Loose skin is a cosmetic issue that many men and women face. Loose skin can result from several different causes. Loose skin on the face results from the aging process, and loose skin on the body usually results from losing a lot of weight or a pregnancy.

Younger skin naturally produces collagen and elastin, which are the components in the skin responsible for keeping it tightly bound together and elasticized. As the body ages, it produces less collagen and elastin, therefore that formerly younger and tightly bound skin becomes looser with age. In people who are much older, reduced muscle mass can be replaced with looser skin. It is only natural for aging people to have looser skin on the face, but there are certain contributors which will speed up the loosening process and cause skin to age prematurely. The ingredients in cigarettes are not healthy, and it is known that cigarette smoking damages and kills collagen. Therefore, cigarette smokers can expect the skin to age and loosen earlier than it would naturally.

Loose Skin On Face

There are certain procedures which are non surgical that can be performed on loose skin on face in order to tighten it. These non surgical procedures usually involve targeting and stimulating the collagen production in the facial skin using heat or electricity. As the facial skin produces more collagen it works to tighten up and lift the tissues and skin on the face. Another more invasive way to tighten loose skin is with plastic surgery. Face lifts involve the surgical cutting and tying back of loose skin on the face which tightens and lifts the loose skin on the face and neck. Face lifts are usually not necessary for younger people, but are more appropriate for older people with facial skin which is very loose and slack. Treatment for less severe loosening should be non surgical, such as topical creams containing collagen or stimulating treatments using heat or electric currents.

Loose Skin On Body

Another place where skin can become loose is on the body. Loose skin after weight loss can happen after a major change in weight. When a person gains an excessive amount of body weight, the body becomes larger, and the skin must also stretch out and grow with the body. If and when that excess weight is lost, the fat disappears, but if the skin has been stretched out too much it does not always snap back to its original form.

This is a common problem among people who lose large amounts of weight. The stretched out skin can remain, hanging loose off of the body. Usually there is nothing which can be done to tighten the skin without cosmetic surgery.

Loose Skin After Pregnancy

Because pregnancy also stretches out the skin on the stomach area a great deal, loose skin can remain in that area after the pregnancy. Loose skin is not usually an incurable problem after one pregnancy. However, women who have been pregnant several times tend to have more loose skin around the belly area.