So, you just worked super hard to lose all this weight, but your skin hasn’t yet received the message and adapted to your new body shape? Frustrating doesn’t even begin to describe it.

 

Sagging skin seriously affects your confidence, and it may seem like the only remedy is expensive surgery. Truth is, there are plenty of simple and natural remedies you can use to tighten your skin and boost your self-esteem. 

 

Learn the science behind loose skin and how to treat loose skin without surgery. Don’t wait any longer to get your skin looking just as good as the rest of you!

 

What Does It Mean To Have Loose Skin?

 

To best describe what loose skin is, it’s easier to compare it to what it is not. Basically, loose skin is not firm skin. It is not tight, nor is it flexible. 

 

Firm skin clings to whatever part of the body it covers. You may be able to pinch firm skin so that you are holding a pocket of it in your fingers, but once you let go, that skin should return right back to its normal place. 

 

Loose skin, on the other hand, occurs when the skin is no longer able to snap back into place. Instead, the skin will sag away from the body, as if your fingers are still pinching it up. 

 

From a mental standpoint, having loose skin can mean a drop in self-confidence and self-esteem. You’ll be less comfortable in your body and stay away from clothing or situations that would reveal the parts of your body where your skin is loose. 

 

Remember that there is nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to loose skin. Having some loose skin is actually totally natural, especially as you get older. In most instances, there is very little you can do to stop loose skin from developing.

 

If you are determined to get rid of your loose skin, there are options (other than surgery) that are effective, which we’ll get to later. 

Where Might You Experience Loose Skin?

 

Since loose skin is most often associated with losing weight, you will most likely find it in places where you have lost the most weight. This may include your: 

 

Face

Butt

Stomach

Arms

Neck/chin area

Legs

Eyelids

 

That said, you can find sagging skin pretty much anywhere you find skin, which is, unfortunately (in this case, at least), everywhere. 

 

What Causes Loose Skin?

 

All of the following can cause you to develop loose skin: 

1. Weight Loss 

 

Imagine a scenario: a year ago, you were 75 pounds heavier than you are now. In other words, you lost 75 lbs in a year and are now dealing with loose skin. 

 

Your skin has to cover your entire body. And a year ago, your skin had more space to cover than it does now. Naturally, it will begin to sag. 

 

Significant weight loss is tough enough to achieve on its own, so you would like to think that your skin would cooperate and naturally mold itself to your new shape. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Your skin needs time and help to adjust, and this process moves slower than most of us would like. 

 

The more weight you lose, the more likely you are to experience loose skin. For example, losing anything over 100 pounds pretty much guarantees that you’ll have quite a bit of loose skin. 

 

Also, the shorter the period in which you lose weight, the more prone you will be to loose skin. Your age also plays a factor in this--younger skin is more flexible than older skin. 

 

Now, look, maybe you haven’t lost any weight but are still seeing loose skin on your body. Just because loose skin is commonly connected back to weight loss doesn’t mean that weight loss is the only cause of loose skin. There are four other potential causes of loose skin that may explain your experience. 

 

2. Loss of Collagen and Elastin in the Skin

 

Collagen and elastin are two proteins that are essential to skin health: 

 

Collagen gives skin its strength and structure. 

Elastin gives skin its elasticity and ability to snap back into place. 

 

Loose skin, lines, and wrinkles are all associated with low levels of collagen and elastin in the skin. There many different reasons your levels of collagen and elastin decline, age being the most common.

 

If you smoke, are regularly exposed to pollution or UV rays, have a poor diet, or drink excessive amounts of alcohol, you may also find that you have inadequate amounts of collagen and elastin in the body. 

 

3. Aging 

 

As we just mentioned, aging causes a decline in your body’s stores of collagen and elastin, two proteins that give skin its structure and flexibility. Your ability to produce collagen and elastin peaks in early adulthood, and from then on gradually lessens with each additional year of life. Naturally, if you have less of the proteins available that give your skin its strength, you will be more likely to develop loose skin. 

