As people age, their skin naturally changes, whether it’s wrinkles, sun spots or varicose veins; the skin demands different treatment. The skin also becomes very susceptible to skin infection and skin disease, along with a slower healing process. The skin also injures easier, such as bruising because of decreased elasticity and tends to become thinner and dryer. It’s so important to take special care of your skin the older you get. As a rule of thumb, every time you age another five years you should reevaluate your skin treatment and make sure it reflects the new needs your skin may have developed. This rule can also go with your general health, by checking out your diet, exercise and day-to-day lifestyle in order to avoid injury to stay at optimal form.
Common skin conditions the elderly experience:
- Bacterial infections and infections such as scabies or ringworm are common
- Cancerous and noncancerous growths, such as squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma, seborrheic keratoses and cherry angiomas.
- Senile Purpura are purplish spots that show through the skin of the legs and arms. The combination of thinness of the elderly skin and the frailty of the capillaries just below the surface is what makes the color so visible.
- Wrinkles are a least dangerous form of aging, but one of the most visible signs of aging. Chronic sun exposure will speed up this process and smokers often have more wrinkles than nonsmokers due to the constant exposure of smoke to the skin.
- Dry and itchy skin, with problems such as flaking occurs more frequently when people age because of the loss of oil glands. These natural oils keep the skin soft and supple, which is the main cause of red, itchy, dry skin.