Health4Women asked Dr. David J. Goldberg, director of Skin Laser & Surgery Specialists of NY/NJ and Clinical Professor of Dermatology and director of Laser Research and Mohs Surgery at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, for the latest advice on keeping skin healthy and full of bounce.


The most common cause is ultraviolet damage from the sun at an early age. Because women have thinner skin than men, they tend to be even more susceptible to this effect. A close second is the effect of genetics. If a woman’s mother’s skin ages well (everything else being equal), then she’s likely to have skin that ages well. Finally, there’s no question that estrogen plays a role in keeping skin softer, plumper, and healthier. As women enter menopause, their skin thins. When women who have received hormone replacement stop their treatment, their skin thins.


The entire skin thins with age due to a variety of changes in the collagen and elastin fibers. Specifically, they tend to get smaller and thinner, which results in decreased bounce to the skin. Finally, decreased blood supply to older skin leads to its lacking the robust color of thinner skin. Sun-exposed skin, because of the deleterious effect of ultraviolet light, always ages faster.

Laser technology can return collagen fibers to their thicker, healthier state. And some of the newer topical creams can provide the growth factors necessary to even further improve the effect of laser treatment.