Excerpt from Women, We're Only Old Once (Cooper): What's Really Happening to Our Face and Skin
The following is an excerpt from Women, We're Only Old Once: Keep What You Can, Let Go of What You Can't, Enjoy What You Have Left . What’s Really Happening to Our Face and Skin? “Everything is just breaking down … it just is,” Dr. Haycox told me matter-of-factly in her captivating English accent.(personal interview 11/04/10). Skin is the largest organ of our body and the first to show the signs of aging. Just like our vital internal organs, skin is regenerating at a slower pace; unlike our internal organs, we can see it. Of course, a life without skin is unimaginable, but it is lost on most of us that the skin is a complex organ without which we would not have protection, body temperature control, pain or pleasure sensations, hair, and padding. We also wouldn’t have the body contours and structure that shape our faces, our expressions, and bodies. Skin is flexible and accommodating of thin figures and obese figures, although once skin is stretched over an obese buil...