Skin laxity is the loss of firmness and bounce: skin that no longer springs back when gently pinched, that drapes a little along the jawline, or looks crepey on the neck and chest. It happens to everyone eventually, because from our mid-twenties the skin makes a little less collagen and elastin each year. Sun exposure, smoking, menopause and significant weight loss all bring it forward.
What is happening in the skin
Collagen gives skin its strength and elastin its spring. Both are made by cells in the dermis, and both are broken down by ultraviolet light, inflammation and time. Hyaluronic acid, which holds water in the skin, also declines. The net effect is skin that is thinner, drier and less able to hold its shape against gravity.
Skincare helps the surface, but it cannot reach the dermis where firmness is made. Treatments that work for laxity are the ones that stimulate the skin to rebuild its own collagen and elastin.
What helps
Profhilo is an injectable hyaluronic acid treatment placed at a small number of points across the face or neck, where it spreads and prompts the skin to produce new collagen and elastin. Two sessions a month apart give a noticeable improvement in firmness and hydration over the following weeks. Polynucleotides work in a similar way, with a particular strength in thin, fragile skin such as the neck and around the eyes. SkinPen microneedling creates thousands of tiny controlled channels that trigger repair and collagen formation, and is often combined with the injectables over a course.
Where laxity is advanced, with noticeable jowling or loose neck skin, we will be straightforward about the limits of non-surgical treatment and can refer you for a surgical opinion.
What a consultation involves
We will assess your skin’s thickness, elasticity and hydration, using our skin scanner where helpful, and recommend the combination most likely to help, usually over a course of a few months with maintenance thereafter. All injectable treatments are carried out by trained clinicians after a medical history.
