CHEST & NECK
The skin on your neck tends to be one of the first body parts to show signs of aging, because it is thinner and more delicate than the skin on the rest of your body. Similar to the face, your neck and chest can also develop fine lines and wrinkles.
Your bones, joints and muscles
With age, bones tend to shrink in size and density, weakening them and making them more susceptible to fracture. You might even become a bit shorter. Muscles generally lose strength, endurance and flexibility — factors that can affect your coordination, stability and balance.
Natural changes happen in the body as we age, such as skin damage from sun exposure, loss of muscle and physical strength, loss of some sight and hearing, as well as changes to our sleep patterns, energy levels and appetite.
You might be surprised to know that your face is not actually the part of your body that ages the fastest. It is, in fact, your breasts. A study, published by the journal Genome Biology has found that breast tissue is the part of the body that's most sensitive to the affects of ageing.
If you have already developed saggy skin, it can, unfortunately, be difficult to completely 'fix' or reverse (particularly through creams or lotions at home), but there are certainly a few treatments and cosmetic procedures you can consider.
After age 30, people tend to lose lean tissue. Your muscles, liver, kidney, and other organs may lose some of their cells. This process of muscle loss is called atrophy. Bones may lose some of their minerals and become less dense (a condition called osteopenia in the early stages and osteoporosis in the later stages).
The only bones that continue to get larger are the skull and the pelvis. The growth of these two body parts isn't dramatic, however. Your pelvis might gain an inch in diameter between the ages of 20 and 79, and your skull may get slightly more prominent around the forehead.
Aging skin looks thinner, paler, and clear (translucent). Pigmented spots including age spots or "liver spots" may appear in sun-exposed areas. The medical term for these areas is lentigos. Changes in the connective tissue reduce the skin's strength and elasticity.
Skin becomes loose and sagging, bones lose their mass, and muscles lose their strength as a result of time spent living life. Most people begin to notice a shift in the appearance of their face around their 40's and 50's, with some also noticing a change in their 30's.
Sagging skin may occur as people age or after weight loss. Some medical conditions, such as cutis laxa and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, can also cause loose skin, though these are uncommon. Certain lifestyle factors may also prematurely age the skin and cause sagging.
Some signs of aging can be seen from the outside: Your hair turns gray, and wrinkles and age spots appear on your skin. Our bodies are less able to store fluid in older age, so our spinal discs shrink and lose elasticity, for instance. As a result, people get smaller as they grow older.
Vitamin C. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps protect against oxidative damage and plays a role in the production of collagen, which helps keep skin firm and elastic. Particularly in topical applications, Vitamin C has been shown to decrease skin wrinkling and increase collagen production.
Inadequate Vitamin D in the skin causes it to become thin, saggy, wrinkled, and weak. Your skin is your largest organ, so making sure it's strong and healthy is incredibly important in preventing premature aging.
Keeping yourself hydrated helps increase elasticity in the skin as it stays moisturized for longer, delaying sagging and the premature appearance of wrinkles and fine lines.
Your skin changes with age. It becomes thinner, loses fat, and no longer looks as plump and smooth as it once did. Your veins and bones can be seen more easily. Scratches, cuts, or bumps can take longer to heal.
Exercise. The best way to slow down aging is to stay in great shape. One study published in Aging Cell found that older people who exercised regularly throughout their lives had the muscle mass, cholesterol levels, and even immune system function of much younger people.
Sun damage is the number one cause of wrinkles and skin that has been permanently damaged. Age spots and other forms of discoloration can be seriously exacerbated by the sun's harmful UV rays.
Exposure to light is a top cause of premature aging: Sun exposure causes many skin problems. Ultraviolet (UV) light and exposure to sunlight age your skin more quickly than it would age naturally. The result is called photoaging, and it's responsible for 90% of visible changes to your skin.