesn’t respond that well to any treatment.
Treatments for Saggy Skin
With problems come solutions. Even these slaggy skin issues can be cured with some proper remedies.
So, in this section of the article, I’ll tell you all the treatments that you can take to recover from these slaggy skin problems.
Slaggy skin can range from moderate to severe. Therefore, before deciding your treatment options, consider the following factors first.
areas in your body where slagging happens
the amount or intensity of slagging
your sensations about the conditions
To Eliminate Minor Sagging
If you are suffering from minor sagging, there are a few options that you can consider to see drastic changes.
Exercise:
When you are constantly moving your muscles, it helps tighten them and can surely help reduce any sort of minor slagging.
Weight lifting
Pilates
Facial Exercise
All these exercises can definitely contribute to restoring the skin back to its original shape. But do make sure that you exercise regularly to see observable changes within your skin.
Supplements:
In several studies, it has been found that supplements that contain ingredients like hyaluronic acid and collagen can surely help to cure age-related skin sagging issues.
Bringing Changes to Lifestyle:
You surely need to bring some changes in your lifestyle to throw these skin sagging issues out of your life. For instance, staying hydrated, quitting on smoking, and heavy drinking can indeed help you with thin skin sagging issues.
To Eliminate Moderate or Severe Skin Sagging
Although, you can eliminate slight skin sagging with some exercise and bringing healthy changes to your lifestyle. But if the sagging issues are severe, you simply can’t rely on those remedies.
Light Therapy:
Initially, light therapy devices were designed to help people with depression, SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), and insomnia. But as the technology advanced, it was found that this therapy can also be used for other purposes like skincare, muscle mass growth, and to reduce stretch marks on your skin.
Researchers later found that this therapy can even be used to cure severe skin slagging as it can produce collagen and also help to improve the overall skin tone. Most of these light therapies have been very beneficial to many people. But do make sure that you are regular with these therapies to get effective results.
Micro Focused Ultrasound:
This is another method that is used to increase collagen production. This treatment method sends heat deep down to your skin to produce collagen and lift your saggy skin. Although, it might take several months for your skin to show improvements. But it’s alright to wait that long to see positive results.
Surgical Procedure:
If your skin is severely slaggy, only then will this procedure be taken under action. This surgery will ensure that your loose skin is removed after you go through a weight-reducing surgery.
Many get a non-surgical fat-reduction treatment to melt fat and quickly reduce problematic areas. This can lead to new problems to solve.Although the surgery might result in scarring around the body, the good news is it might only take two weeks to a month to recover significantly.
Bottom Line
Suppose you see that your skin saggy is moderate, no need to go for advanced treatment or therapy. But if you know that it has become severe, don’t hesitate to take advanced medicine.
And do make sure that you consult with your doctor before taking any medical treatment as he knows the better treatment for your case. And before you take light therapy treatment, do ask your doctor about the ins and outs of this therapy, as this will help you know the proper way of using it.
I hope this article will help you to know all the causes and cures regarding your sagging skin.