 

While aging is inevitable (ugh), it happens at different rates for all of us, depending on our lifestyle, environment and genetics. You can slow the aging of your skin by always wearing sunscreen when outdoors and practicing a regular skincare routine. 

 

4. Pregnancy

 

Loose skin as a result of pregnancy is most likely to occur in the abdomen area, for obvious reasons. The skin on pregnant women’s stomachs must stretch out to account for the increase in size, but once the baby has been delivered it is a much slower process for the skin to return to its original state. 

 

If you had more than one baby in a single pregnancy (i.e. twins, triplets, etc.), your chance of experiencing significant amounts of loose skin only increases. 

 

5. Illness 

 

Finally, a significant illness may cause loose skin. For one, some illnesses, like stomach flu, make you lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time. Depending on the severity of the illness, however, you may still be pretty unlikely to get significant amounts of loose skin. 

 

There are also some chronic health conditions that contribute to loose skin. For example, any condition that affects your body’s ability to produce collagen, such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), will heighten the presence of loose skin on your body. 

 

Let’s Get Rid Of That Loose Skin, Once and For All! 

 

Without further ado, here are some treatment options for your loose skin that we fully believe in: 

 

 

Vitamin C Clay Mask: Our clay mask is perfect if you’re particularly bothered by loose skin on your face. Turmeric and finger lime caviar work to increase your natural collagen production and tighten your skin, while other ingredients, such as aloe vera, make sure the skin is hydrated and moisturized. Use your mask after cleansing and watch the results pour in! 

Exercise: To reduce the appearance of loose skin, work out to improve muscle mass and strength. If your loose skin is primarily in the abdomen area, get going on those crunches. Or if you have sagging skin on the arms, break out those dumbbells from the back of your closet and start lifting. 

Lifestyle changes: Things like smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, poor skin health (e.g. not wearing sunscreen when outdoors), poor diet, lack of hydration, and a sedentary lifestyle all accelerate aging, cause a decline in collagen production, and increase the presence of loose skin. As such, avoid doing any of these things, and practice healthy and active behavior on the regular. 

Firming creams: Creams that contain retinoids or hyaluronic acid provide moisture to the skin while simultaneously strengthening it. Retinoids also facilitate better collagen production. For best results, you need to use firming creams consistently. It takes time for these to work at their highest level, so try to be patient. 

Collagen supplements: We’ve spoken pretty extensively about the importance of collagen for your skin’s health, so naturally collagen supplements will be beneficial, especially if you know your body is able to produce less collagen than your body needs. Collagen supplements commonly come as a protein powder, which you can easily add to your morning cup of coffee, a smoothie, or even baked goods. 

 

 

There are also various nonsurgical procedures you could try, such as the following: 

 

Laser therapy

Microfocused ultrasound (MFU)

Laser resurfacing

Laser or chemical peeling

Neuromodulators (Botox)

 

The purpose of most if not all of these treatments is to boost collagen production and lift the skin. You should note, however, that many of these procedures can become a bit pricey, require multiple treatments, and often only promise temporary results. 

 

The Takeaway 

 

One of the most important parts of living is maintaining a certain level of confidence and self-esteem. Without these things, you won’t feel like your best self, and your happiness could be affected.

 

Many people that experience loose skin deal with this decline in self-esteem, plus frustration when it feels like the skin isn’t going to repair itself. We know of plenty of treatment options to strengthen your skin, but either way, having loose skin is entirely natural and shouldn’t negatively alter your self-worth in any way.

 

If you want to get rid of your loose skin without surgery, try our Vitamin C Clay Mask, firming creams, exercise, collagen supplements, and various lifestyle changes. With these treatments, you‘ll feel better about your skin and overall appearance, so you can live a more confident and fulfilling life. 

 

Sources

 

Learn How to Tighten Loose Skin with These 6 Great Tips (healthline.com)

 

Saggy Skin: Why You Have It and What to Do About It (healthline.com)

 

Many ways to firm sagging skin (aad.org)Ф