One of the reasons why facial skin wrinkles happen is that our natural hormone production declines with age. As women enter menopause, their estrogen production decreases dramatically resulting in deficits that manifest as sagging facial tissues and a reduction in skin elasticity. Estrogen has a profound impact on our skin’s physiology, through its cell growth-promoting mechanisms. Estrogen generates skin collagen and helps to maintain skin thickness. Without estrogen, skin tends to become thin and easily fold and creases.
Estrogen Promotes Youthful Skin
In a 2006 scientific study, estrogen was found to increase hyaluronic acid. A chemical made and used in the body to lubricate joints and tissues. It is also used in cosmetic creams as a firming agent to hydrate and plump up the skin.
In a large-scale study done in 2007, a group of women who were given estradiol 0.01% cream to apply topically, show a remarkable improvement in collagen levels and in the thickness of skin after just 4 months. The study showed that topical estrogen rapidly produced anti-aging skin effects in women. Because blood circulation decreases with age thereby decreasing hormone circulation throughout the body, applying estrogen topically helps to increase systemic levels of estrogen for the purposes of hormone replacement and anti-aging therapy.
New Thoughts About Hormone Based Anti-aging Creams
Estrogen is not the only hormone with anti-aging properties. The hormone progesterone also promotes a healthy more youthful skin. A study of topically applied progesterone 2% cream found that progesterone can significantly decrease the number and depth of wrinkles as well as increase skin firmness and elasticity.
At Towne Lake Family Pharmacy, our compounding pharmacists use special bases to compound estrogen and progesterone into anti-aging creams that can be applied on the face for a more youthful skin appearance.
Call Towne Lake Family Pharmacy with any questions you may have. 770-635-7697
References:
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