As the skin begins to slowly deteriorate during the aging process, a number of symptoms may appear. The skin often appears thinner, paler and more translucent. People may look increasingly gaunt, with hollowed cheeks and eye sockets. “Laugh lines” may appear around the mouth, and crow’s feet may appear around the eyes. Sleep lines – which are temporary marks on the face that appear after sleeping on a pillow all night – may become etched into the face.

As gravity takes its toll on the skin, the eyelids begin to fall, jowls form, the nose tip droops downward, the upper lip recedes while the lower lip protrudes and the ears grow longer. The skin dries out and begins to lose elasticity.

Areas that are exposed to sun may develop into brown patches known as age spots or liver spots. These most often appear on the face, hands, arms, back and feet of people with fair skin.

Skin is more vulnerable to injury as the subcutaneous fat layer breaks down and a person’s sense of touch becomes reduced (due to a decrease in the number of nerve endings in the skin). Simple rubbing or pulling of the skin can result in tearing of the skin and blood vessels are more easily broken. Even minor injuries can result in bruises, flat collections of blood (purpuras) or raised collections of blood (hematomas). Such injuries most frequently appear on the outside of the forearms.

Not only is aging skin more susceptible to injury, but it also heals more slowly. The slow healing process may result in ulcers or skin infections. In addition, the aging process makes people more susceptible to growths such as warts, skin tags (small, fleshy, noncancerous skin growths attached to a stem-like base), seborrheic keratoses (benign, gray/brown rough-surfaced growths) and cherry angiomas (benign skin growths that appear as small, smooth, cherry-red bumps). Generally, skin disorders are more common in older people.

Aging also increases the presence of spider veins, blood vessels located just beneath the skin surface that grow larger and appear red or blue when they weaken and become clogged. They most often appear in “sunburst” patterns on the face and legs, but can affect other areas of the body.