When you get your first period, you start noticing changes in your body. Similarly, when you stop menstruating, your skin starts showing some signs. Right from your skin becoming dry to getting more age spots, you start seeing and feeling the changes once you enter the menopause phase. Anti-ageing products may start seeming more interesting, but don’t fall for them without being fully aware what your skin needs. It’s best to follow a menopause skin care routine that will make your skin healthy and glowing.

You can be 45 or 55, when you step into the world of menopause. It’s around that age that women typically experience menopause symptoms like infrequent menstrual cycles, hot flashes, troubled sleep, night sweats, vaginal dryness and weight gain. Since it’s inevitable, you can always prepare your body for menopause.

You also start noticing changes in your skin, and you wonder if you should make changes in your skin care routine. For some menopause skin care tips, Health Shots got in touch with Dr. Ankur Sarin and Dr. Jushya Bhatia Sarin, who both specialise in dermatology, venereology and leprosy.

Changes in skin that happen during menopause

There are many skin care tips to prevent wrinkles in your 20s, but as you grow older, ageing will have effects on your skin.

Here are some of the changes in your skin that happen during menopause

• Skin becomes drier
• More age spots
• Under eye dark circles
• Reduced skin elasticity
• Easily prone to rashes
• Pigmentation on skin due to hormonal changes

Why does menopause lead to changes in skin?

Loss of collagen and reduced new collagen synthesis lead to wrinkles and loss of skin elasticity, explains Dr Jushya. This is also the reason for eye bags, reduced healing capacity of skin as well as easy bruising. As for age spots and pigmentation, it’s all caused by cumulative sun exposure. You feel your skin getting dry because of atrophy of sweat glands and oil glands. Dr. Ankur shares that some of the changes in skin take place due to reduction of estrogen. When there is estrogen insufficiency, it decreases defense against oxidative stress. And so, skin becomes thinner with less collagen, there is decreased skin elasticity, increased wrinkling and increased dryness.

Can you prevent these skin changes from happening?

If only we could have soft and smooth skin all our lives, that’s a wish that a lot of us make. You can use sunscreen before menopause too, but Dr Ankur says that these changes cannot be prevented completely as we can’t defy ageing totally. However, you can follow a skin care routine for healthy skin.

Tips for menopause skin care

Some of the skin care tips will remind you of what you did in your 20s and 30s, but there are a few additions as well.

• Take shorter showers and avoid using hot water bath (how does bathing with hot water affect your skin).
• Keep an oatmeal or ceramide-rich moisturiser handy at all times. Keep hydrating your face and hands that are most exposed to environment.
• Apply hyaluronic acid-based creams. Hyaluronic acid holds water to collagen and gives a plumped up appearance.
• Use a tinted sunscreen with SPF 50 and PA +++ (high UVA protection). Wear it even when indoors to avoid skin damage due to sun’s rays.
• Indulge in facial massages to reduce puffiness and improve blood circulation.
• Add Vitamin C in your serum and your diet, as this boosts collagen production.
• Relax, as stress can worsen most of these complaints.